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Located on the western side of the Aire Valley above Bingley in West Yorkshire, St Ives Estate is a country park of 217ha. Much of the estate is woodland and heath, and in these areas are various places with evidence of ancient settlements in the Stone, Bronze and Iron Age, Roman and medieval periods. These include the “Fairfax entrenchment”, an ancient ditch named after a Civil War general but actually much older. From the 12th to the 16th centuries the land belonged to Rievaulx and Drax abbeys and was known as Harden Grange.

After the Dissolution it passed through various hands, latterly the Ferrand family from 1636. They included Walker Ferrand who landscaped part of the estate in the early 19th century, and William Ferrand MP who in 1858 renamed it “St Ives”. The Ferrand family sold the estate to Bingley Urban District Council in 1928. It now belongs to Bradford District Council who maintain it with public access to a most of the estate other than the mansion, golf course and riding school.

The whole estate is a Grade II listed park. The 17th century Harden Grange, the 19th century St Ives Mansion (now a care home), and several other individual buildings are also listed grade II.

Sources: Some of the above text is taken from the website of the Friends of St Ives Link and some from the list description (Historic England list entry 1001707).