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 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 ...

which now operates a
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 Norton may refer to: Places Norton, meaning 'north settlement' in Old English, is a common place name. Places named Norton include: Canada *Rural Municipality of Norton No. 69, Saskatchewan *Norton Parish, New Brunswick **Norton, New Brunswick, a ...

within the City of

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

in England. The house 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 ...

, as are several other buildings and features. The park also contain
Norton Oakes Cricket Club
at the Corner of Norton Lane and Norton Avenue.

History

The first building on the site was mentioned in deeds of 1590 when John Parker was the owner. The Parkers were followed by Robert Boulton who purchased the houses for £355 and then Henry Wigfall of Eckington who paid £450 in 1624. The present house was built around the year 1668 by John Lee of nearby Hazelbarrow Hall for his bride Barbara, he purchased the "newly built messuage" for £1,600.''"The Old And Historical Buildings Of Sheffield"'', J. Edward Vickers, (No Publisher), (No ISBN), Page 39, Gives details of early history and Isherwood Bagshawe. Unfortunately Barbara died the same year and the house was sold to Francis Barker of Lees Hall at

Norton Lees Norton Lees () is a residential suburb in the Graves Park ward of the City of Sheffield, England located to the east of Woodseats. History Notable buildings in Norton Lees include Bishops' House—a half-timbered house that was built c. 1 ...

in 1672. Barker lived at the house with his wife Ann for only a short time and the house changed owners several times in a short period. In 1681 John Morewood sold the house to his wife’s brother Henry Gill for £1,240, whose eldest daughter Elizabeth married Richard Bagshawe in 1699. Rotherham Web.
Gives early history.

The Bagshawe family

The Bagshawe family would remain as owners of Oakes Park for the next 288 years (until 1987). Three sons of Richard Bagshawe and Elizabeth Gill (Richard, William and John) held the Oakes estates in succession until the failure to produce an heir meant it was inherited in 1801 by a distant cousin of the family William Chambers Darling, a Hull doctor. Darling changed his name to Bagshawe, was

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

ed in 1806 and undertook a substantial redesign of the house using the Lancaster architect Joseph Badger, whose changes included a complete re-fronting of the house. He also embarked on large-scale modifications to the parkland around the house using

Napoleonic War The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

prisoners to dig out a lake, construct a

walled garden A walled garden is a garden enclosed by high walls, especially when this is done for horticultural rather than security purposes, although originally all gardens may have been enclosed for protection from animal or human intruders. In temperate c ...

and enclose over 100 acres. The terrace in front of the house was designed by

Francis Chantrey Sir Francis Leggatt Chantrey (7 April 1781 – 25 November 1841) was an English sculptor. He became the leading portrait sculptor in Regency era Britain, producing busts and statues of many notable figures of the time. Chantrey's most notable w ...

while the garden is thought to have been planned by John Nash. William Chambers Bagshawe also stocked the house with much fine furniture and antiques. These included paintings by

George Frederic Watts George Frederic Watts (23 February 1817, in London – 1 July 1904) was a British painter and sculptor associated with the Symbolist movement. He said "I paint ideas, not things." Watts became famous in his lifetime for his allegorical work ...

George Stubbs George Stubbs (25 August 1724 – 10 July 1806) was an English painter, best known for his paintings of horses. Self-trained, Stubbs learnt his skills independently from other great artists of the 18th century such as Reynolds or Gainsborough ...

and

Michael Dahl Michael Dahl (1659–1743) was a Swedish portrait painter who lived and worked in England most of his career and died there. He was one of the most internationally known Swedish painters of his time. He painted portraits of many aristocrats and s ...

, furniture by

Thomas Sheraton Thomas Sheraton (1751 – 22 October 1806) was a furniture designer, one of the "big three" English furniture makers of the 18th century, along with Thomas Chippendale and George Hepplewhite. Sheraton gave his name to a style of furniture characte ...

George Hepplewhite George Hepplewhite (1727? – 21 June 1786) was a cabinetmaker. He is regarded as having been one of the "big three" English furniture makers of the 18th century, along with Thomas Sheraton and Thomas Chippendale. There are no pieces of furnit ...

and

Thomas Chippendale Thomas Chippendale (1718–1779) was a cabinet-maker in London, designing furniture in the mid-Georgian, English Rococo, and Neoclassical styles. In 1754 he published a book of his designs in a trade catalogue titled ''The Gentleman and Ca ...

plus beautiful glass and silverware.''"A Popular History Of Sheffield"'', J. Edward Vickers, Applebaum Bookshop, , Page 244, Gives details of furnishings. The tenth owner of The Oakes was the rather eccentric Mrs. Isherwood Bagshawe who did not believe in progressive development and had no modern amenities in the house, she closed all the rooms and covered the art treasures with sacking and old newspaper. In 1963 Major Thornber Bagshawe inherited the house and found that it had no telephone or electric lighting installed, he and his wife Hilary spent a substantial sum of money renovating the house and then opening it up to the general public for viewing. The downfall of Oakes Park as a stately home began in the early 1980s with the construction of the A6102 (Bochum Parkway) as part of the

Sheffield Outer Ring Road Sheffield Outer Ring Road is one of two Sheffield ring road (disambiguation), main routes circumventing Sheffield, England, a partial ring around Sheffield City Centre and its suburbs. Route It begins in Bradway as the B6054 Bradway Road, progr ...

which cut the estate into two, demolishing many old buildings and two

cruck A cruck or crook frame is a curved timber, one of a pair, which support the roof of a building, historically used in England and Wales. This type of timber framing consists of long, generally naturally curved, timber members that lean inwards and ...

barns.''"Listed Buildings In Sheffield"'', Barbara A. West, Hallamshire Press, , Pages 64 & 65, Gives historical details.

Modern developments

The Bagshawes left Oakes Park in 1987 and it was purchased by Henry Boot PLC, the property developers. In October 1997

Sheffield City Council Sheffield City Council is the city council for the metropolitan borough of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. It consists of 84 councillors, elected to represent 28 wards, each with three councillors. It is currently under No Overall Contr ...

granted planning permission for the house to be used as a holiday activity centre. In May 1998 the property was purchased b
The Oakes Trust (Sheffield)
an interdenominational Christian charity who undertook extensive renovation and converted it int
The Oakes Holiday Centre
running residential holidays for young people to hear the Christian message. The centre opened on 1 July 2000. The Oakes website.
Gives details of The Oakes Holiday Centre.

Bagshawe Arms

Although not on the original Oakes Park estate, the Bagshawe Arms stands adjacent to it on the north side of Norton Avenue. It was originally a farmhouse belonging to the Bagshawes built with stone from the local Mawfa Lane quarries, it was enlarged and renovated in 1829 and has served as an inn since at least 1844. There is a stone embedded in the south end of the gable with the initials "F.W.B." (Francis Westby Bagshawe) along with a date of 1859.''"The Old And Historical Buildings Of Sheffield (Section: The Bagshawe Arms)"'', J. Edward Vickers, (No Publisher), (No ISBN), Page 40, Gives details of Bagshawe Arms.

Architecture

The main house in the park is Grade II listed, as are the adjoining terrace walls, steps and gateway. The gateway and adjoining walls at garden entrance to Oakes Park and the gardens are on the register of buildings at risk. The gateway was recently restored with the help of

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 ...

. The Oakes is constructed from coursed rubble with ashlars dressings with a hipped slate roof. The south facing front of the three storey house has a range of nine windows on the first two floors consisting of 12 paned

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 ...

, the third storey is made up of seven six paned sashes. The main entrance has a

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 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 ...

.British Listed Buildings.
Gives architectural details.

References

{{SheffieldStructures Houses completed in 1668 Houses in Sheffield Grade II* listed buildings in Sheffield Country houses in South Yorkshire 1668 establishments in England Grade II* listed houses