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Described by the Yorkshire Post as 'Yorkshire's Best Kept Secret'. Markenfield Hall is three miles south of Ripon, tucked privately away down a mile long winding drive, stands one of the most astonishing and romantic of Yorkshire's medieval houses. Built defensively in 1310 by Canon John de Markenfield, it is still completely moated. The Hall surrounds a wide central courtyard, with much of the 1310 build unaltered to this day - including the Great Hall and the Chapel. The Hall remained the residence of the de Markenfield family until 1569, when it was forfeit to the crown as a result of the family's central part in the Rising of the North. Once confiscated the Hall was granted to Thomas Edgerton, Master of the Rolls to Queen Elizabeth and Lord Chancellor to James I, though he never lived there he used it to house the farm manager of the Markenfield Estate. In 1761 it was acquired by the first Lord Grantley and remains in the Grantley family to this day. Rarely open to visitors until 2001, this year the Hall can be visited by the public on just 28 afternoons or as part of an organised group at any other time.