Exley Hall, Southowram

Description

Exley Hall is located at Exley, Southowram, near Halifax in West Yorkshire. It is the ancestral seat of the Exley family, established c.1245 when William de Dewsbury (c.1245) came to farm 200 acres on the southern slope of Beacon Hill.

The hall survives today as a Grade II listed building (Historic England list entry 1133898). Historic England describes it as a 17th-century stone house of two storeys with stone roof; the east front retains an arched doorway and mullioned windows on each floor. Inside, the eastern room has incomplete 17th-century panelling and a moulded cross-beamed ceiling. The present building dates to the 17th century, but the site is older.

The manor was sold to John Paslew in 1572, likely marking the family’s transition from declining minor gentry to the emerging clothier class. Deeds and papers concerning the Exley Hall estate are held at The National Archives. By 1990, photographs and sketches by Victor Exley and Mary Fieldhouse show it still standing.

Victor Exley states definitively that all Exleys worldwide originate from this one family at Exley Hall: “one thing is certain that all Exleys, whether in Yorkshire, the rest of England, USA or New Zealand all originate with the one family living at Exley Hall, Southowram in 1245.”

Historical Context

• c.1245: William de Dewsbury settles here
• 1379: John Ecclesley and wife recorded at Southowram in Poll Tax
• 1469: Robert of Southowram received a royal pardon
• 1572: Manor sold to John Paslew
• 17th century: Family leased land in surrounding areas
• 1982: Sketched by Mary Fieldhouse of Bradford
• 1990: Sketched and photographed by Victor Exley (August 1990)

Sources

• Victor Exley - The Exleys A Genealogical Study (1983)
• Exley Hall Sketch - Vic Exley 1990
• Exley Hall Sketch - Mary Fieldhouse 1982
• Exley Hall Photographs Aug 1990

Associated People

• William de Dewsbury (c.1245) — founder
• William de Ecclesley (c.1270) — first to bear the family name
• Robert Exley (c.1450) — received royal pardon
• Victor Exley — researcher, sketched the hall in 1990