Grand designs from deepest Doncaster
From the archive
A SHORT time ago a selection of Yorkshire’s lost country houses were featured on this page. Several readers pointed out that at the end of the 19th century, Doncaster probably boasted more country houses than any other Yorkshire area. Many have been demolished, some put to other uses, while a few still survive as private houses. At the end of the 19th century, Doncaster’s country houses numbered over 30, mostly occupied by families who had been there for many years, even centuries, living off their estates which were thriving.
Illustrations of several houses were made by Yorkshire-born engraver Samuel Buck (16961779), who produced a batch of prints of local country seats, ancient castles and monasteries, and these are invaluable topographical records. One shows Cusworth Hall before a new structure was erected a little way to the west from the old site. The building Buck drew was then demolished. The new Cusworth Hall was completed around 1755 at a cost of about £20,000 and was occupied by members of the Wrightson and Battie Wrightson family for almost two centuries. When Robert Cecil Battie Wrightson died in 1952, the hall and estate passed to his sister Maureen Pearce. To pay her brother’s death duties, assessed at around £280,000, Mrs Pearse sold the hall’s contents. Thereafter, Mrs Pearse leased the hall to several parties, until it was purchased by Doncaster Rural District Council in 1961 for £7,500, later to become a museum. Cusworth Hall receives many visitors each year and is a popular tourist attraction.
It was fortunate that Buck drew Edlington Hall as the building was demolished around the early 19th century. Discovering the sketch, noted artist Mick Durrant was inspired to elaborate Buck’s brief outlines to produce a more detailed idea about how the house may have appeared. By 1804 it was described as being in a ruinous condition.
There is a small collection of photographs dating from the mid-to late 19th century of Doncaster country houses, among them Nether Hall, Crookhill Hall, the old Brodsworth Hall, Bawtry Hall, and Campsall Hall. Nether Hall was formerly in a 30-acre woodland park until just over a century ago when the estate was developed for housing. In 1935, workmen stumbled on many secrets the old hall had guarded, including a large, pulley-operated bath allegedly used by a man weighing 22 stone. During the 1980s, the building was altered to provide more offices for Doncaster Council and still survives. This is not the case with Crookhall Hall and Campsall Hall both having been demolished.
Crookhill Hall once stood in the midst of 90 acres of its own parkland. It was a plain Georgian house of seven bays and two storeys. After belonging to the Woodyeare family for a number of years the mansion and land was eventually sold to the West Riding County Council in 1926 for £6,500, becoming a home for consumptives (or TB cases) until 1963. The building became a target for vandals and was severely damaged by two fires in 1968, resulting in its demolition. During 1973, the grounds were converted for use as a golf course.
Another mansion destroyed by fire was Carr House, built by Hugh Childers after he purchased the Carr House estate in 1604. One of his descendents, Leonard Childers (b. 1673), was associated with the famous racehorse, known either as Bay Childers or Flying Childers. For a period during the 20th century, Carr House was a fever hospital but after it was closed it was deliberately destroyed by fire.
Barnburgh Hall was formerly an Elizabethan building that was considerably altered in the 18th century. The house was often used in the 16th century as a refuge by Roman Catholics and priests. Perhaps the hall was best known for its connection with Sir Thomas More. According to a newspaper report of May 27, 1932, More visited Barnburgh to arrange a marriage between his only son John and Anne Cresacre whose family occupied the hall for generations. The three Elizabethan gables with mullioned and transomed windows remained until the building was demolished amid much controversy in the late 1960s.
Among the surviving Doncaster country houses is the splendid mansion at Sandbeck Park. The first recorded house at Sandbeck was built around 1626, by Sir Nicholas Saunderson. His family was succeeded by the Lumleys in 1724. Thomas Lumley was a younger son of the 1st Earl of Scarborough, becoming 3rd Earl of Scarborough, his elder brother predeceasing him. Thomas died in 1752, and his son and heir married, in the same year to Barbara Savile, living in Glentworth. In 1753, Thomas and Barbara engaged James Paine to produce plans for altering Glentworth, but these were never carried out. Preferring to live at Sandbeck, they decided to move there.
Architect James Paine was first called to Sandbeck in 1757. Eventually, he produced ideas to make alterations and additions to the old house. One of the main features of the old house, sometimes known as the salon,
was adapted to a ballroom. The room contains one of the finest ceilings in this part of the country. Around the time of the alterations, Capability Brown was engaged to make a lake at Sandbeck. The mansion is one of South Yorkshire’s great surviving houses but neither the house or grounds are open to the public.
Hooton Pagnell Hall is a survivor. Ralph de Paganel built the oldest part of the hall as a hunting box (lodge) and additions were made to it by his successors until it developed into the embattled Manor House which is visible from today. During the 1890s, the Warde Aldam family occupied the building. Aware of some indiscretions taking place among the estate workers, Julia Warde Aldam wrote: ‘Any member of the family of any of my tenants having an illegitimate child or children born to them or being proved to be the father of such a child or children born to them or being proved to be the father of such child in the parish of Hooton Pagnell shall at once receive notice to quit.” In more recent times, the Hooton Pagnell estate and hall have fallen to the Warde Norbury family. The hall is now the private residence of Mark and Lucienne Warde-Norbury and is not open to the public.
Another survivor is Brodsworth Hall, built between 1861 and 1863 for Charles Sabine Thellusson. In 1990, owner Pamela Williams gave the house and gardens to English Heritage. After major work on the house and gardens was completed in 1995, the area was opened to the public.
Beachfield House was one of several impressive properties in the centre of Doncaster. When built c. 1812, it stood alone in a rural setting and included almost five acres, containing ornamental planting, a meadow and kitchen gardens. During the early 20th century, Beachfield House was acquired by Doncaster Corporation for £12,000. By 1910, it was occupied by an art gallery and museum. In the post-war years, Beachfield continued as one of the town’s major institutions, and even included a zoo, until the house and grounds were cleared in 1962 for the building of a new technical college.
Workmen stumbled on a large, pulley-operated bath used by a man weighing 22 stone.