Kirkby Malzeard & Laverton

Laverton Buildings

This article is also in the Kirkby Malzeard Buildings section.

LAVERTON HALL Kindly written by Steve Ball.
There is no doubt that the site at Laverton Hall has been continuously occupied for several hundred years or more. Laverton is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1085. The earliest records (Tudor Fines – an early form of property record for tax purposes) I can find date from 1590 when the Gaynes family sold the property to Fabian Hewood of Hewood in Lancashire. A date stone now embedded in the east gable of the present main house states ‘ Fabian Hewood of Hewood Lancashire builded this house Anno 1590’. It is highly likely that an earlier dwelling occupied the site possibly a thatched cruck house and that Fabian remodelled the property using stone as evidenced by recycled mullion stones now found in the 17/18 century outbuildings when they in turn were remodelled in the early 19th century.
Various owners including the Hardcastle family then owned the property which formed part of the Laverton Hall Estate comprising several farms in the Laverton and Grewelthorpe area and the village of Laverton. Ownership of the Laverton Hall estate passed to the Richmond family in 1760 and remained in ownership until September 2022. A major remodel of the Hall and outbuildings was undertaken in 1820 by David Richmond – the ‘Squire of Laverton’. Fabian’s Tudor house was demolished and a ‘new’ late Georgian early Victorian current house was built. At the same time the outbuildings were ‘updated’ and the old 17/18th century Threshing barn was remodelled to form a laundry, byre and Horse stable. An additional servants cottage and stable was added.

The property today is a fine example of an early Yorkshire estate Hall with many original features. The 17/18th century outbuildings including walled garden , 18th century dog Kennel, latrines and game larder form a ‘time warp’ for todays generation to witness how life was 250 plus years ago. Restoration is in progress as I write and hopefully future generations will once again see Laverton Hall play it’s part in the local community.

METHODIST CHAPEL
The original Methodist Chapel, built in 1860, used to be located just across the bridge from the present building, and immediately on the right next to the blacksmith’s forge. The land originally belonged to Mr John Richmond who probably donated the land. Unfortunately the old chapel had been built on sandy foundations, which led to walls cracking, making the property unsafe.

The original Laverton Chapel
By 1895 the congregation had outgrown the small chapel, and the trustees agreed to build a new chapel with a Sunday school room, across the bridge. A committee of three took on the challenge, William Arthur Stubbs, Erasmus Buckle and David Suttill.


The land and the building cost £814 19s 10d. Some of the money was raised through subscriptions and donations, but £525 still had to be raised, and was paid off over several years. The new chapel could seat 173 people, and if the partition to the school room was removed, another 90 could fit in! ‘Seat Rents’ was a way of keeping funds coming into the chapel. Numbered seats would usually cost a shilling.