Bretton Hall is a

country house An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...

West Bretton West Bretton is a village and civil parish near Barnsley, West Yorkshire, England. It lies close to junction 38 of the M1 motorway at Haigh. It has a population of 546, reducing to 459 at the 2011 Census. There is a school in the village, Wes ...

near

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 99,251 in the 2011 census.https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks101ew Census 2011 table KS101EW Usual resident population, ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

, England. It housed

Bretton Hall College Bretton Hall College of Education was a higher education college in West Bretton in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. It opened as a teacher training college in 1949 with awards from the University of Leeds. The college merged with the Univ ...

from 1949 until 2001 and was a campus of the

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

(2001–2007). It is a Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

History

In the 14th century the Bretton estate was owned by the Dronsfields and passed by marriage to the Wentworths in 1407.

King Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disag ...

spent three nights in the old hall and furnishings, draperies and panelling from his bedroom were moved to the new hall. A hall is marked on

Christopher Saxton Christopher Saxton (c. 1540 – c. 1610) was an English cartographer who produced the first county maps of England and Wales. Life and family Saxton was probably born in Sowood, Ossett in the parish of Dewsbury, in the West Riding of Yorkshire ...

's 1577 map of Yorkshire. The present building was designed and built around 1720 by its owner, Sir William Wentworth assisted by James Moyser to replace the earlier hall. In 1792 it passed into the Beaumont family, (latterly Barons and

Viscounts Allendale A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status. In many countries a viscount, and its historical equivalents, was a non-hereditary, administrative or judicial ...

), and the library and dining room were remodelled by John Carr in 1793. Monumental stables designed by

George Basevi Elias George Basevi FRS (1 April 1794 – 16 October 1845) was a British architect who worked in both Neoclassical and Gothic Revival styles. A pupil of Sir John Soane, his designs included Belgrave Square in London, and the Fitzwilliam Muse ...

were built between 1842 and 1852. The hall was sold to the West Riding County Council in 1947. Before the sale, the panelling of the "Henry VIII parlour" (preserved from the earlier hall) was given to Leeds City Council and moved to

Temple Newsam Temple Newsam (historically Temple Newsham), () is a Tudor- Jacobean house in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, with grounds landscaped by Capability Brown. The estate lends its name to the Temple Newsam ward of Leeds City Council, in which it ...

house. The hall housed Bretton Hall College from 1949 until 2001 and was a campus of the University of Leeds from 2001 to 2007. Plans to convert the hall to a hotel and offices were submitted for planning approval. and were approved in April 2013.

Architecture

The oldest part of the house, the south range dates from about 1720 and was designed by the owner, Sir William Wentworth and Colonel James Moyser. It was enlarged when the north range was added in the 1780s by William Lindley of Doncaster. A

bow window A bow window or compass window is a curved bay window. Bow windows are designed to create space by projecting beyond the exterior wall of a building, and to provide a wider view of the garden or street outside and typically combine four or more w ...

and

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cult ...

were added to the south range and the block linking the two ranges was remodelled between 1811–14 by Jeffrey Wyatt for Colonel Thomas and Diana Beaumont. Around 1852 Thomas Richardson added the projecting dining room on the house's east front for Thomas Blackett Beaumont.

Exterior

The house has a three-storey nine-bay by five-bay main range while the rest is two storeys high. It is built in

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

ashlar Ashlar () is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared, or a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitruv ...

and its roof is hidden behind a

balustrade A baluster is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its con ...

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). Whe ...

. It has tall ornamental chimney stacks and the Wentworth shield decorates two ornamental rainwater heads. The south range has a symmetrical facade with a central

Doric Doric may refer to: * Doric, of or relating to the Dorians of ancient Greece ** Doric Greek, the dialects of the Dorians * Doric order, a style of ancient Greek architecture * Doric mode, a synonym of Dorian mode * Doric dialect (Scotland) * Doric ...

portico. The ground and first-floor windows have 12-pane

sashes Sashes Island is an island in the River Thames in England at Cookham Lock near Cookham, Berkshire. It is now open farmland, but has Roman and Anglo-Saxon connections. The island is located between Hedsor Water and the present navigation cha ...

with triangular

pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedimen ...

s to the ground floor and

cornices In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...

to the first. The shorter second floor windows have casements added later. The south front has a three-bay

with tall ground-floor windows. The centre window was originally a doorway accessed by a flight of four steps. The seven-bay north range has a symmetrical facade where the three centre bays have giant

pilaster In classical architecture Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the ...

s supporting a pediment. Either side of central eight-panel double door are 12-pane sash windows while the first-floor has nine-pane sash windows. A three-bay link block joins the ranges and terminates in the

orangery An orangery or orangerie was a room or a dedicated building on the grounds of fashionable residences of Northern Europe from the 17th to the 19th centuries where orange and other fruit trees were protected during the winter, as a very large ...

. The orangery is built on a two-step

podium A podium (plural podiums or podia) is a platform used to raise something to a short distance above its surroundings. It derives from the Greek ''πόδι'' (foot). In architecture a building can rest on a large podium. Podiums can also be used ...

. Its seven bays are divided by square Tuscan

piers Piers may refer to: * Pier, a raised structure over a body of water * Pier (architecture), an architectural support * Piers (name), a given name and surname (including lists of people with the name) * Piers baronets, two titles, in the baronetages ...

which support the

frieze In architecture, the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Paterae are also usually used to decorate friezes. Even when neither columns nor ...

, cornice and blocking course.

Interior

The entrance hall to the south range has a

groin vault A groin vault or groined vault (also sometimes known as a double barrel vault or cross vault) is produced by the intersection at right angles of two barrel vaults. Honour, H. and J. Fleming, (2009) ''A World History of Art''. 7th edn. London: L ...

ed passage with three arches and piers and its walls are decorated with

grisaille Grisaille ( or ; french: grisaille, lit=greyed , from ''gris'' 'grey') is a painting executed entirely in shades of grey or of another neutral greyish colour. It is particularly used in large decorative schemes in imitation of sculpture. Many g ...

paintings. Its main staircase has a

wrought iron Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.08%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4%). It is a semi-fused mass of iron with fibrous slag Inclusion (mineral), inclusions (up to 2% by weight), which give it a ...

handrail. On either side the old billiard room and former breakfast room have

Adam style The Adam style (or Adamesque and "Style of the Brothers Adam") is an 18th-century neoclassical style of interior design and architecture, as practised by Scottish architect William Adam and his sons, of whom Robert (1728–1792) and James (173 ...

ceilings from about 1770. The link range has an entrance vestibule with four piers supporting a glazed

dome A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...

pendentive In architecture, a pendentive is a constructional device permitting the placing of a circular dome over a square room or of an elliptical dome over a rectangular room. The pendentives, which are triangular segments of a sphere, taper to points ...

s. On the first floor the vestibule opens onto the half-landing of the south range's main staircase. The old drawing room has a

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

ceiling with pendant bosses. The former library and music room were in the Regency style of the 1811–14 extensions. The library had an

apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an ''exedra''. In ...

where there was an organ, a coved ceiling with

rinceau In architecture and the decorative arts, a rinceau (plural ''rinceaux''; from the French language, French, derived from old French ''rain'' 'branch with foliage') is a decorative form consisting of a continuous wavy stemlike motif from which small ...

decoration, and a marble fireplace. The dining room was decorated in the

Rococo style Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...

in about.1852. It has an elaborate marble fireplace and frieze and its ceiling is decorated with musical instruments.

Park and gardens

The pleasure grounds and parkland around the hall were the work of landscape gardeners Richard Woods in the 18th century and

Robert Marnock Robert Marnock (1800–1889) was one of the outstanding English horticulturalists and garden designers of the 19th century. He was considered by his contemporaries to be the best exponent of the Gardenesque school of landscape gardening. Life Bef ...

, the estate's head gardener, in the 1820s and 1830s. The hall overlooks the

River Dearne The River Dearne South Yorkshire, England flows roughly east for more than , from its source just inside West Yorkshire. It flows through Denby Dale, Clayton West, Darton, Barnsley, Darfield, Wath upon Dearne, Bolton on Dearne, Adwick upon D ...

which flows in an easterly direction through the parkland. It is dammed to form two lakes. Oxley Bank, a linear earthwork forms the park's eastern boundary. Within and around the Grade II listed parkland and pleasure grounds are several historic structures. Four lodges stand at the estate's main entrances. North Lodge and the grade II listed Haigh Lodge were probably designed by Jeffrey Wyattville at the same time as his 1811–14 extensions at the hall. Archway Lodge, a grade II* listed building by William Atkinson in 1805 takes the form of a giant archway with fluted columns. The extensively altered Hoyland Lodge is on Litherop Lane to the south. The redundant Grade II* listed

St Bartholomew's Chapel, West Bretton St Bartholomew's Chapel is a former estate church in the grounds of Bretton Hall, in West Bretton near Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England. The redundant Grade II* listed chapel has been restored as gallery space for the Yorkshire Sculpture Park ...

built by William Wentworth in 1744 has been restored as gallery space. The parkland is the home of the 224 acre (90 ha)

Yorkshire Sculpture Park The Yorkshire Sculpture Park (YSP) is an art gallery, with both open-air and indoor exhibition spaces, in West Bretton, Wakefield, in West Yorkshire, England. It shows work by British and international artists, including Henry Moore and Barbar ...

and the 100 acre (40 ha) Bretton Country Park which has been a designated local nature reserve since 1994. The development of accommodation and car parks for the college and multiple use as a country and sculpture park and general neglect in the second half of the 20th century led to the historic landscape's fragmentation and it was designated "at risk" by

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

in 2009. Yorkshire Sculpture Park is now responsible for most of the park and, in partnership with

Natural England Natural England is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. It is responsible for ensuring that England's natural environment, including its land, flora and fauna, ...

, who provided funding, and English Heritage, has a conservation management plan for the park. Trees and scrub have been cleared to provide access to a lakeside perimeter walk.

References

External links

University of Leeds press release on the proposed closure of Bretton Hall Campus

BBC news item about the sale to Wakefield Council

Information about location of Bretton Estate archives
* Bretton Hall alumni website www.bretton-hall.com {{coord, 53.6107, -1.5729, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Buildings and structures in the City of Wakefield Grade II* listed buildings in West Yorkshire Country houses in West Yorkshire Buildings and structures of the University of Leeds Local Nature Reserves in West Yorkshire Bretton Hall College West Bretton