Acklam Hall

It was built by William Hustler between 1680 and 1683. A long-held, albeit unverified family tradition claimed that the Hall was visited by a royal progress by King Charles II in 1684. The Hall was extended in 1845 and 1910–12.^[3] It continued to house the Hustlers until the conceding of ownership to Middlesbrough Corporation in 1928. After 1935 it was in public ownership and has been used as a grammar school and a comprehensive school, known as Kings Manor School, with the addition of several modern buildings to the grounds. It was then owned by Middlesbrough Council. Middlesbrough College inherited the site and continued to use it as a college building.^[4]

Internally the building features a main staircase with balustrade carved in spirals and helixes with pomegranate newel posts . The ceilings in the front part of the house have many stucco decorations of wreaths and fruit and some suspended griffons. There is a lantern window in the roof at the top of the staircase. The front room in the second storey spans the width of the house. It was probably a reception/ballroom originally, and has served various functions in education. It was the Assembly Hall for Acklam Hall Grammar School until the opening of the new hall around 1958. It then became the school's main library. Subsequently, the library moved to a new building, later demolished, and the space became the staff common room.

In front of the hall stretches the Avenue of Trees (as it is known locally), with two rows of large oak trees forming a corridor which was likely to have been the route by which visitors originally approached the Hall. These trees stretch from Acklam Road to Hall Drive (immediately in front of the Hall) – a distance of around 0.5 miles.

The coat of arms of the Hustler family can be seen above the main door, with the figure of a Talbot on top. This extinct breed of hunting dog became the emblem of Acklam Hall Grammar School. The front door has a short portico.