# Grimethorpe Hall, S.Yorks, March 2017



## HughieD (Mar 5, 2017)

*1. The History*

Grimethorpe Hall is a Grade II double star listed building which was built in 1670 for a family home for Robert Seaton who had previously married Theodicia Adwick of Arksey the year before. The north wall was built in all stone with the rest of the building being of combined brick and stone with tall pilasters framing the south door. Inside the ceiling of the entrance hall was supported by three stout Doric columns. Theodicia died in March 1713 and Robert Seaton followed just over three years later in December 1716 aged 78. The hall then passed to his son Richard Seaton and when he died, aged 83, in 1770, Grimethorpe Hall then passed to a Mr Bayldon of York. Following his death the hall passed by will to Richard P. Strangeways of Dunnington. In 1839 his widow, Sibyl Strangeways, sold the Hall to Richard Crookes, a Surgeon and Apothecary in Barnsley. Grimethorpe Hall had an estate of 131 acres and in 1841 the hall boasted five servants, a farmer, his labourer, his wife Eliza North and his two-year-old son and 6-year-old daughter. Richard Crookes moved in with his brother William and wife Mary in London in March 1845 but died a few months later. 

A trust was set up to manage his estate with provision to maintain the buildings. Richard Crook’s nephew John Farrer Crookes was granted the use of Grimethorpe Hall. On his death in 1882 the estate appears to have passed to his youngest son James Frank Crookes and then on to his son. Captain Arthur Dillon Farrer Crookes. He then sold Grimethorpe Hall to the Carleton Main Colliery Company about 1925 .The history then gets a bit sketchy. In 1981 and 1988 there were applications submitted for the demolition of the hall, which were both refused. In recent years there have been two attempts to convert the hall into a restaurant, the most recent in 2004 when it was purchased for £195,000. The hall was then bought by a company registered in Gibraltar. When the company ceased trading the building passed to The Crown ‘bona vacantia’, due to the owner’s non-compliance with Companies House requirements. Historic England had decided to grant £10,000 to add to the £6,000 already made available via Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council’s Section 106 monies for essential emergency repairs in 2015. Unfortunately due to ownership problems neither of the monies could be used on the building, due to legal implications surrounding the hall’s ownership. To further complicate matters, a charge of £115,000 held against the property at the land registry was discovered. Hence the future of the hall today is very much in the balance.

*2. The Explore*
Third location on a busy schedule round a rain-soaked Barnsley. This was always going to be an external-only job as the hall is tightly sealed. It’s just a hop over the fence but the hall has enough architectural merits to warrant a report.

*3. The Pictures*

View on arrival:


Grimesthorpe Manor 4 by HughieDW, on Flickr

Front the side:


img9039 by HughieDW, on Flickr

Full-frontal:


Grimesthorpe Manor 2 by HughieDW, on Flickr

Front door:


img9040 by HughieDW, on Flickr


img9049 by HughieDW, on Flickr


img9047 by HughieDW, on Flickr

Window detail:


img9041 by HughieDW, on Flickr

One that’s been bricked up:


img9045 by HughieDW, on Flickr

Round the back:


img9043 by HughieDW, on Flickr

The side door:


img9053 by HughieDW, on Flickr


img9054 by HughieDW, on Flickr

A letter-box that opens!


Grimesthorpe Manor 3 by HughieDW, on Flickr

Let’s take a peek inside:


Grimesthorpe Manor 1 by HughieDW, on Flickr

Thanks for looking!


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## The_Derp_Lane (Mar 6, 2017)

Nicely captured, and great history too. Thanks for posting.


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## HughieD (Mar 6, 2017)

dauntless - UE said:


> Nicely captured, and great history too. Thanks for posting.



Pleasure mate. Glad you liked it! Would make a nice restoration project if they could sort the legals out and find a buyer with a bit of brass. But, then again, I guess that goes for a lot of places!


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## Dirus_Strictus (Mar 6, 2017)

HughieD;339706Would make a nice restoration project if they could sort the legals out[/QUOTE said:


> Another late '50's haunt and it was a mess inside then. The restoration will take very deep pockets and the listing, once again, will not make future usage a simple task. The sale to the colliery in 1926 (in records I have seen) was due to subsidence problems that might arise due to the running direction of the seams. Sadly the later addition of the servant quarter attics has completely ruined the looks of the original 17th C country house.


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## Rubex (Mar 6, 2017)

Excellent write up and pics HughieD


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