Thornbridge Hall

Last updated

Thornbridge Hall
Thornbridge Hall 1871.jpg
Thornbridge Hall in 1871
Thornbridge Hall
Former namesThornbridge House
General information
Town or city Great Longstone
Country England
Coordinates 53°14′06″N1°42′18″W / 53.234959°N 1.705112°W / 53.234959; -1.705112
ClientLongsdon family
Design and construction
Architect(s) J.B. Mitchell-Withers 1871
Charles Hadfield 1897
Website
thornbridgehall.co.uk

Thornbridge Hall (originally Thornbridge House) is a large English country house situated near the village of Great Longstone in the local government district of Derbyshire Dales in Derbyshire. It is a Grade II listed building.

Contents

History

From the 12th to the late 18th century, Thornbridge Hall was the seat of the Longsdon family. In 1790, Andrew Morewood [1] bought Thornbridge Hall for the large sum of £10,000, equivalent to £1,509,300in 2023. He made his money exporting linens from Manchester to St Petersburg in Russia. The Morewood family considerably enlarged the house.

George Morewood died in 1857 and the house was put up for sale. Until around 1870 the house was owned by John Sleigh JP.

In 1872, Frederick Craven acquired the property and in 1873 rebuilt it in Jacobean style and installed the William Morris/Edward Burne-Jones window in the Great Hall. This was done to the designs of the Sheffield architect J.B. Mitchell-Withers. [2] Frederick Craven died in April 1884 [3] and the house was put up for sale in 1895.

In 1896, George Marples, a Sheffield businessman and lawyer, extended the house to nearly its present form, built lodges and cottages, landscaped the park and gardens, added his own private railway station, and acquired the Watson buffet fountain from Chatsworth House.

The estate was sold in May 1930 for £16,750 [4] to Charles Boot, the Sheffield entrepreneur who designed and built Pinewood Studios. At the sale it was reported that the estate covered 185,453 acres. In a three-day auction in June 1930, many of the contents were sold. [5] Charles Boot added items from Clumber Park and panelling from Derwent Hall. His company, Henry Boot Construction, was contracted to demolish Clumber after a fire in 1938. It was Boot who was responsible for bringing the many items to Thornbridge. On the death of Charles Boot in 1945, many of the contents were sold at auction raising £8,000 [6] but Thornbridge Hall still retains a vast array of statues, facades and fountains originally belonging to Clumber.

Sheffield City Council took over the house in 1945 and it became a teacher training college, Thornbridge Hall College of Education. At this time the house was of sufficient note that a Great Western Railway GWR 6959 Class steam locomotive – No. 6964, built in May 1944 – was named Thornbridge Hall in June 1947. It was withdrawn from service in September 1965 and later scrapped at T. Ward in Beighton, Sheffield. [7] In later years, the hall was used as an educational and conference centre by the council, providing residential facilities for teachers and pupils in the house itself and in various outbuildings.

The Hunt family purchased the house from the Council in 1997 for £850,000 [8] and started restoration work to the gardens, and removed additions to the house to reveal its earlier proportions.

Gardens

The 12 acres of formal gardens were designed at the end of the 19th century by Simeon Marshall, working for the James Backhouses & Sons Nursery. They were inspired by the vision of the owner, George Marples, to create a '1000 shades of green' to be viewed from his bedroom window. Areas of the garden include the Italian Garden, Scented Terrace, Water Garden, Koi Pond, Kitchen Garden and Orangery, amongst others.

A programme of redevelopment in the gardens is currently underway.[ citation needed ]

2011 Scented Terrace created. Situated below the Kitchen Garden and The Orangery. The garden is full of lilacs, roses, bearded irises, lilies and other fragrant flowers and plants.

2017 New Knot Garden created. Replacing a box hedge knot garden, the new knot garden is full of stunning grasses, salvias, alliums, geums and yew

2019 Cascade Garden (phase1) created. Situated below the koi pond, and complete with a waterfall, this area has been terraced by gabions filled with a mixture of tufa and yew. Bananas, ginger, tree ferns, bamboo, gunnera and many other 'exotic' plants fill this area.

In 2017, the gardens became an RHS (Royal Horticultural Society) Partner Garden. They are open to the public on selected days between April and September.

Present use

The house in 2006 Thornbridge Hall 171166 2c9ad802.jpg
The house in 2006

From 2002, Thornbridge Hall has been owned by Jim and Emma Harrison, owners of Thornbridge Brewery and A4e respectively, [9] [10] and is both a private family home and a venue for events, including weddings. The gardens are open to the public between April and September.

The original Thornbridge Brewery was based in a converted joiner's and stonemason's workshop within the grounds of Thornbridge Hall.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kedleston Hall</span> Seat of the Curzon family, located in Kedleston, Derbyshire

Kedleston Hall is a neo-classical manor house owned by the National Trust, and seat of the Curzon family, located in Kedleston, Derbyshire, approximately 4 miles (6 km) north-west of Derby. The medieval village of Kedleston was moved in 1759 by Nathaniel Curzon to make way for the manor. All that remains of the original village is the 12th century All Saints Church, Kedleston.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Worksop</span> Market town in Bassetlaw, Nottinghamshire, England

Worksop is a market town in the Bassetlaw District in Nottinghamshire, England. It is located 15 miles (24 km) south of Doncaster, 15 miles (24 km) south-east of Sheffield and 24 miles (39 km) north of Nottingham. Located close to Nottinghamshire's borders with South Yorkshire and Derbyshire, it is on the River Ryton and not far from the northern edge of Sherwood Forest. Other nearby towns include Chesterfield, Gainsborough, Mansfield and Retford. The population of the town was recorded at 44,733 in the 2021 Census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Markeaton</span> Human settlement in England

Markeaton is a suburban village and former civil parish within Derby in the ceremonial county of Derbyshire, England. It is in the Mackworth Ward of Derby City Council.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kelham Island Brewery</span> Brewery in Sheffield, England

The Kelham Island Brewery was a small independent brewery based in the Kelham Island Quarter area of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. It closed down in May 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Totley</span> Suburb of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England

Totley is a suburb on the extreme southwest of the city of Sheffield, in South Yorkshire, England. Lying within the historic county boundaries of Derbyshire, Totley was amalgamated into the city of Sheffield in 1933, and is today part of the Dore and Totley electoral ward in the city, though it remains close to the contemporary county boundary of Derbyshire. Totley had a population of 7,963 in 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clumber Park</span> Estate in Worksop, Nottinghamshire, England

Clumber Park is a country park in The Dukeries near Worksop in the civil parish of Clumber and Hardwick, Nottinghamshire, England. The estate, which was the seat of the Pelham-Clintons, Dukes of Newcastle, was purchased by the National Trust in 1946. It is listed Grade I on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edale railway station</span> Railway station in Derbyshire, England

Edale railway station serves the rural village of Edale in the Derbyshire Peak District, in England. It is located 20 miles (32 km) west of Sheffield and 22 miles (35 km) east of Manchester Piccadilly. The station was opened in 1894 on the Midland Railway's Dore and Chinley line, now known as the Hope Valley Line.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Longstone</span> Human settlement in England

Great Longstone with Little Longstone is one of two villages in the local government district of Derbyshire Dales in Derbyshire, England. The population as taken at the 2011 Census was 843.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matlock Cable Tramway</span>

Matlock Cable Tramway was a cable tramway that served the town of Matlock, Derbyshire, UK between 28 March 1893 and 30 September 1927.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thornbridge Brewery</span> Brewery at Bakewell, England

Thornbridge Brewery is an English, independent brewery founded at Thornbridge Hall, now based in Bakewell, Derbyshire, and known for its Jaipur American style IPA beer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Watson Fothergill</span>

Watson Fothergill was a British architect who designed over 100 unique buildings in Nottingham in the East Midlands of England. His influences were mainly from the Gothic Revival and Old English vernacular architecture styles.

The Monsal Trail is a cycling, horse riding and walking trail in the Derbyshire Peak District. It was constructed from a section of the former Manchester, Buxton, Matlock and Midland Junction Railway, which was built by the Midland Railway in 1863 to link Manchester with London and closed in 1968. The Monsal Trail is about 8.5 miles (13.7 km) long and opened in 1981. It starts at the Topley Pike junction in Wye Dale, 3 miles (4.8 km) east of Buxton, and runs to Coombs Viaduct, 1 mile (1.6 km) south-east of Bakewell. It follows the valley of the River Wye. The trail passes through Blackwell Mill, Chee Dale, Millers Dale, Cressbrook, Monsal Dale, Great Longstone, Hassop and Bakewell. The trail has numerous landmarks including Headstone Viaduct, Cressbrook Mill, Litton Mill and Hassop railway station, and passes through six tunnels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Longstone for Ashford railway station</span> Former railway station in Derbyshire, England

Great Longstone for Ashford railway station was a station which served Great and Little Longstone in the Peak District of Derbyshire. It was opened in 1863 by the Midland Railway on its extension of the Manchester, Buxton, Matlock and Midlands Junction Railway from Rowsley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hassop railway station</span> Former railway station in Derbyshire, England

Hassop railway station was a station situated about two miles from the village of Hassop in the Peak District of Derbyshire. It was opened in 1862 by the Midland Railway on its extension of the Manchester, Buxton, Matlock and Midlands Junction Railway from Rowsley.

Emma Louise Harrison CBE, was a key shareholder of A4e and the company's chairperson until 24 February 2012. Harrison's father, Roy Cridland, founded the company A4e before appointing Harrison as a director of the business in 1991 when the company was worth £125,000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oakes Park, Sheffield</span>

Oakes Park is a privately owned, historic park land in the green-belt area of south Sheffield. It contains 15 private homes as well as a 17th-century English country house which now operates as The Oakes Holiday Centre, a Christian, residential activity centre for young people between the ages of 8 and 18. It is set in extensive grounds which make it very difficult to be seen by the general public. It is situated on Norton Lane in the suburb of Norton within the City of Sheffield in England. The house is a Grade II* listed building, as are several other buildings and features.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sugworth Hall</span> Country house in Bradfield, South Yorkshire, UK

Sugworth Hall is an English country house on Sugworth Road in Bradfield Dale, near Sheffield, England. It is situated approximately 8 miles (13 km) west from Sheffield City Centre. The hall is a Grade II listed building which stands within the Peak District National Park at a height of 984 feet (300 m) above sea level.

Great Longstone is a civil parish in the Derbyshire Dales district of Derbyshire, England. The parish contains 31 listed buildings that are recorded in the National Heritage List for England. Of these, one is listed at Grade I, the highest of the three grades, one is at Grade II*, the middle grade, and the others are at Grade II, the lowest grade. The parish contains the village of Great Longstone and the surrounding area. Most of the listed buildings are houses, cottages and farmhouses and associated structures. Part of the gardens of Thornbridge Hall are in the parish, and these contain a number of listed buildings. The other listed buildings include a church, a cross in the churchyard, the village cross, two public houses, a former guidepost used as a gatepost, a former railway station, a war memorial, and a telephone kiosk.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baslow Hall</span>

Baslow Hall is a Grade II listed building in Baslow, Derbyshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Brightmore Mitchell-Withers (senior)</span>

John Brightmore Mitchell-Withers FRIBA (1838–1894) was an architect based in Sheffield.

References

  1. "THORNBRIDGE HALL, Ashford in the Water - 1001275 | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 30 January 2022.
  2. "Contracts" . Sheffield Daily Telegraph. England. 4 March 1873. Retrieved 24 June 2023 via British Newspaper Archive.
  3. "Dear of Mr F. Craven JP of Longstone" . Matlock Visiting List. England. 18 April 1894. Retrieved 24 June 2023 via British Newspaper Archive.
  4. "Thornbridge Hall. Sheffield Man Buys Estate for £16,750" . Sheffield Daily Telegraph. England. 23 May 1930. Retrieved 24 June 2023 via British Newspaper Archive.
  5. "Thornbridge Hall Contents" . Derbyshire Times. England. 28 June 1930. Retrieved 24 June 2023 via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. "Thornbridge Hall Sale" . Derbyshire Times. England. 9 November 1945. Retrieved 24 June 2023 via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. "Great Western Railway Hall class details". www.greatwestern.org.uk.
  8. "Agency reports a record year" . Nottingham Evening Post. England. 31 December 1997. Retrieved 24 June 2023 via British Newspaper Archive.
  9. "Business profile: The Thornbridge Brewery" . The Independent. 3 March 2009. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022.
  10. "My A4e - Who We Are". www.mya4e.com. Archived from the original on 15 October 2009. Retrieved 13 January 2022.