Ruswarp Hall Hotel was built in the reign of James 1, about 1603, by Nicholas Bushell, a prosperous merchant and ship owner. A son Browne Bushell, was born on 17th May, 1609.

After marrying a daughter of Sir Thomas Fairfax (Cromwell's Chief-of-Staff and victor of Marston Moor), he became a captain in the Parliamentary forces at Scarborough under Sir Hugh Cholmley.

After a conspiracy Browne Bushell was responsible for the betrayal of the Royalist-held Scarborough Castle which was then destroyed by Cromwell's armies upon its capture.

Shortly after this, Browne Bushell, a frequent turncoat, caused the castle to be handed back to the Royalists and as a result was placed under arrest by his father-in-law, Sir Thomas Fairfax, and eventually court-martialled in London on 19th April, 1645. He was found not guilty and rejoined the parliamentary forces with the command of a large ship under Admiral Sir William Batten.

In 1648 Bushell and the other ship's captains betrayed their vessels to the Prince of Wales. For this Bushell was again court-martialled, found guilty, and eventually executed on 29th March, 1651.

The Hall is an interesting example of the period. Built of red brick with stone dressings, it is mainly laid out on two floors. The main entrance is centrally placed and the mullioned windows, seven wide are symmetrically placed across the front, and have alternate straight and curved cleft pediments above them which are characteristic of the work of Inigo Jones.

In the spacious entrance hall there is a fine old original staircase typical of the Jacobean period, with minstrel gallery above. A priest-hole large enough for two or three men is built into the 4 ft. 6 ins. Thick main interior wall.

The interior arrangement of the Hall is in a style current in medium-sized country homes during the transition from the rambling corridors of Elizabethan mansions to the more modern houses of the late Stuart period.

Some alterations have been made over the years in order to increase the number of bedrooms and give modern conveniences to guests, but every effort has been made to retain the original character of this beautiful old building.