Grotto, North Yorkshire

Coghill Hall grotto, Knaresborough, North Yorkshire

The Cascade or fall of Water at Coghill-Hall near Knaresborough Yorkshire. Image courtesy of Cumbria Archive Centre, Carlisle (detail) D/SEN ACC4053/41.

Coghill Hall has changed hands, appearances, and names over the centuries. Known today as Conyngham Hall, it is situated on the edge of the town of Knaresborough and the house originally enjoyed views to the ancient castle and church, as well as of the wooded banks of the river Nidd. Knaresborough’s historian, Eli Hargrove, described the situation in 1789:

‘The lawn falls gently towards the river, on the bank of which a fine gravel walk winds through a thick grove to a retired and pleasing spot called the hermitage, where a rustic cell built of stones and moss is placed near a natural cascade, which the river forms by falling over a ridge of rocks.’