This handsome seven-bedroom manor house sits on an elevated plot in Holmfirth, West Yorkshire. Built in around 1820, the building has been lovingly restored in recent years to reinstate the Regency splendour of its interiors. Sitting on a 0.6-acre plot, the house has imposing views of the surrounding countryside and is perfectly located for all the village has to offer, including independent bars, coffee shops and restaurants. Holmleigh Manor is a short drive from Huddersfield station, which offers fast direct trains to Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle and London.
Setting the Scene
Holmfirth is famous for the world’s longest running sitcom, ‘Last of the Summer Wine’, which was filmed in the village from 1973 to 2010. A pretty spot amid the surrounding bucolic scenery, Holmfirth was largely built from local buttery yellow stone and retains a great deal of its early 19th-century charm.
The current iteration of Holmleigh Manor dates from the early 19th century. The building, however, was constructed over a late 17th-century dwelling, parts of which can be seen in the manor’s cellars. For more information, please see the History section.
The Grand Tour
Entry to the house is via a classical pilastered porch with glazed fanlight. Ahead lies a grand hallway; the tiled floor is a later Victorian addition (as is a screened porch), but the imposing stairway is original to the home’s early Regency genesis. The ground floor takes a symmetrical layout and has four voluminous reception rooms: a dining room, drawing room, library and kitchen.
The lounge has a characterful Edwardian interior, with a decorative plaster frieze featuring a singing bird motif. There is also an exotic wood fireplace in a late Edwardian manner. Adjacent to the lounge is the library, which has been fitted with bespoke blue-painted cabinetry; this room also has an original fireplace in distinctive blue-veined marble.
To the rear of the plan is the formal drawing room, with the kitchen adjacent. The kitchen has been recently fitted and has an original flagstone floor, vast central island and sleek blue and grey cabinets. An early fireplace has a later Victorian insert stove, with original ovens for baking and cooking; juxtaposing this are integrated appliances including a dishwasher, fridge freezer, oven, microwave, steam oven, coffee machine and warming drawers.
At the rear of the ground floor is a guest WC, linen store and access to the large cellars and plant room.
Ascending to the first floor, a tall arched window drenches the interiors with natural light. Voluminous ceiling heights continue, and four bedrooms emanate from a central landing. Each has been exceptionally finished, with paints from Little Greene and Farrow and Ball, and wallpapers from Emma J Shipley. The two front bedrooms have freestanding roll-top bathtubs, perfectly placed to enjoy views of the rolling countryside, while all have private en suites.
Concealed behind a door are stairs to the three-bedroom second-floor apartment. A vast space, the apartment has a double-height reception and dining room that reaches into the eaves of the building. Original timber and brick has been exposed and sits comfortably against a contemporary kitchen and sleek white walls. The room has access to an an expansive loft space, as well as a galleried landing.
Three bedrooms complete the top-floor apartment, as well as a shower room and walk-in wardrobe.
The Great Outdoors
Holmleigh Manor sits within a gated plot that provides commanding views over the surrounding countryside. Accessed via a sweeping gravelled driveway, the front of the house is laid out with a rolling lawn bound by clipped beech hedging. To the left is a wooded copse that shelters the home from its central village location.
The rear of the manor has an original service courtyard with two car ports as well as useful brick-built outhouses.
Out and About
On the edge of the Peak District, Holmfirth sits amongst some of the country’s most arresting scenery. Just a few minutes’ walk from the back entrance of Holmleigh Manor is a wealth of countryside walks and trails.
Holmfirth and the surrounding villages are fast gaining a reputation for excellent independent food and drink. Among the numerous revered local spots are Holmfirth Vineyard and Restaurant, which has seven acres of vineyard and panoramic views of the Holme Valley. The Whippet and Pickle, the Winking Stag and Devour are also popular local spots.
There is also the Picturedrome, a century-old cinema that now functions as a live music venue. The inimitable Yorkshire Sculpture Park is within easy driving distance.
The house is nestled between Leeds and Manchester; both are reachable in under an hour by car. From Huddersfield train station, Leeds can be reached in 20 minutes and Manchester 30 minutes. Both cities offer excellent shopping and eating opportunities, along with art galleries and theatres. Services also run from Huddersfield to York, Liverpool and Newcastle.
The nearest station is in Brockholes, which is just under two miles away. The Penistone line offers local services to Huddersfield in one direction and Barnsley, Meadow Hall, Sheffield in the other.
Council Tax Band: B
History
The site which Holmleigh Manor now occupies was originally believed to contain two farmhouses/cottages built at different times between around 1680-1740. The cellars – one under the kitchen and one under the parlour, with their mullion windows and vaulted ceilings – are evidence of the existence of these earlier dwellings.
The building today was believed to have been constructed in c.1820 by the Woodhead family, who were known to have been successful farmers and later weavers/clothiers. The family owned most of Netherthong and the adjacent land. Gravestones for members of the Woodhead family can be seen in the churchyard across the road from the house. The Woodheads donated the land to build the church so they did not have to travel to church in Almondbury each Sunday. They had their own direct access to the churchyard from the house (prior to New Road being built in 1860) – you can still see how the entrance to Holmleigh Manor is directly across from the entrance to the churchyard.
Holmleigh was later purchased, in 1878, by Thomas Dearnley, a wealthy mill owner. He made many improvements to Holmleigh, many of which are still in existence, to bring it up to date with the latest Victorian fashions. These changes included Minton tiles to the hall floor (over the original stone flags), renewing all the ground-floor architraves and doors, fitting the front vestibule double glass doors (“TSD” in top glass, which possibly may stand for Thomas and Sarah Dearnley, or Thomas S. Dearnley), widening the chimney breasts and installing marble fireplaces. The only original fireplace remaining is in the Georgian room – it is believed this room was used as a servant’s room, and originally had no ceiling. Thomas Dearnley died not long after the completion of the refurbishments – his gravestone can be seen in Netherthong churchyard.
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