IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Constable Burton, LEYBURN, DL8 5LJ

The hall was built in 1768 by John Carr of York on the site of an ancient building, by Sir Marmaduke Wyvill, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, and stands in an extensive and well wooded park. In 1967 the hall was listed as a Grade I listed building. The gardens are open to the general public.

The Hall is just visible in the middle of the photo, taken from the bridge over the river/Burton Beck up the valley

The west frontage

A refined Georgian villa by John Carr, 1762-68, for Sir Marmaduke Asty Wyville. The proportions and the detailing are impeccable. Carr took the paring of the decoration to unusual lengths by eliminating the architrave from the entablature of the portico. Grade I listed. The house is still privately owned and only the grounds are open to the public. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In the C18th architectural hierarchy, Carr (1723-1807) was somewhat more accomplished than most of the breed of skilled, provincial builder-architects of the Georgian era. Whilst not sitting at the top table of the London elite, he was the only provincial member of the London Architects' Club, and "was known and respected in the most sophisticated architectural circles" (Howard Colvin's Biographical Dictionary of British Architects). Based in York (hence his moniker 'Carr of York'), he was "for more than half a century the principal architect practising in Yorkshire and the north of England" (Colvin). His successful and lucrative practice was based very much on country houses for the gentry, the exteriors of which were generally plain but immaculately proportioned and the interiors of which largely followed the fashions set by Robert Adam. He also designed public buildings, churches, and bridges, the latter in his capacity as Surveyor of Bridges for the West Riding (1760-73), and later, as the equivalent (but better-paid) for the North Riding. Carr was also actively engaged in civic life, serving as a city chamberlain, sheriff, alderman, Lord Mayor, and magistrate. All this was achieved in the absence of any professional training - like his father, grandfather and great grandfather before him he trained as a stonemason. On his death, the practice was inherited by his assistant, Peter Atkinson, whose son in turn inherited, and remarkably the practice continues to this day, currently in the guise of Brierley Groom, making it, according to Wikipedia, "the longest running practice in the United Kingdom and probably the world."

The east frontage and garden

Within the grounds of Constable Burton Hall