Nun Appleton Priory facts for kids

Nun Appleton Priory, 1877

Nun Appleton Priory was a special religious building called a priory near Appleton Roebuck in North Yorkshire, England. It started as a nunnery, which is a place where nuns live and pray, around the year 1150. It was founded by Eustace de Merch and his wife. The priory closed down by 1539, and the nuns who lived there received money to help them.

Nun Appleton Hall: A Historic Home

Nun Appleton Hall in 2014

After the priory closed, the land became the home of the Fairfax family. This large country estate was known as Nun Appleton Hall.

The hall itself is a beautiful building made of reddish-orange bricks with special stone decorations. It has a Welsh slate roof and three floors. It's a very important historical building, listed as Grade II, and sits in a large park area of about 200 hectares.

Fairfax Family and a Famous Poem

The first Lord Fairfax of Cameron, named Thomas Fairfax, bought the estate after many monasteries were closed down in England. The property then passed down to his grandson, Thomas Fairfax, 3rd Lord Fairfax of Cameron. He was a very famous commander during the English Civil War. He built the current hall in the late 1600s.

Around 1651, a famous poet named Andrew Marvell was a teacher for Thomas Fairfax's daughter, Mary. The beautiful estate inspired Marvell to write a well-known poem called Upon Appleton House.

Changes Over the Years

After Mary Fairfax passed away in 1704, the estate was sold around 1711 to William Milner, a wealthy man from Leeds. He made many changes to the house. His son, also named William, became the first Milner Baronet of Nun Appleton Hall in 1717. He was also a Member of Parliament for York.

The Milner family owned the estate until 1875. Then, the owner, Sir William Mordaunt Milner, was more interested in gambling than looking after the property. By 1877, it was rented out to William Beckett-Denison, a rich banker. After Sir William Milner died in 1881, his brother Frederick inherited the estate.

In 1882, Frederick married Adeline, who was William Beckett-Denison's daughter. After William Beckett died in 1890, the Hall and estate were sold to Angus Holden. He was a wool manufacturer and a M.P. who later became Baron Holden. He owned the hall for a short time, as he passed away in 1912.

New Owners and World War II

The hall became empty for a while, and many of the farms on the estate were sold. The estate was put up for auction in 1914 and again in 1917. Eventually, a company bought it, cut down many trees, but then went out of business by 1919.

In 1920, Sir Benjamin Dawson, 1st Baronet, another textile manufacturer from Bradford, bought the property. He was a very important official in Yorkshire from 1951 to 1952. During the Second World War, the hall was used as a maternity hospital for mothers and babies from London. The stable building accidentally burned down, but it was later rebuilt as a theatre for the local community to use.

Nun Appleton Today

The last person to live in the house was Sir Benjamin's daughter, Joan Dawson. In the 1980s, Humphrey Smith, from the Samuel Smith Brewery family, bought the property. Today, the house is fenced off and empty.

Nun Appleton Priory was also important for a young composer named William Baines (1899-1922). The Dawson family became his friends in 1921. He was inspired by the house and its beautiful grounds to write many of his "nature" piano pieces, like Twilight Woods and Glancing Sunlight.

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  Nun Appleton Priory, 1877