Esholt Hall

Slide 1: Esholt Hall, like several other houses of its class in Yorkshire, occupies the site on which stood an ancient monastic establishment. The situation of Esholt lies snugly amid leafy surroundings, and is well sheltered from the north by a wooded eminence. In olden times what a secluded retreat this must have been for the small company of Cistercian nuns who had their habitation here in the middle of the 12th century to the middle of the 16th century! This nunnery was dedicated to God, Saint Mary and St Leonard. Nothing remains of the structure now, for when Sir Walter Calverly built the present Hall in the early part of the 18th century it is generally thought to have been removed then, and some of the material used in the erection of the Hall which occupies its site.