Burton Agnes Hall
OS grid reference:- TA 103 633
Burton Agnes Hall is an Elizabethan manor house in the village of Burton Agnes, near Driffield in the Eastern Yorkshire. The hall was constructed by Sir Henry Griffith in 1601-10 to designs attributed to the celebrated Elizabethan architect Robert Smythson.
The medieval Burton Agnes Manor House, which dates to 1173, still stands on an adjacent site and retains an impressive vaulted Norman undercroft. The estate has been in the hands of the same family since Roger de Stuteville first built a manor house on the site in 1173. In 1457 Sir Walter Griffith came to live at Burton Agnes. The Griffiths were of Welsh descent but had emigrated to Staffordshire in the thirteenth century and inherited the Burton Agnes estate. St. Martin church in Burton Agnes contains the alabaster tomb effigy depicts Sir Walter Griffith, the 'Dark Knight' who fought for the Lancastrians during the War of the Roses. Sir Walter's great-grandson Henry Griffith was appointed to the Council of the North in 1599 and began to build a new house in the Elizabethan style in 1601. He did not demolish the old medieval manor, but built the new hall next to it.
The hall contains much original Elizabethan plasterwork and woodcarving. The magnificent Great Hall features a stunning detailed chimney piece and a carved oak and stone screen. The Jacobean staircase boasts intricate oak carvings.
Burton Agnes Hall is surrounded by award-winning gardens, which include the national collection of campanulas. There is a walled garden with over 4000 different plant species, a jungle garden (with exotic and large-leafed plants), a yew maze, and woodland walks.
St. Martin's Church at Burton Agnes dates to the thirteenth century and is Grade I listed building. It stands on a hillside behind the hall. The church is approached through an arch formed by the branches of tall yew trees and contains the tombs to the owners of Burton Agnes manor.