Wadworth Hall

Wadworth Hall

Wadworth Hall is a grade I listed Manor House, in the village of Wadworth (near Doncaster), England. It was built in 1749 for the Wordsworth family by the renowned northern architect James Paine. It is currently a private residence and has been since approximately 1995. The house, however, has served a number of purposes over the past 250 years.

The building is constructed of magnesian limestone ashlar with a Westmorland slate roof. The main block is 3 by 4 bays in two storeys with attics with a later service wing attached.^[1]

History

The Wordsworth name appeared in the 11th century after a wave of migration was caused by the Norman Conquest of Britain in 1066. The Wordsworth Family lived in Yorkshire at 'Wadsuuorde' or Wadsworth. The English Language has only been standardised over the last few centuries and names were frequently misspelt on official documents due to illiteracy, giving a possible explanation of why the Hall and its surrounding village is called Wadworth (a variation of Wordsworth).

First found in Yorkshire, the family were seated at Wadsworth, recorded in the Domesday Book in 1086 as 'king's land', a moorland with two churches and scattered houses. An isolated building within the village is said to be the setting of Emily Brontë's famous novel Wuthering Heights. The village was granted by King William to Roger de Bully (believed to be the ancestor of the Wadsworths) for his assistance at the battle of Hastings in 1066.

The estate was then passed on to the Ross family in the 19th century and it is believed by the current owner that the famous explorer, James Clarke Ross, may have once lived there. This is believed to be the case after the discovery of a letter written by the explorer's granddaughter in which she states that her grandfather met his wife-to-be, the then owner's favourite niece, while staying at the Hall which was left to them.

After its use as a family home, it was sold to the 'West Riding County Council' in 1957 and was transformed into a nursing home before it was then sold on to a firm of architects. The architects neglected the building by converting it into offices. In the mid 1990s, the architects downsized and the current owner, Andrew Cusack, moved his computing business in on part of the ground floor of the hall. A year later, the opportunity arose for Cusack to purchase the hall. After acknowledging its tragic neglect, he did so. He quotes "It was in a poor state, it was all lit by striplights and the magnificent fireplaces were all still boxed in. I did quite a lot of renovations which, in truth, increased the price to myself when I bought the freehold for the whole of the property two years ago."

Cusack and his fiancée are still restoring the house.

References

Coordinates: 53°28′08″N 1°08′50″W / 53.4690°N 1.1473°W / 53.4690; -1.1473