East Riddlesden Hall: History of Yorkshire manor house that dates back over 550 years where ITV’s Anne Boleyn drama was filmed

The Yorkshire manor house East Riddlesden Hall dates back to the 15th century while the site itself dates back 1,400 years and was the location where ITV’s Anne Boleyn drama was filmed - here is its history.

The present-day manor dates back to the 1600s and is located in Keighley, now owned by National Trust.

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The building is thought to have been the site of paranormal activity for several hundred years; there are considered to be two regular spirits in the hall called the Grey Lady and the Blue Lady.

Hundreds of years ago, this was a thriving farming estate and now it is a historic venue where the public can learn about its history spanning more than 400 years.

History of East Riddlesden Hall

The estate of Riddlesden has a history that dates back more than 1,400 years and has been developed by the polar opposite influences of its varied owners, agriculture and industry.

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A settlement has been established on the site since the 7th century and after the Norman invasion in 1066 and conquest, it is thought that ownership had passed on from an Anglo-Saxon family to the Norman de Montalt family, also known as Maude.

Autumn view of the house at East Riddlesden Hall.Autumn view of the house at East Riddlesden Hall.
Autumn view of the house at East Riddlesden Hall. | Annapurna Mellor

There were parts of fragments of a Saxon cross found on the estate and one was found in 1959. A second part was discovered in a wall 30 years later and shockingly, they fit together. The Saxon cross is displayed in the Great Hall.

The estate was owned by the Maude family between 1125 and 1400 before it was passed onto the Paslew family, who built a new house to the west of the hall in 1466. This family were considered among the less privileged of West Yorkshire, but they did own a side chapel in the parish church in Keighley.

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In 1571, the house was passed over to Robert, Ellen Paslew’s husband, and following a complex legal process, he purchased the full estate in 1591.

But it was the next owner who made the biggest impact to the house - James Murgatroyd.

James was a wealthy Halifax clothier who built the existing Grade I listed building in 1642 and there is a medieval tithe barn in the grounds.

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The current hall is situated on a small plateau overlooking a bend in the River Aire and fascinating features include a well-restored living accommodation on two floors, two Yorkshire Rose windows, walled garden, the ruined Starkie wing and reportedly several ghosts.

East Riddlesden Hall.East Riddlesden Hall.
East Riddlesden Hall. | Jonathan Gawthorpe

James and his wife Hannah rebuilt the property using local Yorkshire stone in 1648 and in the Great Hall, a small fireplace can be seen above the main fireplace.

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He was a fan of the Royals and a lot of his design was inspired by the Royals such as royalist symbols and graffiti on and in the building. The Bothy (now the tea room and shop) has the heads of Charles I of England and Henrietta Maria of France carved in the topmost stone work.

James died in 1653 before he witnessed the completion of his renovations to the property which was passed over to Edmund Starkie in 1708 and made many changes including completing the Starkie Wing and installing the gate posts that remain today. The hall was then passed on to his nephew Nicholas when he died in 1712.

The South West Front of East Riddlesden Hall.The South West Front of East Riddlesden Hall.
The South West Front of East Riddlesden Hall. | National Trust

The Starkies lived on the estate for nearly a century and the last male Starkie of Riddlesden died in 1797. Then for the next 120 years, the estate belonged to absentee owners the Bacon and Bence families and was occupied by tenants from working class families.

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The Bailey family were the last to live on the estate and left in the 1930s. Despite the estate being sold off between 1860 and 1930, local brothers William and John Brigg swooped in to save the East Riddlesden Hall from complete demolition in 1933. They bought it and passed it onto the National Trust in 1934.

Since then it has been in the care of the Trust and a very popular tourist attraction. It has also been used as a filming location for the 1992 film Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights starring Ralph Fiennes, the 2009 TV adaptation and was also used to film the 2020 ITV drama Anne Boleyn.

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