Originally a preceptory for the Knights Templar was built here c. 1155 and then Thomas Darcy erected the first house on the site between 1488–1521. Sir Arthur Ingram acquired the property in 1622 and built the current building. It is known as the ‘Hampton Court of the North’.
Over more than a century, the Society has built up a number of special collections, notably its archive, map and image collections, which have recently been re-catalogued to make them more accessible. These collections are housed in the Society’s library, based at the Leeds Library, 18 Commercial Street, Leeds LS1 6AL.