![Burntwood Hall](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b3/Burntwood_Hall._-_geograph.org.uk_-_555949.jpg)
Burntwood Hall is a house that lies near the village of
Great Houghton, South Yorkshire
Great Houghton is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Barnsley (borough), Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley in South Yorkshire, England), on the border with West Yorkshire. It lies to the west of Thurnscoe, on the B6411 r ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
and has been known as Boomshack and Burntwood Nook/Lodge over the centuries.
History
Originally a modest
farmhouse which was bought around 1700 William Marsden Esq, a highly influential
Barnsley attorney and Steward to the
1st Duke of Leeds. He had the house altered to be more suitable for the residence of a
gentleman. William Marsden died in 1718 apparently worth £30,000 he left his estates to be divided in certain proportions amongst his children. His son William, succeeded him as attorney of Barnsley and Royal Surveyor of the Woods north of the
River Trent
The Trent is the third-longest river in the United Kingdom. Its source is in Staffordshire, on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through and drains the North Midlands. The river is known for dramatic flooding after storms and ...
to
King George III
George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...
. He too, was a man of great influence, and was a good deal mixed up in the affairs of the town and district.
His Grandson, Captain Francis Marsden – West Yorkshire Militia/
5th Regiment of Foot
Fifth is the ordinal form of the number five.
Fifth or The Fifth may refer to:
* Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as in the expression "pleading the Fifth"
* Fifth column, a political term
* Fifth disease, a contagious rash that ...
served as a British officer in the early years of the
American Revolution
The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...
. Arriving in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
in 1774 from
Monkstown,
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
he was initially in command of the
Grenadier Company in which he served with Lieutenant Lord
Francis Rawdon
Francis Edward Rawdon-Hastings, 1st Marquess of Hastings, (9 December 175428 November 1826), styled The Honourable Francis Rawdon from birth until 1762, Lord Rawdon between 1762 and 1783, The Lord Rawdon from 1783 to 1793 and The Earl of Moira b ...
. He probably participated in the
battles of Lexington and Concord but at this time the Grenadier Company was commanded by Captain George Harris (later
Baron Harris). The overall command of the regiment at this time fell to Colonel Lord Hugh Percy, later 2nd
Duke of Northumberland
Duke of Northumberland is a noble title that has been created three times in English and British history, twice in the Peerage of England and once in the Peerage of Great Britain. The current holder of this title is Ralph Percy, 12th Duke o ...
.
He died at Burntwood on 12 February 1780, aged 27 from wounds received five years before at the
Battle of Bunker Hill in 1775. He was buried at
Wakefield Cathedral
Wakefield Cathedral, or the Cathedral Church of All Saints in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, is a co-equal Anglican cathedral with Bradford and Ripon Cathedrals, in the Diocese of Leeds and a seat of the Bishop of Leeds. Originally the pa ...
, although his grave has since moved there still stands a wall monument in his memory inside the Cathedral. His sister, Hannah Maria who paid for the monument was married to John Carr Esq of Carr Lodge
Horbury
Horbury is a town in the City of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is situated north of the River Calder about three miles (5 km) south west of Wakefield and two miles (3 km) to the ...
, who was a nephew to the famous architect,
John Carr. Hannah Maria named her son, John Francis Carr in memory of her brother. John Carr of York, John Carr, Hannah Maria and a granddaughter are all buried in the same vault in
St Peter and St Leonard's Church, Horbury.
The Marsden family held the
Lord of the Manor
Lord of the Manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England, referred to the landholder of a rural estate. The lord enjoyed manorial rights (the rights to establish and occupy a residence, known as the manor house and demesne) as well as seig ...
of nearby
Bolton on Dearne
Bolton upon Dearne is a village in South Yorkshire, England, in the part of the Dearne Valley through which the River Dearne passes. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is approximately east of Barnsley, west of Doncaster and ...
with
Goldthorpe
Goldthorpe is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley, in South Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire. It was anciently a small medieval farming village, Goldthorpe is recorded in the ''Domesday Boo ...
and benefited from the 1761-1767
Inclosure
Enclosure or Inclosure is a term, used in English landownership, that refers to the appropriation of "waste" or "common land" enclosing it and by doing so depriving commoners of their rights of access and privilege. Agreements to enclose land ...
Awards, gaining further land from several of the village
commons
The commons is the cultural and natural resources accessible to all members of a society, including natural materials such as air, water, and a habitable Earth. These resources are held in common even when owned privately or publicly. Commons c ...
(Carr, Bolton on Dearne and Goldthorpe among others). The family continued to live mostly in Burntwood, though they had several smaller estates including Newhall, and Kettlethorpe Hall for 150 years. The last being William Henry Marsden, the son of Dr John Marsden who was Vicar of
Felkirk
South Hiendley is a village and civil parish in the City of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England. It has a population of 1,667, increasing to 1,817 at the 2011 Census. Until 1974 it was part of Hemsworth Rural District.
The village is on th ...
and Chaplain to Dr
Robert Hay Drummond
Robert Hay (10 November 1711 – 10 December 1776), known later as Robert Hay-Drummond of Cromlix and Innerpeffray, was successively Bishop of St Asaph, Bishop of Salisbury, and, from 1761 until his death, Archbishop of York.
Origins and birth ...
the
Archbishop of York
The archbishop of York is a senior bishop in the Church of England, second only to the archbishop of Canterbury. The archbishop is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and the metropolitan bishop of the province of York, which covers th ...
, died at Burntwood in 1815.
Burntwood was then bought by Mr. S. H. Taylor who lived here for around 60 years before selling the estate to the local Dymond family, whom continued to live here until 1961. The Hall was then used for several years as offices for a bus company.
Today Burntwood Hall is a
nursing home
A nursing home is a facility for the residential care of elderly or disabled people. Nursing homes may also be referred to as skilled nursing facility (SNF) or long-term care facilities. Often, these terms have slightly different meanings to i ...
for the elderly and the kitchen garden is now a centre for disabled people.
Architecture and Grounds
The hall is a mixture of
classical and
Gothic revival architecture and on the south side there is a porch supported by
doric columns
The Doric order was one of the three orders of ancient Greek and later Roman architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian. The Doric is most easily recognized by the simple circular capitals at the top of col ...
The grounds originally incorporated both an entrance lodge on the south entrance (though this became neglected and was later demolished) and a stable block (now converted and used as staff accommodation). In 2003 some of the garden ornaments, including the sundial were stolen.
It has the only 'secret' tunnel in the area that can be authenticated, running for thirty yards (27 m) under the road to the kitchen gardens. West Haigh Wood and Howell Wood (now a country park) were landscaped as the grounds of the hall and as a game reserve, as was the open space of the old Burntwood. It is possible that there was once a hunting lodge located within Howell Woods though any visible trace of this is long gone.
Artificial lakes were set in Howell Wood and West Haigh Wood, the one in Howell Wood being the only one surviving today and used as a fishing lake. Next to the lake in Howell Woods remains the 18th century
ice house, which is now home to various forms of wildlife.
Howell Wood Country Park is managed by the
Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster
The City of Doncaster is a metropolitan borough with city status in South Yorkshire, England. It is named after its principal settlement, Doncaster, and includes the surrounding suburbs of Doncaster as well as numerous towns and villages. The ...
.
References
*
External links
Howell Wood Country Park
{{coord, 53.5781, -1.3541, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title
Country houses in South Yorkshire
Buildings and structures in the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley
Tourist attractions in Barnsley