The Ark (15th century) Tadcaster, North Yorkshire Originally built in the late 15th Century, The Ark has been a meeting place (where the Pilgrim Fathers met to plan their voyage to America), a post office, an inn, a butchers, a private house, and a museum. It is currently the offices of Tadcaster Town Council. Take a virtual tour of the Ark. (Click on 'Tadcaster' and 'history'.) http://www.tadcaster.uk.com/ark.htm
	Barley Hall (15th century) York, North Yorkshire Barley Hall is a unique survival in York, a city of wonderful buildings. It is a medieval building in the centre of the city, forgotten until a few years ago, concealed as it was under a jumble of run down derelict offices and workshops. It was excavated in the 1980s which revealed that under this jumble was a surviving example of a medieval town house, originally the town house of the Priors of Nostell but later to be the town house of its best known inhabitant, Alderman William Snawsell, goldsmith and Mayor of York. It has been restored to how it looked at the time of Alderman Snawsell, towards the end of the fifteenth century, and it is now possible to tour the hall and see how people lived then. http://www.barleyhall.org.uk/
	Bedale Ice House (18th century) Bedale, North Yorkshire The Ice House is mainly of brick construction, the large domed Well being entirely of brick and measuring some 12ft in diameter and 20ft deep. The passage is 17ft long, the walls are of cobbled construction capped with an arched brick roof and a cobbled floor,the inner and outer doors have brick styles that held the door frames. These were often set at a slight slope to enable the doors to close on their own to exclude the air. Open to the public one day a year. http://www.bedale.com/icehouse.htm
	Bishop's House (17th century) Sheffield, South Yorkshire Bishops' House is the best preserved timberÐframed house in Sheffield. It was built around 1500 and is tucked away at the top of Meersbrook Park. Bishops' House typifies the development of the smaller English domestic house in the 16th and 17th centuries. Inside, the house retains many of its original features and looks just as it would have done in the 17th century, giving a tantalising flavour of Stuart England. The Great Parlour is restored as a typical dining room and the first floor chamber contains the original bedroom furniture and fittings listed in a 17th century inventory of contents. http://www.sheffieldgalleries.org.uk/coresite/html/bishops.asp
	Bronte Birthplace (18th century) Bradford, West Yorkshire A month before the battle of Waterloo, the Rev. Patrick Bronte travelled to the little hillside village of Thornton, four miles west of Bradford, to take up his new post as curate. His family consisted of his wife Maria and their two little girls, Maria and Elizabeth. He described the property thus: 'The chapel is endowed with a parsonage, consisting of six rooms, three on the ground floor, and three bedchambers, having a separate stand for a cow and a horse at one end, and a cottage at the other all built of stone and lime... There is a road round the west end into the garden at the back of the house, which is enclosed by a stone wall, the greater part of the eastern side of which is built at the expense of the owner of the adjoining fields, and the remainder by the minister.' http://www.Brontebirthplace.org.uk
	Cock House/Grisedale Cottage (19th century) Langcliffe, North Yorkshire The building now known as Cock House and Grisedale Cottage was built in 1809 on the waste of the Manor to serve as a village workhouse and overseer's cottage. The workhouse was used to give employment hand finishing cotton when the mills on the Ribble could not work because the river was too low. The Poor Law Act of Amendment 1834 closed down such small village schemes and centralized the workhouses. After this at various stages the workhouse part - now Cock House, became a Post Office, a village shop and teashop. It is a listed grade II building and the oldest institutional building in the village. http://www.langcliffe.net/CockHo.htm
	Fairfax House (18th century) York, North Yorkshire Fairfax House is perhaps the finest 18th century house in the North of England. It was designed by John Carr of York, and typifies the best of mid-18th-century rococo decoration. Sadly, successive owners had allowed the house to decay to a state of near collapse by the early 1980s, when it was acquired by York Civic Trust with a grant from the National Heritage Memorial Fund. Further grants enabled the Trust to restore the house to its former glory, and in October 1984 it was opened by the Duchess of Kent. The house is furnished with the late Noel Terry's superb collection of Georgian furniture. Fairfax House continues to be supported by a variety of organisations, including the Friends of Fairfax House. http://www.fairfaxhouse.co.uk/
Photo © Alyson Jackson	The House in the Rock Knaresborough, North Yorkshire The House in the Rock is a thing that dreams are made of, and indeed was conceived through a dream of a humble linen weaver, Thomas Hill - my great-great-great-great-grandfather, who, like his forebears, lived in a whitewashed cottage at the foot of the which was to be the substance of his toil. In the year 1770, armed with pick, chisel and hammer, Thomas Hill hollowed out an elongated deep cleft in the magnesium limestone cliff; this extended from the foot of the cliff at the Abbey Road area to the top of the cliff at the Crag Top area thus facilitating a split level system of dwelling. Eventually the house was to have four rooms leading up from one another, lighthouse fashion. The top room protruded from the cliff face reversing the lower construction in having a rear wall of rock and three built walls. At a later date castellations were added to both upper and lower levels by Thomas Hill and his elder son, also named Thomas, giving the appearance of a fort. The house then became known as Fort Montague at the request of the duchess of Buccleugh - the principal sunscriber to it. (Currently not open to the public.) http://www.knaresborough.co.uk/history/houseintherock/index.html
	Leech House Bedale, North Yorkshire Looking from Bedale bridge on the Aiskew side of Bedale beck, can be seen a unique little castellated building, being the only one of it's kind and listed as grade 2 by English Heritage. This is the 'leech house' so named as it was used by the local apothecary for the storing of leeches, around the time that these were used in medical practice. http://www.bedale.com/leechhouse.htm
	Maister House (18th century) Hull, East Yorkshire Rebuilt in 1743 during Hull's heyday as an affluent trading centre, this house is a typical but rare survivor of a contemporary merchant's residence. The restrained exterior belies the spectacular plasterwork staircase inside. The house is now let as offices. http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/hbcache/property328.htm History of Hull
	Merchant Adventurers Guildhall (14th century) Fossgate, York, North Yorkshire The Merchant Adventurers' Hall, York, was built between 1357 & 1361 and is the finest building of its date and type in Europe. Visitors to the Hall will marvel at the splendour of the Great Hall where business was conducted, courts were held and social events were attended, they will learn about medieval hospitals when they visit the Hall's Undercroft and they will understand more about the religious practices of the time by viewing the Chapel. Visitors will be further delighted to find that the Hall boasts fine collections of paintings, furniture and silver, all of which are on display to the public. The Company of Merchant Adventurers of the City of York recognise the Hall's importance as a place to educate people about the past, and so the Hall is scattered with numerous comprehensive, interesting display boards describing the lives of the medieval merchants who used the Hall in its heyday. http://www.theyorkcompany.co.uk/
	Oldest Chymist's Shoppe in Britain (19th century) Knaresborough, North Yorkshire Located in downtown Knaresborough; the shop dates from the 19th century and displays medical implements, advertisements, and medicines from the period. http://www.knaresborough.co.uk/history/oldest-chymist/index.html
	Piece Hall (18th century) Halifax, West Yorkshire The Piece Hall was opened on 1st January 1779. It was built as a place for handloom weavers to sell their pieces of cloth, hence the name, and was a replacement for an earlier, smaller, Cloth Hall. The building has been renovated and now hosts over 50 shops. The Art Gallery has a wide range of exhibitions every year, including crafts, paintings, prints, sculpture and photographs. http://www.piecehall.info/
	Shandy Hall (16th century) Coxwold, North Yorkshire Medieval house, former home of Laurence Sterne, 18th Century author of Tristram Shandy and A Sentimental Journey and where he wrote both novels. The house, added to by Sterne, is surrounded by 2 acres of garden, part is a walled garden full of old fashioned roses and unusual cottage garden plants, part a wild garden in the adjoining disused quarry. Shandy hall contains a collection of Sterne's work plus an interesting background of contemporary prints and paintings illustrating his novels. This is a lived-in house where you are sure of a personal welcome. http://www.worldofjamesherriot.org/ http://www.dave-ford.co.uk/shandy_hall.htm http://www.hambleton.gov.uk/hambleton/leisure.nsf
	Thorpe Prebend House (16th century) Ripon, North Yorkshire An entertaining and educational 'Ripon in wonderland' experience for all ages, this lovingly restored, sole remaining medieval Canon's House narrates the fascinating story of unique Ripon Minster and its City. Set in the precincts of the minster, be prepared to meet with our founding Saint Wilfred himself and travel in time to explore another world of fith and intrigue. A 'Time Clock', recalls missionary works, battles and plots. Discover which 'Royals' actually did sleep here and askÉ 'Did they sleep easy?' Hear the poetry of poet Wilfred Owen who spent his last, 25th, birthday in the Cathedral before he went back to the Front Line for the last time. http://www.riponcity.info/visitors/placestovisit/thorpe_prebend.php http://www.shopsinripon.co.uk/thorpeprebend.html
	Todmorden Town Hall (19th century) Todmorden, West Yorkshire The town hall in Todmorden straddles the River Calder and is situated in both Lancashire and Yorkshire until the county boundary was moved on January 1st 1888. Designed by John Gibson of Westminster, this imposing building has a northern end which is semi-circular. It is considered one of the finest municipal buildings in the country with a frontage of 53 feet at the County Bridge End, extending 130 feet to the apse and measuring 67 feet to the top of the pediment. http://www.calderdale.gov.uk
	Treasurer's House (14th century) York, North Yorkshire Who is haunting Treasurer's House? Explore the interior worlds of a very eccentric bachelor then dare to step inside our ghost cellar. Named after the Treasurer of York Minster and built over a Roman road, this elegant house is not all that it seems. Discover why visionary, eccentric Yorkshireman Frank Green, who owned the house from 1897 cared so passionately about interior decor - and why he threatened to return to haunt Treasurer's House if any of his furniture was ever moved. Brave our cellar tour to hear about the famous ghostly Roman soldiers who marched on the road beneath the house.Free entry to Tearoom & art gallery. http://www.york-tourism.co.uk/ http://www.touruk.co.uk/houses/houseyorkshire_treasurers.htm
	The Wakeman's House (16th century) Ripon, North Yorkshire A rare surviving example of an early timber-framed dwelling, constructed around the 16th century. The town's first citizen had the title of Wakeman in the Middle Ages, until it was replaced by Mayor in 1604 (James I's charter), and at one time it was believed that Hugh Ripley, Ripon's last Wakeman and first Mayor, lived here. http://www.riponcity.info/visitors/placestovisit/wakemans_house.php
	Sir William Turner's Almshouses (17th century) Redscar, North Yorkshire Founded in 1676 as almhouses for the poor. Lived in continuously from then until today. There is also a fine Georgian chapel which was completed in 1676. http://www.communigate.co.uk/ne/swthospital/<