Architecture
Michael Wentworth began rebuilding Woolley Hall in 1635. The new Woolley Hall consisted of an 'H'-shaped building of moderate size. An east wing was added to the south front around 1680. The western wing was added during the mid eighteenth century. The eastern wings which form the rest of the present building were added in the early nineteenth century.
The house is constructed of hammer-dressed sandstone, with a slate roof. There are four storeys including the attic and basement.
The main entrance is located at the south side of the house. There is an open porch, built in 1800. Over the steps to the main entrance, a balustraded balcony is supported by two pillars. A semicircular balustrade runs from the bottom of the steps to the edge of the south walls of the west and east wings. This balustrade matches that on the porch balcony.
The western wing was built in the mid-eighteenth century. There is a single gable, matching those of the south front. At either side is an embattled parapet. The crest of the Wentworth family can be seen on the gable.
The north front of the house has a central three storey canted bay, with tall arched sash windows to the ground floor and rectangular sashes above, and an embattled parapet at the edge of the roof.
At the east side are service ranges added around 1800, around a yard open at the north-east side. The seventeenth century extension to the south-west of the yard is gabled and has original seventeenth century windows, as does the part of the 1635 building that is still visible.
The core of the house has a king-post roof with single angle struts, while the west wing has its own king-post roof and the east wing a 6-bay notched-collar truss roof.
The stable blocks lie further to the east of the main house. The northern stable block was constructed by Watson and Pritchet in 1805-1810, of hammer-dressed sandstone, built in a U-shaped plan, facing south-east, and consisting of two storeys. The central section has a single gable, which is decorated with a plaque bearing the Wentworth griffin. Behind this gable is a clock-tower, upon which is mounted a weather vane in the form of a griffin. The smaller south stable block faces the north block across a courtyard. Again, the building is two-storey, and is constructed of hammer-dressed sandstone. Upon the cornice the Wentworth griffon can be seen. Attached to the front is a five-step mounting block with a dog-kennel underneath. The building was constructed in 1810 by Thomas Taylor.
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