Eshton Hall, Gargrave, North Yorkshire. Desk-Based Assessment.

Following a proposal by Dare Northern to convert Eshton Hall, Gargrave, North Yorkshire (SD 9382 5611) into residential apartments an archaeological desk-based
assessment of the building was carried out in July 2002, as recommended by English Heritage in support of the planning application. Eshton Hall is a Grade II* Listed Building. The desk-based assessment examined primary records relating to the hall held in the County Record Office (CRO) in Northallerton and the University of Leeds, as well as secondary sources in the local studies collection of Skipton Library.
A brief outline of the local archaeological and historical backgrounds, as well as the surrounding geology and topography, was produced, spanning the prehistoric period
to the building of Eshton Hall. The Wilson family purchased the estate in the late seventeenth century and held it until the beginning of the twentieth century.
The hall was built between 1825 and 1827 by the Kendal-based architect George Webster, a pioneer of the Elizabethan and Tudor revival style and architect of some local standing, under the patronage of Mathew Wilson and Frances Richardson-
Currer, who then owned the estate. It is known to have replaced an earlier, Georgian house, which possibly stood on the site of an even earlier house, and was famous for its huge library, created by Miss Richardson-Currer.