The Red House today.
The Red House was the ancestral seat of the Slingsbys from 1560 until 1902 when it was rented to the Carteret School and then finally sold at auction in 1916. However, the early history of the estate can be traced back to 1086 and the Doomsday Book when it was claimed by Erwin the Priest and the Tenants - in - Chief were the Ughtreds
We visited the the Red House on 24 March 2007 with the kind permission of Major Tony Gordon, the current owner of the estate. The Red House is situated close to the village of Moor Monkton in North Yorkshire, and only a few miles from the site of the battle of Marston Moor ( 1644).
This picture was taken during our visit.
The House, a peparatory school from 1902 to 2001 and is now owned by the Gordon family. The House itself is divided into 4 privately owned homes. Unfortunately the room where Charles I stayed in 1633 on his way to Scotland is now a family bedroom and not open to the public. The current brick facade is Victorian and like all owners of historic building the Gordons face an up hill struggle to maintain the fabric of the building. The first record of the building of this house is a contract dated 14 November 1606 between Sir Henry (elder) and the brickmakers who were to produce 200,000 good and hard bricks, 12 good and perfect thacke tiles and 8 score ridge tiles
Major Gordon had kindly agreed to show us around and we had an extremely interesting couple of hours talking to him about the history of the house and were very grateful that he was able to give us so much of his time.
The Red House is now at the heart of a family run business including an Equestrian Centre, providing Riding Holidays, Livery and a Cross Country Course. There is a Caravan Park, a heated outdoor Swimmimg Pool and Tennis Court. There are also Residential and Commercial lets. Details of what is available can be found at http://redhouse.orpheusweb.co.uk/
Although its not possible to go inside the house as it now consists of 4 private residences we were able to view the Slingsby Chapel originally built by Sir Henry Slingsby and consecrated in 1618.
Above its door is the Latin inscription Pro Termino Vitae Sic Nos Nobis. For our term of life, so we build not for ourselves. The inscription had once been over the main door of the house.
Looking down from the Gallery above one can imagine Sir Henry worshipping here and Sir Henry' son Henry was baptised here on 29 January 1639.
Views of the inside of the Chapel and the beautiful stained glass window in the east. According to Sir Henry's account book the original windows were "9 of theApostles for a window in the chapell at Redhowse of 3 lights 4ft high and 14in broad" The current heraldic glass was installed when the house was altered presumably in the 1800s (I will confirm that)
Heraldic window close ups