Bolling Hall

The Manor of Bolling — recorded as Bollinc — appears in the Domesday Book, then held by a man named Sindi, before passing to Ilbert de Lacy. By 1316 it belonged to William Bolling, and the Bolling family kept the estate until the late 15th century, when it passed to the Tempests. They held it until 1649. After that the Hall changed hands several times, was eventually let out to a number of tenants, and in 1912 was presented to Bradford Corporation. Three years later it opened as a museum.

The Civil War is written into the fabric of the place. During the second siege of Bradford in 1643 the Hall served as a Royalist base, and on that occasion the Royalists took the town — a town with strong Parliamentarian sympathies. It was thought that the victors would put the inhabitants to the sword. That expectation, and the fear that went with it, deserves to be remembered as what it was: ordinary people in a small Yorkshire town, waiting to learn whether they would be killed.

In the 18th century, following a fire, parts of the house were modernised by the architect John Carr, giving the building the layered character it has today. It was designated Grade I listed in 1952. The family's reach extended beyond the estate too: the Bolling chapel at Bradford parish church — now Bradford Cathedral — was founded by the owners of the Hall and restored by the Tempests in the 17th century, though it did not survive the 20th-century rebuilding of the chancel.

Bolling Hall is now a museum and education centre, about a mile from Bradford city centre in East Bowling, and the walk up to it rewards you with the same commanding outlook that made the site worth holding in the first place. There is usually material on display relating to the English Civil War, including a death mask of Oliver Cromwell — a sobering object, and a reminder of how close this quiet suburban hillside once stood to the centre of national events. Allow time for the building itself: the medieval core, and the 18th-century work carried out by John Carr after the fire, read almost as two houses in conversation.

If you want the Hall after dark, organised public ghost hunts are held at the venue by event companies, and they are much the easiest way to see the rooms once the museum day is over. Dress for an old stone building on a hillside.