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Description:
25th September 2011.
Image shows Moss Hall, a Grade II listed building located near the Sandmoor golf course in Alwoodley Lane. It is built in coursed squared gritstone on two storeys with a blue slate roof. There is a twentieth century addition at the left-hand side. Moss Hall replaced a timber-framed building with stone flagged roof which once stood on the site. This was a farmhouse which was occupied by William Stead in the 17th century. A small drawing of the house appears on Joseph Parker's map of 1682, shortly before it was demolished. It also shows the land leased by William Stead which amounted to 117 acres, made up of arable land, some meadowland but more than half of bogland. The bog was known as 'Great Moss' which is where Moss Hall gets its name. The baptisms of William Stead's children are recorded in Harewood Parish Register between 1684 and 1687 so he may have needed a larger house to accommodate his growing family. When the new house was under construction some of the timbers from the demolished property were incorporated. There is a plaque in the present Moss Hall with a date of 1583 and the initials 'R.C.' From 1682 to 1693 the Manor of Alwoodley was owned by Roger Jackson and in 1729 it was purchased by Robert Benson (c1676-1731), the 1st and last Baron of Bingley, for the sum of
£6,671, 17s 6d. (Above information from 'An Illustrated History of Alwoodley' by Steven Burt.) According to research undertaken by Fred Fountain whose family occupied Moss Hall from 1918 to the mid 1950s, it was once the meeting place for the Manorial Court Sessions, the last one recorded being in 1796.
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