Details

The monument includes the ruins and below ground remains of Howley Hall and
the earthwork remains of its associated gardens. Howley Hall is a 16th
century country house situated approximately 3km south west of Morley and 2km
north east of Batley.
The house and gardens occupy a fairly level spur, on a severe south west
facing sandstone escarpment edge. The house is located towards the east end of
the spur, with the principal axis running parallel to the line of the
escarpment. This position would have provided the occupants of the house with
outstanding views across the Calder Valley, and the Hall would have been
visible from the villages and towns in the valley below. Howley Hall and its
gardens were designed with symmetry in both plan and elevation in mind. This
architectural fashion was characteristic of Elizabethan country houses. The
main house was square in plan, and based around an open courtyard with
passages leading from the inner court to three entrances on the north, west
and south sides.
The earthworks which represent the site of the house today stand to a height
of about 2.5m and indicate that the house was approximately 56m square based
around a central courtyard 25m square. Projecting corners are also evident.
Entrances in the west and north ranges (about 7m wide) would have provided
access into the central courtyard. The principal entrance in the west range
projects from the facade and aligns exactly on the remains of the gatehouse
situated approximately 75m to the west. There is no evidence from the visible
earthworks of any ground level access to the courtyard from the other ranges.
The most immediately obvious remnant of the house is the standing fabric at
the east of the south range, although numerous wall lines and cellars do
survive elsewhere, particularly along the east range. Along the west range a
cant in the wall line of the exterior facade, exaggerated by a bulge in the
earthworks centrally between the passageway and the north west corner, marks
the probable site of a projecting window bay. The remains of the gatehouse to
the west are visible as a rectangular mound. The gatehouse was rectangular in
plan, measuring approximately 9m north to south by 6.5m, with a central
passageway. To the west of the gatehouse, a flat compartment measuring 55m
north to south by 30m forms a forecourt. Centrally placed along the west side
of the forecourt is a sloping break which marks the site of steps which lead
up from the forecourt to a well defined, raised rectangular level area
measuring 52m north to south by 64m. This is the site of a bowling green which
is marked on a plan dated to 1735 and indicated on the Tithe Award of 1843.
Massive scarps to the south side, which raise the bowling green above the
surrounding land surface indicate that much landscaping was necessary to
achieve the continuity of level and symmetry. Sections of a slightly raised
terrace 5m in width are evident around the periphery. The bowling green is
raised 1.5m above the level of the forecourt. At the north west corner of the
forecourt a break about 3.5m wide with banks on either side curves away to the
north at the same ground level as the forecourt. This is the remains of the
original carriage approach to the forecourt and can be traced away to the west
for some 100m on an alignment parallel to the main axis of the site.
Between the gatehouse and the western facade of the hall are the remains of a
farm buildings depicted on the 1894 Ordnance Survey. The farm buildings
survive as an earthwork measuring 56m square. Despite these late features it
is still possible to see earlier earthworks which indicate a north-south
division of this area into two exact halves, with the east section displaying
evidence of a central slightly raised drive 6m wide between the gatehouse and
the main entrance to the hall. Fronting the west facade of the house are three
stepped terraces each approximately 0.3m high, fronted at the south by a
raised rectangular area. These have been degraded by turf cutting, but are
possibly the remains of formal flowerbeds outside the main entrance to the
hall. The order and symmetry of layout of these enclosed areas, which mirror
the size and layout of the house itself at 56m square is clearly demonstrated
in this area. Adjoined to the east range of the house are the well preserved
remains of a walled privy garden exactly 40m square which is set well below
the level of a flat terrace which fronts this side. To maintain a level for
this garden the ground at the east appears to have been raised above the
natural ground surface. Within the garden a few low earthworks survive to
indicate the presence of a square slightly raised terrace or path around an
area containing a well defined centrally placed depression, possibly the site
of a small pond. To the south of the house further earthwork enclosures appear
to have been originally walled, the largest directly south of the house
repeats the 56m square layout. There are traces of terraces or pathways
parallel to the main axis of the site within these enclosures. There is also
evidence of some attempt at landscaping and levelling along the escarpment top
on this south side.
To the north of the house are three, large, raised parallel garden earthwork
terraces defining two rectangular sunken compartments of equal size 40m wide
by 86m long. Although laid out in relation to the house these terraces sit
slightly skewed to the principal alignment of the site. Each of these
terraces is different. The westernmost measures 9.5m wide by 0.7m high, is
flat and terraced into a slight east facing slope. An embanked section, 0.6m
high along its west edge at the north end, probably represents the remains of
a walled feature. The central terrace, 9m wide and 1m high, has a more rounded
profile and is directly aligned with a passageway through the north range of
the house. The easternmost terrace is the most substantial of the three, being
15m wide and 1.3m high with a broad, flat top 11m in width. All three terraces
were probably walled and constituted a system of level walking terraces
overlooking gardens below. They were connected by a common terrace which abuts
the north side of the house. Both the westernmost and easternmost terraces
appear to have extended further north than the central one, where they appear
to be truncated by the planting of trees. There is a close correlation between
the layout of the earthworks and a plan of the garden dating to 1735,
suggesting the compartments directly north of the house represent the parlour
garden named on the plan. The enclosure to the east can be identified as the
orchard. The north edge of these terraces was marked by a wall which ran
parallel to the main alignment of the house and forecourt. This is now evident
as a shallow trench like depression 1m wide resulting from the later robbing
out of the stone.
It is suggested that Howley Hall was built in the latter part of the 16th
century probably between 1585 and 1590 and became one of the finest country
houses of the Elizabethan period in Yorkshire. It was commissioned by and
became the residence of Sir John Savile, subsequently first alderman of Leeds
and an influential courtier and politician. Later additions to Howley Hall are
also suggested between 1646 and 1661.
The architectural style employed on Howley Hall has been likened to that
exhibited on houses designed by the great Elizabethan architect, Robert
Smythson although it is suggested that a local architect Abraham Ackroyd, may
have been the designer. It is reputed that Inigo Jones had an involvement
here although this has little foundation.
Sir Thomas Savile, Sir John's son, inherited the estate in 1630. At the
outbreak of civil war in 1641 Sir Thomas displayed conflicting allegiance
sometimes supporting Charles I and at other times refusing support.
Nevertheless Charles made him Earl of Sussex in 1642. Sir John Savile of
Lupset, a relative of the Earl took possession of the hall on behalf of the
Parliamentary army. In May 1643 a meeting took place at Howley between the
leaders of the Parliamentary forces, the result of which was a successful
attack on Wakefield on 16th May 1643. In response the Earl of Newcastle,
leader of the Royalist troops in the north, set out from Wakefield the
following month with 10,000 or so men intent upon laying siege at Bradford. To
ensure the Howley garrison did not spring an attack from the rear, the
Royalist army laid siege to Howley.
The hall was battered for several days and Sir John Savile was forced to
surrender. Little damage was done to the fabric of the building during the
siege. It was from Howley that Royalists set out to meet the parliamentary
army under Lord Fairfax at Adwalton. This major battle of the Civil War, 30th
June 1643, resulted in the defeat of the Parliamentary army and ensured the
supremacy of the Royalists in this region. Thomas Savile eventually defected
to the Parliamentary side and following prison sentences in Newark, Oxford and
the Tower of London retired from political life. After 1646 he spent sometime
at Howley dying in about 1661. He was succeed by his son James who himself
died in 1671, leaving his sister Frances as heiress. In 1668 Frances married
Lord Brudenell, the heir to the Earl of Cardigan. Howley remained in the
possession of the Brudenell family for 250 years.
Lord and Lady Brudenell may have lived at the house but by 1711 the hall
was deteriorating rapidly and local people began taking stonework and
furnishings. Houses at Batley, Birstall, Wakefield and Bradford are known to
have been built with stone from Howley. It is known that substantial
dismantling had been occurring since 1719 as accounts relating to the building
of the Old Presbyterian Chapel in Bradford list numerous payments for removal
of items of standing fabric from Howley for reuse in this building. Some of
the oak panelling was transferred to the Chief Bailiffs house (now the Golf
Club House) whilst other pieces were taken to Thorpe Hall, Thorpe-on-the-hill,
Near Middleton Leeds. It would appear that the house was unoccupied by this
time and its decline as a grand residence may have been underway from a much
earlier date possibly after the death of James Savile in 1671 when the house
was occupied by three tenant families.
Sometime between 1717 and 1730 Christopher Hodgson, an agent for the Earl of
Cardigan, suggested the destruction of the house to eliminate the high costs
of maintenance. The hall was blown up with gunpowder leaving only a few corner
fragments.
During the 18th and 19th centuries the gatehouse became a refreshment room and
survived into the 1920s.
The few drawings of the hall which exist indicate a symmetrical exterior
comprising two storeys with a projecting three storey tower at each corner,
canted bays and a central pavilion which appears to possess orders of coupled
pilasters (rectangular columns) on each storey. The exterior had many windows
and was crowned with crenellations and a number of domes on the roof. It was
an impressive building set within an outstanding landscape. In the 1672 Hearth
Tax returns Howley Hall possessed 44 hearths which gives some idea of its
status.
A number of features are excluded from the scheduling, these are modern
trackway and footpath surfaces, golf bunkers, flags and tees; although the
ground beneath these features is included.

MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

Country houses of the late Tudor and early Jacobean period comprise a
distinctive group of buildings which differ in form, function, design and
architectural style from country houses of both earlier and later date. Built
after the dissolution of the monasteries they are the product of a particular
historical period in which a newly-emerged Protestant elite of lawyers,
courtiers, diplomats and other officials, mostly with close contacts at court,
competed with each other to demonstrate wealth, taste and loyalty to the
sovereign, often overstretching themselves financially. Their houses are a
development of the medieval hall with flanking wings and a gatehouse, often
looking inwards onto a courtyard; later examples tend to be built outwards,
typically on a U- or H-plan. The hall was transformed from a reception area to
an entrance vestibule and the long gallery and loggia were introduced. Many
houses were provided with state apartments and extensive lodgings for the
accommodation of royal visitors and their retinues.
Country houses of this period were normally constructed under the supervision
of one master-mason or a succession of masons, often combining a number of
designs drawn up by the master-mason, surveyor or by the employer himself.
Many designs and stylistic details were copied from Continental pattern-books,
particularly those published in the 1560s on French, Italian and Flemish
models; further architectural ideas were later spread by the use of foreign
craftsmen. Symmetry in both plan and elevation was an overriding principle,
often carried to extremes in the Elizabethan architectural `devices' in which
geometric forms were employed to express religious and philosophical ideas.
Elements of Classical architecture were drawn on individually rather than
applied strictly in unified orders. This complex network of influences
resulted in liberal and idiosyncratic combinations of architectural styles
which contrasted with the adoption of the architecture of the Italian
Renaissance, and with it the role of the architect, later in the 17th century.
About 5000 country houses are known to have been standing in 1675; of these
about 1000 are thought to survive, although most have been extensively altered
or rebuilt in subsequent centuries to meet new demands and tastes. Houses
which are uninhabited, and have thus been altered to a lesser degree, are much
rarer. Surviving country houses of the late Tudor and early Jacobean period
stand as an irreplaceable record of an architectural development which was
unique both to England and to a particular period in English history
characterised by a flourishing of artistic invention; they provide an insight
into politics, patronage and economics in the early post-medieval period. All
examples with significant surviving archaeological remains are considered to
be of national importance.

Howley Hall and its gardens, despite its part destruction in the early
19th century is a fine example of an Elizabethan country house. The
upstanding remains and surviving earthworks clearly show the layout and many
structural details of the building itself. The surviving documentary sources
record its historical importance, architectural detail and its titled and
prestigious families. The rare survival of the garden earthworks are equally
important providing evidence of formal gardens, orchards and kitchen gardens,
as much symbols of status and fashion as the house itself.
Many early houses had gardens associated with them. The creation of gardens
has an early history in England, the earliest examples known being associated
with Roman Villas. During the Anglo-Saxon and medieval periods herb gardens
were planted; particularly in monasteries where the herbs were used for
medicinal purposes. However, the major development in gardening took place in
the late medieval and post-medieval periods when the idea of the garden as a
'pleasure ground' developed. Early gardens take a variety of forms. Some
involved significant water-management works to create elaborate water-gardens
which could include a series of ponds and even ornamental canal systems. At
other sites flower gardens were favoured, with planting in elaborately shaped
and often geometrically laid out beds. Planting arrangements were often
complemented by urns, statues and other garden furniture. Such sites were
often provided with raised walkways or prospect mounds which provided vantage
points from which the garden design and layout could be seen and fully
appreciated. Whilst gardens were probably a common accompaniment to
high-status houses of 16th century and later date, continued occupation of
houses and related use and re-modelling of gardens in response to changing
fashions means that early remains rarely survive undisturbed. Gardens provide
a valuable insight into contemporary aesthetics and views about how the
landscape could be modified to enhance the surroundings. Their design often
mirrors elements of the design of the associated house; particularly following
the symmetry of the buildings. In view of their rarity, great variety of form,
and importance for understanding high-status houses and their occupants, all
surviving examples of early date will be identified to be nationally
important.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
RCHME, , West Yorkshire Metropolitan County, , Rural Houses of West Yorkshire 1400-1830, (1986)
Whittam, J, A Brief History of Howley Hall Yorkshire, (1994), 197-209
Ainsworth, S, 'From Cornwall to Caithness, Some aspects of British Field Archae' in Howley Hall, West Yorkshire: Field Survey, (1989), 197-209
Ainsworth, S, 'From Cornwall to Caithness, Some aspects of British Field Archae' in Howley Hall, West Yorkshire: Field Survey, (1989), 197-209
Other
Yarwood, B Marriott,J, Sites and Monuments Record, (1993)
Yarwood, R Marriott, J, Sites and Monuments Record, (1993)

Source: Historic England