Cannon Hall is a country house museum located between the villages of Cawthorne and High Hoyland some 5 miles (8km) west of Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England. Originally the home of the Spencer and later the Spencer-Stanhope family, it now houses collections of fine furniture, paintings, ceramics and glassware. It at one time housed the Regimental Museum of the 13th/18th Royal Hussars (Queen Mary's Own) and the Light Dragoons, which has now closed.[1] Now occupying four rooms in the east wing is the "Family of Artists" exhibition on loan from the De Morgan Foundation, which draws on the links between the Spencer Stanhopes and the De Morgans.[2]
The building is constructed of coursed sandstone with ashlar dressings with a symmetrical layout of a central 3-storey block of 5 bays and slightly set back 2-storey side wings of 3 bays.[3]
History
Although there was a house on the site when the Domesday Survey of 1086 was conducted, Cannon Hall picked up its current name from the 13th-century inhabitant Gilbert Canun. By the late 14th century Cannon Hall was in the ownership of the Bosville family of Ardsley, now a suburb in south-east of Barnsley. It was during this period that the most violent event in Cannon Hall's history took place. The Bosvilles had let the Hall out to a family (whose name has been lost), the daughter of whom was romantically involved with a man named Lockwood. Lockwood had been involved in the murder of Sir John Elland, the High Sheriff of Yorkshire. The tenant, afraid of the position in which he could find himself accommodating a fugitive, sent word to Bosville. Bosville's men arrived at Cannon Hall, where the fugitive was slain in a cruel and violent manner.
Cannon Hall's history settled down after this notably unpleasant episode. In 1660 the estate was purchased by John Spencer, a Welsh hay-rake maker. The Spencer family had arrived in Yorkshire from Montgomeryshire in the Welsh borders, a safer place than Wales for those with Royalist sympathies such as those of the Spencers (John Spencer even managed to get a pardon from Charles II himself when John was held in York prison on manslaughter charges). The Spencer family became active in the local iron and coal industry - notably under John Spencer (died 1729) who took advantage of the death of his partners to establish control.[4] The family built a huge empire and funded the rebuilding of Cannon Hall.
The core of the present Cannon Hall was built at the opening of the 18th century for John Spencer Stanhope, possibly by John Etty of York, more surely with interior joinery by William Thornton, another well-known local craftsman. It was enlarged with the addition of wings in 1764–67 by the premier mid-Georgian architect working in Yorkshire, John Carr. Subsequently, the wings were heightened, giving the rather high-blocked mass seen today. The last member of the family, Elizabeth, sold the house to Barnsley Council in 1951.
Cannon Hall Museum opened to the public in 1957.[5]
Current activities
Cannon Hall Museum, park and gardens is owned and operated by Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council. The Hall has a programme of events, including the annual Regency Ball, a Christmas Fair each December and guided tours, workshops and children's activities throughout the year. A florist, plant and gift shop has also been recently established in the old potting shed outbuilding next to the walled garden.
Gardens and historic plant collection
The Walled Garden Greenhouses at Cannon Hall
The parkland surrounding the hall was landscaped in the 18th century by Richard Woods of Chertsey, and features acres of parkland, lakes, waterfalls, follies and vistas. The Victorian pleasure grounds are located close to the Georgian walled garden, which houses a collection of over forty varieties of pear trees, among other plants.
The central glasshouses rebuilt in the Victorian era also house the original Cannon Hall Muscat grapevine. Reputedly grown from a seed brought back from Greece by John Spencer Stanhope, the large white table grape has been cultivated extensively in California and Western Australia (local spelling, Canon Hall Muscat) and has acted as rootstock for a number of premium hybrid cultivars including the Japanese Pione grape.[6]
De Morgan Foundation
In March 2016, Cannon Hall Museum and the De Morgan Foundation, a registered charity[7] preserving the work of William De Morgan and Evelyn De Morgan, entered into a collaboration which saw the opening of the "Family of Artists" long-term exhibition in the east wing of the Museum.[8]
↑ Awty, B. (23 September 2004). Spencer family (per. c. 1647–1765), ironmasters. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Retrieved 28 December 2017, see link
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Barnsley is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 96,888 in 2021, while the wider borough had a population of 244,600 in the 2021 census.
The Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley is a metropolitan borough in South Yorkshire, England; the main settlement is Barnsley and other notable towns include Penistone, Wombwell and Hoyland.
Cawthorne is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England. The village was once a centre of the iron and coal mining industry; today it is part of an affluent commuter belt west of Barnsley. At the 2001 census it had a population of 1,108, increasing to 1,151 at the 2011 Census.
Penistone and Stocksbridge is a constituency in South Yorkshire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 by Marie Tidball, a Labour MP. As with all Westminster constituencies, adults qualifying to vote in the seat elect one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system at least every five years.
Shepley is a village in the civil parish of Kirkburton, in Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England. It lies 8 miles (13 km) south south east of Huddersfield and 6 miles (9.7 km) north west of Penistone.
John Roddam Spencer Stanhope was an English artist associated with Edward Burne-Jones and George Frederic Watts and often regarded as a second-wave pre-Raphaelite. His work is also studied within the context of Aestheticism and British Symbolism. As a painter, Stanhope worked in oil, watercolor, fresco, tempera, and mixed media. His subject matter was mythological, allegorical, biblical, and contemporary. Stanhope was born in Cawthorne, near Barnsley, Yorkshire, England, and died in Florence, Italy. He was the uncle and teacher of the painter Evelyn De Morgan and encouraged then unknown local artist Abel Hold to exhibit at the Royal Academy, which he did 16 times.
Walter Spencer-Stanhope, of Horsforth and Leeds, Yorkshire, was a British industrialist and a politician who sat in the House of Commons for various constituencies between 1775 and 1812.
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Gertrude Spencer-Stanhope (1857–1944) was an English sculptor and painter. She was the niece of John Roddam Spencer-Stanhope and the cousin of Evelyn Pickering De Morgan, both of whom were noted pre-Raphaelite painters.
Spencer-Stanhope is the family name of British landed gentry who for 200 years held Cannon Hall, a country house in South Yorkshire that since the 1950s has been a museum. The hyphenated form of the name is more common in British orthography, but American sources often omit the hyphen and alphabetize by "Stanhope."
St James’ Church, Midhopestones is situated in the small rural hamlet of Midhopestones, just within the northern boundary of the City of Sheffield in South Yorkshire. Since April 1969 it has been a Grade II* listed building. St James is small church which is often referred to as a chapel, in fact it is situated on Chapel Lane. The church is officially dedicated to James the Less and not James the Greater although there has always been some confusion. Some modern historians and clergy maintain that the church should be dedicated to James the Greater as the scallop shells carved above the church door are the traditional emblem of James the Greater. It is possible that it was re-dedicated to James the Less in the Victorian era because of the smallness of the church. The church is in the Parish of Penistone within the Diocese of Wakefield.
Thoughts of the Past is an oil painting on canvas by English Pre-Raphaelite artist John Roddam Spencer Stanhope, first exhibited in 1859 and currently housed at Tate Britain.
Cannon Hall Farm is a working farm and tourist attraction close to the village of Cawthorne, near Barnsley in the English county of South Yorkshire. Open to visitors since 1989, it is owned and run by the Nicholson family. The farm was voted Best Tourist Experience at the Welcome to Yorkshire White Rose Awards 2011. Cannon Hall Farm was once the home farm for Cannon Hall, built by the Spencer-Stanhope family and now a museum. Roger Nicholson, who developed the current farm and attractions inherited the land when he was 16. The farm itself raises sheep, goats, and pigs, with over 750 lambs reared, and 400 ewes and 800 piglets produced annually. The site's visitor attractions include an adventure playground, large tube maze, farm shop, delicatessen, gift and toy shop, and restaurant.
Barnsley Archives and Local Studies exists to preserve and make available the documentary heritage of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley. The department has been based in Barnsley Town Hall since the opening of the Experience Barnsley Museum and Discovery Centre in 2013, made possible by Heritage Lottery funding. It is part of Barnsley Council's Arts, Museums and Archives Service. Prior to 2013, the department was based on the top floor of Barnsley Central Library in Shambles Street.
The De Morgan Foundation is a charity registered with The Charity Commission For England And Wales, Registered Charity No. 310004 since 1970.
John Spencer Stanhope (1787–1873) was an English landowner and antiquarian.
Pione is a large-berried, purple skinned, table and rosé wine grape variety that has been grown in Japan since 1957.
Horsforth Hall Park is a 3.38 hectares community park in Horsforth, West Yorkshire, England, approximately six miles from Leeds city centre.
Cawthorne is a civil parish in the metropolitan borough of Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England. The parish contains 80 listed buildings that are recorded in the National Heritage List for England. Of these, three are listed at Grade II*, the middle of the three grades, and the others are at Grade II, the lowest grade. The parish contains the village of Cawthorne and the surrounding countryside. In the parish is the country house of Cannon Hall, and its grounds, Cannon Hall Park. The hall is listed, together with associated buildings and structures in the park. Most of the other listed buildings are houses, cottages, and associated structures, farmhouses and farm buildings. The other listed buildings include a church and items in the churchyard, particularly grave slabs, bridges, a former corn mill, a former toll house, a guide post and milestones, drinking fountains, sculpted panels in a wall, a well, and a telephone kiosk.
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