Allerton Castle

The Duke of York employed Henry Holland in 1788 to remodel the interior of the house, but sold the estate to Thomas Thornton shortly afterwards in 1789.

According to local legend, the ant-like activity of workers constantly ascending and descending to build this gigantic mound inspired the famous nursery rhyme concerning The Grand Old Duke of York and his 10,000 men.

Dr Rolph set about renovating the building to the highest standards, filling the house with furniture and pictures of appropriate scale and splendour.

The estate is now run by the Gerald Arthur Rolph Foundation for Historic Preservation and Education,[5] and rooms are available to hire for corporate events and weddings.

The interior of Allerton was designed on a vast scale, with late-Gothic decoration in the style of Pugin's work on the Palace of Westminster.

It is adorned by intricately carved oak panelling lit by stained glass windows, and has galleried landings whose walls are hung with full-length portraits including works by Michael Dahl and William Dobson.

The hall is central and gives access to the elegant drawing room, the blue-and-white ballroom, and the library with bookcases based on the original designs and restored in the on-site workshop.

The principal staircase opens off the great hall, under another vaulted ceiling hung with portraits of the Mowbray and Stourton families.

On the walls are portraits by Michael Dahl and Charles Jervas, and vast rococo mirrors, made for Melton Constable Hall in Norfolk.

The ballroom, in the west of the house, was left with bare masonry by Lord Mowbray and Stourton, but Dr Rolph has decorated it with a plaster vaulted ceiling.

On a knoll to the west of the house is the Grade II* listed "Temple of Victory", a fine octagonal building of Palladian design.