[1] The building is constructed of roughcast ashlar and brick with a Welsh slate roof.
It reverted to the Crown in 1347 when the Warenne male line became extinct and was used as a hunting lodge for most of the next 300 years.
William of Hatfield, the second son of King Edward III, was born in the house in 1336, but died in infancy.
In 1628, the estate was granted by King Charles I to Sir Cornelius Vermuyden, who had been responsible for draining the lands around Hatfield.
He sold it in 1630 to Sir Arthur Ingram of Temple Newsam, in whose family it remained for several generations.