Beyond to the south is a carved oak staircase with fluted and foliated balusters, a York motif, standing on steps with scrolled panelled ends.

[2][3] The house was built in c. 1699–1701[4] for Thomas Barlow, a prosperous master cutler who bought the Middlethorpe estate in 1698 as a bid to establish himself as a country gentleman.

Frances Wilkinson died after a brief marriage but her husband and his second wife Louisa Letitia, née Walker (c. 1826–1889) lived at the hall with their six children.

The gardens at Middlethorpe Hall are credited with inspiring the career of their daughter Fanny Wilkinson, the first professional female landscape designer in Britain.

[citation needed] In 1980 it was acquired by Historic House Hotels, who improved and restored the grounds and outbuildings with hundreds of trees planted and the addition of a ha-ha and lake.

A dilapidated late 17th-century dovecote was restored, the kitchen garden was replanted, and stable buildings were converted and extended for additional hotel accommodation.

[citation needed] Trustees of the National Trust completed the transfer deal in September 2008 by declaring the Hall together with two other properties inalienable.