Cusworth Hall facts for kids
Cusworth Hall is a beautiful country house built in the 1700s. It's located in Cusworth, near Doncaster, in South Yorkshire, England. This amazing building is a great example of Georgian architecture, which was popular in the 18th century. Today, Cusworth Hall is a museum where you can learn about the history of the area. It sits in a lovely park called Cusworth Park, which has carefully designed gardens.
The house is made from smooth, cut stone blocks called ashlar and has slate roofs. It has a main rectangular part with many windows and doors, connected to smaller buildings called service wings.
History of Cusworth Hall
The Wrightson family became the owners of Cusworth in 1669. They were important people in the area.
Building the New Hall
The Cusworth Hall you see today was built between 1740 and 1745. It was designed by George Platt for William Wrightson, who was a Member of Parliament. This new house replaced an older one. Later, between 1749 and 1753, another architect named James Paine made more changes to the house.
When William Wrightson passed away in 1760, his daughter Isabella inherited the property. She was married to John Battie, who later added Wrightson to his name. John hired a famous landscape designer named Richard Woods. Woods was known for creating beautiful parks across the country. Cusworth Park became one of his most important projects in South Yorkshire.
Designing Cusworth Park
Richard Woods transformed the park into a huge 250-acre space. He created a winding river with three lakes, and added pretty features like the Rock Arch and the Cascade (a small waterfall). This made the park look very natural and beautiful, following the popular "English Landscape Park" style.
Later Owners
After John and Isabella, their son, William Wrightson (1752–1827), took over the estate. He was also a Member of Parliament and a High Sheriff of Yorkshire. His son, William Battie-Wrightson (1789–1879), inherited the hall next. He was also a Member of Parliament for several areas.
William Battie-Wrightson had no children, so when he died, Cusworth Hall went to his brother, Richard Heber Wrightson. After Richard died in 1891, his nephew, William Henry Thomas, inherited the property. He changed his last name to Battie-Wrightson.
William Henry Thomas married Lady Isabella Cecil. Between 1903 and 1909, Lady Isabella made more changes to the house. She passed away in 1917, leaving the estate to her only son, Robert Cecil Battie-Wrightson.
Selling the Hall
When Robert Cecil Battie-Wrightson died in 1952, his sister inherited the estate. She had to sell many of the items inside Cusworth Hall to pay taxes. Later, she sold the hall itself to the Doncaster Council.
The Cusworth Estate and Park
Cusworth was first mentioned way back in 1086 in a big survey called the Domesday Book. People have lived here for centuries, even since the Anglo-Saxon period. Many different families owned the land, but they didn't always live at Cusworth.
The 'Old Hall'
A large house was first mentioned here in 1327. Robert Wrightson bought the lands of Cusworth in 1669. An old map from 1719 shows that the original hall and its gardens were quite small, only about 1 acre. But there was a much larger "Parke" of about 25 acres. The "Old Hall" was located right next to the walled gardens in the middle of Cusworth village. Between 1726 and 1735, the "Old Hall" was made bigger, and the gardens were changed to include the kitchen garden and the Bowling Green with its Pavilion, which you can still see today.
When the new Cusworth Hall was built between 1740 and 1745, the "Old Hall" was mostly taken down. Many parts from the old building were used again in the new one. The new hall was built high up on a hill, away from the village.
Cusworth Hall and its Buildings
Cusworth Hall and its other buildings are right in the middle of the park. From here, you can enjoy great views over the town of Doncaster. The hall was designed in the Palladian style, which is a type of Georgian architecture. It's a beautiful building with wings that include a stable block and a large kitchen. Later, James Paine added a chapel and a library.
Around the hall, you can find other interesting buildings like a Brew House (where beer was made), the Stable Block, and a Lodge. There's also a pretty garden called Lady Isabella's Garden on the west side, next to the chapel. On the east side, you'll find the stable block and a gardener's building called a bothy. Attached to the bothy is a decorative iron area known as the Peacock Pen.
Cusworth Park
Cusworth Park is a historic designed landscape. It's listed as a Grade II site in the English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens. This means it's a very important historical garden. It was designed by the famous landscape architect Richard Woods to make the park look like the natural, beautiful style made famous by Lancelot 'Capability' Brown. Work on the park started in 1761, creating the winding river and grounds.
The park you see today is about 60 acres (25 hectares). This was once part of a much larger parkland (250 acres) and estate (20,000 acres) owned by the Battie-Wrightson family.
The Walled Garden
The earliest map of the park and walled gardens is from 1719. In 1761, Richard Woods made changes to the walled gardens. The Kitchen Garden and Green House Garden now sit where an orchard used to be. Records show that bricks were bought to build the walled gardens.
The garden was divided into different sections. Some parts were for growing food, others for exotic plants, an orchard, and formal flower gardens. The kitchen gardens even had special pits for growing pineapples!
Entrance Terrace
Old maps show a narrow walled area called the "entrance terrace." The walls of this area might have been made of stone and some parts may still exist. To the south are the main parts of the walled garden. You can get from the terrace down to the bowling green using stone steps.
Bowling Green
This area is described on Richard Woods' plans from 1760. It's a roughly square, walled area where the bowling green is surrounded by a raised, banked path. The area is defined by a brick wall, which was lowered on one side to give a view towards the Green House Garden.
Summerhouse / Bowling Pavilion
This building was constructed in 1726. The summerhouse is the main special building in the walled garden. It has two floors, and you can get to the top floor from the Bowling Green. It looks like the walls were originally covered and painted white. There are windows on the upper floor that look out over the Bowling Green, and windows on the lower floor that look over the Flower Garden.
During its restoration in the 1990s, the upper room was decorated with Trompe-l'œil paintings. These paintings create an illusion of depth, showing imagined views of walled gardens at Cusworth.
Flower Garden
This garden was designed to be seen mostly from the higher position of the bowling green. It was divided by paths and had four formal flower beds. Even though it was one of the smallest sections, the flower garden was the most decorated and carefully designed. It would have looked very formal and colorful, contrasting with the simpler bowling green.
Hall Garden
The purpose of the Hall Garden isn't completely clear, but it seems to have been an extension of the flower garden's design. The Hall Garden has a path around its edge and is divided into two parts by another path in the middle.
Peach House
A whitewashed wall shows where the peach house used to be.
Melon Pits
Melon pits, where melons were grown, ran from east to west in this area.
Orchard
Throughout the 1700s, the orchard was open and not enclosed. It stayed open until the late 1800s. It used to be twice its current size, reaching up to Cusworth Lane. However, the northern half was sold for housing in the 1960s.
Kitchen Garden (No Longer Existing)
The west, south, and east boundary walls of this garden still exist. But the land was sold for housing in the 1960s. There used to be a gate between the Hall Garden and the kitchen garden (you can see where it was bricked up in the northwest corner). This garden had a path around its edge and was planted with trees in straight lines, arranged around a small building at the northern end.
Green House Garden (No Longer Existing)
This area was once part of the original orchard shown on the 1719 map. Richard Woods' plan described it as the Green House Garden, divided into two unequal parts. Both parts seem to have been planted with trees, probably fruit trees. A building next to the bowling green is in roughly the same spot as one shown on the 1719 map. There was also another building, roughly square, in the northwest corner. This was probably a Dovecote (a home for pigeons), which was built in 1736.
The west boundary wall still exists, as does the low east wall along the bowling green. However, this land was also sold for housing in the 1960s.
Recent Changes and Museum
In 1961, the Doncaster Rural District Council bought Cusworth Hall and the park from the Battie-Wrightson family. The Council started to restore the grounds and created the tearooms in what used to be the stable block. The old reception rooms and large galleries now house the Museum of South Yorkshire Life, which officially opened on September 30, 1967.
Cusworth Hall and Park had a huge £7.5 million renovation between 2002 and 2005. This involved important repairs to the hall and a big restoration of the gardens. Inside the hall, repairs were made to the stonework and roof to keep the building dry. Inside, new services were added, and new museum displays were set up.
The restoration of the park was greatly helped by old documents, including notes and sketches by Richard Woods. An archaeological study also helped to record details of features like the Rock Arch, Cascade, and Bridge. This restoration didn't try to make the park exactly like it was in the 1700s. Instead, it combined old elements with a "living" garden that is now doing very well, thanks to work done with the Friends of Cusworth Park.
The Hall reopened to the public on May 23, 2007. The new displays show the history of South Yorkshire. It's a valuable place for local people, students, and school groups to learn.
Cusworth Hall Museum and Park hosts many different events and activities throughout the year, linked to the area's history. These include Country Fairs, old vehicle shows, historical re-enactments, wildlife sessions, and seasonal events. A free, weekly 5 km parkrun takes place every Saturday at 9 am in the park. The first event was on October 5, 2019.
Additionally, Doncaster Museums' Education Service offers many learning sessions for schools and educational places. Experienced Education Officers lead workshops for schools on various topics, as well as after-school activities for families and local communities.
See also
- Grade I listed buildings in South Yorkshire
- Listed buildings in Sprotbrough and Cusworth
