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1785 - 17 February. It appears that by this time John Hall Stevenson of Skelton Castle had become a hypochondriac.
| In a letter to his grandson of this date he speaks of financial problems. He also claims to have not enjoyed many pleasures in life and blames this on an unhappy marriage which he entered at too young an age.
March - John Hall-Stevenson died at the age of 67, 52 years after inheriting Skelton estate.
1786 - Death of Joseph William Hall-Stevenson, aged 45, just one year after inheriting Skelton estate.
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1787 - Income tax had not yet been introduced, but the government gathered revenue in other ways. Receivers were appointed and collected taxes quarterly on :- Land [4 shillings in every 20 that the land could be leased for] Windows [on all houses having more than 6 windows] As well as Houses, Shops, Servants, Carriages, Wagons, Carts and horses.
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1788 - The old castle was torn down and the present one built by John Hall Stevenson.
[On May 3rd in this year he changed his name by "royal sign manual" to John Wharton. He was condemned at the time by at least one person -
"he commenced the work of destruction and, at enormous expense, contrived to flood the glen, demolish the terraces, pull down every remnant
of Norman antiquity, including a magnificent tower; But Baines gazetteer of 1823 thought otherwise:- "It presents an elegant, extended front, situated on the brink of a rivulet which by being collected into a reservoir with sloping banks adds greatly to the natural beauties of the place" [What a gateway to the past Skelton would have had, as well as a tourist attraction, if the ancient Castle, with all this great history, still stood and was open to the public]. The above comments "contrived to flood the glen" and "collected into |
 Sir John Soane RA |
a reservoir" seem to suggest that the moat was
created or recreated or deepened for the new castle. There was still a moat in 1857 [see map for that year], but it had been filled in by 1895. The finance to rebuild the castle probably came from John's rich aunt Margaret Wharton. [See 1791]. Baines gazetteer records:- "This lady whose habits were of the most saving kind as far as her own personal expenses were concerned possessed a fortune of £200,000 and amongst the rest of her oddities chose to act as her own executrix and actually made a present during her own lifetime of £100,000 to her nephew, the present worthy possessor of Skelton Castle." Allowing for inflation £100,000 in 1788 would be worth over 7 million in the year 2000 |
| The plans for the new Castle were drawn by Sir John Soane R,A. in 1787. Soane was born in 1753 and
became the leading architect of his day, being made Professor of Architecture at the Royal Academy in 1809. He created new ideas for internal
design and lighting and among many new structures and alterations around the country was responsible for a new Bank of England building in
London and the state dining room at 10 Downing St. His own house in Lincoln Inn Fields in London is now the Sir John Soane Museum. His
designs were often carried out by a local builder so what was built is an interpretation of his ideas. Soanes archives state for Skelton Castle :- "Skelton Hall, Yorks/ John Hall (later Wharton)/ Rebuilding of house: Alts to house, new kitchen wing, lodges and stables/ Rebuilding unexecuted; All else executed & extant, except lodges which are possibly unexecuted & now demolished" The reference to the lodges will be the ones on Guisborough Rd which were still in use in 1895 and presumably demolished when the new one was built on Marske Rd in 1903. |