Acklam Hall is a Restoration

English Restoration

The Restoration of the English monarchy began in 1660 when the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under Charles II after the Interregnum that followed the Wars of the Three Kingdoms...

 mansion

Mansion

A mansion is a very large dwelling house. U.S. real estate brokers define a mansion as a dwelling of over . A traditional European mansion was defined as a house which contained a ballroom and tens of bedrooms...

 in the former village

Village

A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...

, and now suburb

Suburb

The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...

, of Acklam in Middlesbrough

Middlesbrough

Middlesbrough is a large town situated on the south bank of the River Tees in north east England, that sits within the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire...

, in the unitary authority

Unitary authority

A unitary authority is a type of local authority that has a single tier and is responsible for all local government functions within its area or performs additional functions which elsewhere in the relevant country are usually performed by national government or a higher level of sub-national...

 of Middlesbrough

Middlesbrough (borough)

-External links:*...

 and the ceremonial county

Ceremonial counties of England

The ceremonial counties are areas of England to which are appointed a Lord Lieutenant, and are defined by the government as counties and areas for the purposes of the Lieutenancies Act 1997 with reference to the metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties of England and Lieutenancies Act 1997...

 of North Yorkshire

North Yorkshire

North Yorkshire is a non-metropolitan or shire county located in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England, and a ceremonial county primarily in that region but partly in North East England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972 it covers an area of , making it the largest...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. It is a Grade I listed building.

It was built by William Hustler

William Hustler (draper)

William Hustler was an English draper of the Hustler family. He built Acklam Hall in Cleveland in the early 1680s; it is now one campus of a further education institution, Middlesbrough College.-External links:*...

 in 1678. A long-held, albeit unverified family tradition noted that the Hall was subject to a royal progress by the then-sovereign, King Charles II

Charles II of England

Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...

, in 1684. It continued to house the Hustlers until the conceding of ownership to Middlesbrough Corporation in 1928. Since 1935 it has been in public ownership and has been used as a grammar school

Grammar school

A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and some other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching classical languages but more recently an academically-oriented secondary school.The original purpose of mediaeval...

 and a comprehensive school

Comprehensive school

A comprehensive school is a state school that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude. This is in contrast to the selective school system, where admission is restricted on the basis of a selection criteria. The term is commonly used in relation to the United...

-known as Kings Manor School

Kings Manor School

King's Manor Speciality Sports School is a secondary school in Acklam, Middlesbrough, England. It is situated on Hall Drive and is next to Hall Garth Performing Arts School; the two schools will merge in 2010. The new school will combine both Performing Arts and Sports specialities. Hall Garth,...

, with the addition of several modern buildings to the grounds. It is presently owned by Middlesbrough College

Middlesbrough College

Middlesbrough College, located on one campus at Middlehaven, Middlesbrough, England, in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, is the largest college in the Tees Valley.-Admissions:...

 and Middlesbrough Council

Middlesbrough (borough)

-External links:*...

. Middlesbrough College inherited the site and continued to use it as a college building. The owners revealed plans in 2011 to sell the hall to developers

Internally the building features a magnificent main staircase with balustrade carved in spirals and helixes. The ceilings in the front part of the house feature many stucco

Stucco

Stucco or render is a material made of an aggregate, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as decorative coating for walls and ceilings and as a sculptural and artistic material in architecture...

 decorations. There is a fine rose window

Rose window

A Rose window is often used as a generic term applied to a circular window, but is especially used for those found in churches of the Gothic architectural style and being divided into segments by stone mullions and tracery...

 in the roof at the top of the staircase. The front room in the second story spans the width of the house. It was probably a reception/ballroom originally, and has served various functions in education, most notably as the main library for Acklam Hall Grammar School.

Architectural details

Above the door are the Arms of the Hustler family, with the figure of a Talbot

Talbot (dog)

The talbot was a white hunting dog which is now extinct because of its lack of purpose and need for constant care, but it has been credited with being an ancestor of the modern beagle and bloodhound...

 on top. This extinct breed of hunting dog became the emblem of Acklam Hall Grammar School. The front door has a short portico

Portico

A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls...

.

Historical note

Although the Hustler family occupied the Hall for 300 years, in the early part of the 20th century the estate was inherited by Mostyn Hustler Hopkins from his mother Everard Hustler, second wife of William Innes Hopkins, owner of a local steelworks and construction company, Hopkins, Gilkes & Co.. The Hopkins family fortune was destroyed by the association of this company with the Tay Bridge Disaster. It is therefore possible that the sale of the Hall to the town of Middlesbrough was in part due to this infamous episode.

Image gallery

The following images were taken during an "open house" held in September 2007.

These images, taken at the same time, show the neglected state of some of the early 20th century buildings attached to the Hall, and of the East Quad.