Kildwick Hall, the Jacobean mansion owned by Morrison's supermarket director Chris Blundell, is for sale at £1.5 million.

The 17th century eight bedroomed mansion, with panoramic views across the Aire valley, has been restored to a family home by Mr Blundell since he bought it in 1991.

The Morrison's business development director lives there with his wife and four children. He is the nephew of supermarket chief Ken Morrison, 67, whose family is among the richest in the country.

The hall, a Grade 11 listed building which was the home of Sir John Brigg MP for Keighley between 1895 and 1911, was converted to a hotel and country club in 1947.

Craven ward Councillor Eric Dawson (Tory) said he hoped the sale would not jeopardise the historic significance of the building.

"It is part of the local history," he says. "I'm not concerned whether it stays as a family home or becomes a business again, so long as the fabric of the building is maintained. It is important that the structure is conserved"

In the early 1970s, when taken over by the owners of the Box Tree in Ilkley, the restaurant was voted Egon Ronay restaurant of the year.

Later it was run as a high class French restaurant by Frenchman Patrick Benrezkellah, but it lasted only 12 months. He left claiming Yorshiremen did not appreciate French cooking and were too tight fisted.

Owners in the eighties ran the hotel and restaurant for about six years, then it was bought by an ex-Bradford policemen and his wife but their ownership lasted only about nine months.

The last owners in the early 1990s went into receivership in 1991 and a number of treasures went under the auctioneer's hammer to meet unpaid bills.

One painting was sold for £4,800 to the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, while some furniture went to a chateaux in Calais, France. Over 400 bargain-hunters flocked to the sale, which raised £91,796.

In 1920 the hall was used as the setting for Thrushcross Grange in the silent movie version of Emily Bront's Wuthering Heights.

It is in 80 acres, boasts a listed Palladian pavillion incorporating a staff flat and a gym.

It has a separate three bedroomed cottage and a stable block big enough for 16 horses.

The Kildwick Hall site has been inhabited since the 12th century, when it was owned by the monks of Bolton Priory - Bolton Abbey.

They had possession until the sacking of the monasteries during Henry VIII's reign in the mid 1500s. The land was then owned for some time by various speculators.

Eventually, it was bought by Henry Currer in 1558, whose descendants lived in it for the next 300 years.

The oldest parts of the house are believed to be the kitchen block, built in 1617.

The impressive facade seen today dates from about 1673 and is an elegant example of Jacobean architecture.

The building has an old court house, and across the road a sunken walled garden has been restored to its former splendour.

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