53°38′02″N 1°41′38″W / 53.634°N 1.694°W Whitley Beaumont was an estate near Huddersfield in the West Riding of Yorkshire in Northern England. Whitley Hall (now demolished) was the seat of the Beaumont family. A part of the former estate is now in use as a Scout camp-site.
History
editIn around 1200, the lord of Pontefract Castle, Roger de Laci presented William Bellomonte, ancestor of the Beaumonts of Whitley, with 24 bovates of land, half meadow, half wood and four marks rent on the mill in the same place near Huddersfield. Although there were probably houses built on the site in the interim, the first documented hall was built by Sir Richard Beaumont in the early 17th century.[1][2] The hall was rebuilt in the 18th century in an imposing Georgian style using local millstone grit. The gardens were landscaped by Capability Brown for Richard Henry Beaumont of Whitley Beaumont.[3][4] These improvements includes thicker tree belts, new plantations and extending the park to the south and creating a new entrance and drive. Capability Brown's improvements happened around 1779-1780, as a visit to Whitley Beaumont was recorded in his account book in 1779. A payment for a plan, costing his typical fee of £52 and 10 shillings was sent in May 1780.[5]
By the early part of the 20th century the house stood empty and the fittings were sold in 1917. The estate was bought by Charles Sutcliffe an industrialist in 1924. He was unable to save the house and estate and it continued to deteriorate until it was sold in 1950 and split up, the major part to an opencast mining company and the house was demolished.[6]
Scouting
editCharles Sutcliffe allowed Scouts to use the kitchen gardens to camp in 1928 or 1929 and after the 1950 break-up of the estate an area of land south of the hall passed into the hands of the Huddersfield Scout districts.[7] It is now run by volunteers reporting to Huddersfield South-East district.[8]
References
edit- ^ "Whitley Hall, Whitley Beaumont Estate, Whitley Upper - Huddersfield Exposed: Exploring the History of the Huddersfield Area". huddersfield.exposed. Retrieved 7 November 2017.
- ^ Langdale, Thomas (1822). A topographical dictionary of Yorkshire : containing the names of all the towns, villages, hamlets, gentlemen's seats, &c. in the county of York (2 ed.). Northallerton: Langdale. p. 447. OCLC 963312803.
- ^ Himelfield, Dave (24 April 2015). "Lepton estate is the subject of bizarre film tribute to legendary landscaper Capability Brown". Huddersfield Examiner. Retrieved 7 November 2017.
- ^ Stroud, Dorothy (1 October 1984). Capability Brown (5th ed.). Boston: Faber & Faber. p. 269. ISBN 9780571134052.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) - ^ "Whitley Beaumont - Garden | Capability Brown". competitions.landscapeinstitute.org. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
- ^ "Identifying hidden 'Capability' in West Yorkshire | Heritage Lottery Fund". www.hlf.org.uk. 16 April 2015. Retrieved 7 November 2017.
- ^ "Whitley Beaumont campsite in Huddersfield threatened with closure". Huddersfield Examiner. 2 March 2010. Retrieved 7 November 2017.
- ^ "Welcome". www.whitleybeaumont.co.uk. Retrieved 7 November 2017.