Timeline: 1158 – 1949

For a timeline of  1949 – 2007    CLICK HERE

For a timeline of  2007 onwards    CLICK  HERE

Bretton Hall   –   Family and Estate

from 1158 – 1949

Introduction by Richard Flowerday (Guide at YSP and BEd student 1966- 1970)

(Click on images to enlarge)

This timeline is intended to highlight the main events in the history of the Bretton family and estate for almost 700 years before the opening of the College by the West Riding in 1949.  This rich and varied history perhaps helps explain why Bretton was, and remains, a very special place.  In all this time only one family lived there  albeit connected by marriage when there were no male heirs.  This is a family that produced the mother of a Queen,  have a saint amongst their numbers and were High Sheriff of Yorkshire for some three hundred years.  Perhaps as important as these facts is the creation by the family of a special home and grounds that have come to mean so much to all those who were students at Bretton during its time as a college.  I have not attempted to provide a comprehensive timeline but one which will be of particular interest to those of us who came to know Bretton for a special period of our lives.

I have to thank Leonard Bartle for allowing me to use part of his much more comprehensive timeline and making archive materiel available and for the use of some Heritage Team material at Yorkshire Sculpture Park.  This team provide a range of tours to open up the history of the park and family.  Details can be found on the YSP website – ysp.org.uk/heritage.

Images of members of the Wentworth and Beaumont families have been kindly supplied by Lord Allendale.

Richard Flowerday.  April,  2020

1158  – The Manor of West Bretton was taken by Adam de Bretton when he came to live near Huddersfield.

1251 – Hugh de Bretton became Lord of the Manor of West Breton and the last de Bretton to hold this title as he had no male heirs.

1261  – Thomas de Dronsfield married Hugh de Bretton’s daughter and settled in the area.

Dronsfield Coat of Arms

1379 – John de Dronsfield  was listed as the Lord of the Manor of West Bretton and lived in Villa de Bretton. This is the first mention of a house on the Bretton estate.

1385 – John de Dronsfield built a Chapel of Ease dedicated to St Bartholomew. This was on a site to the south of the present bottom lake.

1390-1399 – William de Dronsfield was employed in the service of Henry Bolinbroke.   William was knighted when Bolinbroke became King Henry iv in 1399.

1401-1406 – Sir William Dronsfield was appointed to the position of  High Sheriff of Yorkshire and became a member of parliament.

1407 – Sir William Dronsfield died with no heir. His estate passed to his sister Agnes who was married to John Wentworth of South Elmsal

1430  Agnes Dronsfield’s grandson, Henry Wentworth had a daughter Margery, who was mother to Jane Seymour- wife of Henry VIII

Wentworth Coat of Arms

 1488 – Richard Wentworth supported Richard lll, but was pardoned by Henry Vll.

1523 – Matthew Wentworth was knighted by Henry VIII

1530 – Matthew built a new timber-framed house on the estate, the second of three houses known to have been built on the estate.  The positions of the first two houses are unknown.

​1533 – Sir Thomas Wentworth was appointed Knight Marshall to Henry VIII.

1541 – Special bed and bedroom built within Bretton Hall for the visit of Henry VIII .  Legend says that Henry spent three nights at Bretton.  It is not clear if Henry did actually stay at Bretton. Contents of this room are now on show at Temple Newsam House in Leeds.

Henry Viii’s Bedroom at Bretton

For further information and images of the Henry VIII Parlour  Click  Here

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1594-98 –  Matthew Wentworth, leading JP for the area, had to deal with his mother, niece and her husband who were all leading recusant catholics in Yorkshire.  His mother recanted  but his niece and husband were tried in York and sentenced to death.  They are among the English Martyrs canonised by Pope John Paul ll.

1641-1651  – Thomas Wentworth supported Charles l at battles with the Scots and through the Civil war.   He was imprisoned by Cromwell for a year.

1660 – At the Restoration,  in 1660, Thomas was knighted by Charles ll.   

1664 – Sir Thomas Wentworth was elevated to the peerage and  became the first Baronet Wentworth.

1st Baronet Wentworth

1685  – Grace Countess Eglinton ( wife to Sir Thomas until his death in 1675)  gave the well at the south side of the bottom lake for use of estate workers.

Lady Eglinton’s Well

The Countess is buried at Silkstone Church with Sir Thomas in a very impressive tomb in the Bretton side chapel.

For further information and images:   Click  Here

1706  – Sir William Wentworth inherited the Bretton Estate at the age of 19 and became the 4th Baronet Wentworth. 

He was the first of four generations to develop Bretton Hall and estate as we know it today.

Sir William Wentworth (1686-1763)

1709-12 – Sir William went on a Grand Tour of Europe and became a life-long friend of Lord Burlington and Patron to William Kent.  Lord Burlington introduced Sir William to the new style of Palladian Architecture.

1720 – The second timber-built house at Bretton  was destroyed by fire.

Sir William arranged to build a new house of stone in the Palladian style.

“Palladian – Style” Architecture

This proposed new mansion was the third-known family home to be built on the Bretton estate. 

It was one of the earliest group of Palladian-style structures  in the country, and formed the first section of the Bretton buildings that we know so well today.

1744 – Sir William had the present Estate Chapel built and dedicated it to St Bartholomew as had been the case for the first chapel in 1385.

Estate Chapel

Outside of the chapel, underneath the east window, a small fenced-off area of the ground was reserved for the burials of future Wentworth (and subsequently Beaumont) family members rather than Silkstone Church which had been the case from 1407 until this date.

Estate Chapel Graveyard

1763 – Sir William Wentworth died. 

He was the first of ten former inhabitants of Bretton Hall to be buried in the chapel graveyard.

1763 – Sir Thomas Wentworth inherited on his father’s death.

Thomas remained a bachelor, but fathered a number of illegitimate children.

The most significant of Sir Thomas Wentworth ‘s offspring  was   Diana Wentworth.

1764 – Sir Thomas started to landscape Bretton Park under the direction of Richard Woods of Chertsy, a lesser-known Capability Brown.

1765 – Sir Thomas was appointed High Sheriff of Yorkshire by Marquis of Rockingham, Prime Minister, who was also Thomas’s cousin ( Wentworth Woodhouse branch of the family).

1766 – Sir Thomas was visited by another cousin – John Wentworth – before the latter went out to be Royal Governor of New Hampshire in America. John named his American timber plantations ‘Bretton Woods’.

1767 – Sir Thomas went to the Quarter Sessions in Rotherham to remove all the ‘rights of way’ from the Bretton Estate. This was granted to all but the present right of way that goes from Bretton village across Cascade Bridge to High Hoyland, which made way for the development of the landscaping of the grounds.

Cascade Bridge leading to High Hoyland on the left, and Bretton Village on the right.

1770  – The upper lake was completed, including  five islands and  a boathouse at the far west perimeter.     In the same year work began on the construction  of the lower lake.

View of the Upper Lake

(Additionally – there is evidence of the existence of another boathouse, close to the Cascade Bridge, on the north side of the upper lake,  with two willow trees allegedly “guarding”  access.   All that exists now is a suggestion of  foundation stones and two plinths, on which stood statues of Adam and Eve, which once overlooked the entrance to the boathouse from the shore. )

Willow Trees at the side of the Upper Lake

1777 – Inheritance of Blackett Estates

As a consequence of Sir Thomas Wentworth’s father having married Diana Blackett of Northumberland, the considerable estates of the Blackett dynasty were inherited by Sir Thomas in 1777.   

An eccentric requirement of the bequest was that Sir Thomas Wentworth change his surname to “Blackett”.

Sir Thomas complied with the requirement and thereafter became known as Sir Thomas Wentworth Blackett.

His children, however, all retained the surname “Wentworth”.

Sir Thomas changed his name to “Blackett”

1782  – Lower lake  completed.

Lower Lake

1786 – On 28th July Diana Wentworth married Colonel Thomas Richard Beaumont.

Marriage of T. R. Beaumont to Diana Wentworth

1789/90 – Sir Thomas Wentworth Blackett commissioned William Lindley to extend the office block and build a new kitchen wing at right angles to the main building.

1792  – Sir Thomas Wentworth Blackett died  and his  illegitimate daughter, Diana Beaumont,  inherited the estates of Bretton and those in Northumberland. 

1792  –  This was the beginning of the Beaumont dynasty,  which continues to exist in the 21st century.

In her marriage to Col. Thomas Richard Beaumont, Diana was the dominant partner.   After her inheritance, she added extensively to the house and also made great changes to the grounds.   Diana Beaumont  was a talented and successful  horticulturist, and had exotic plants brought from all around the world.

Beaumont Coat of Arms

1805 –  Diana commissioned William Atkinson to add the Portico entrance and bow end to the mansion.

1814  – Diana nearly doubled the size of the house from Pillar Hall to the west,  adding an ante-room,  library,  music room and other reception rooms, together with all the corresponding rooms upstairs that formed nursery accommodation for her family of eight children.  Work was carried out by Jeffery Wyatt.

1817 – Diana had Camellia House built and the  “far famed domed conservatory”.   This latter was the first such glass house of its kind in the country and was built at a cost of £15,000.   It was visited by,  amongst others, Paxton, on behalf of the Chatsworth estate.

Diana also added the shell grotto and Summer House or Greek Temple round the upper lake.  There was also a bath house on the south side of the upper lake which no longer exists.

1826 – On 1st July  Thomas Wentworth Beaumont (son of Diana and Thomas Richard Beaumont)  fought a duel on Bamburgh Sands, Northumberland, with his political  enemy,   John George Lambton  (later 1st Earl of Durham).  Neither man was injured.

For more details of the duel,  Click  Here

 1829 – Death of  Thomas Richard Beaumont

1831  – Death of  Diana Beaumont

1831 – Registration of Diana Beaumont’s Burial – 20 August 1831

Burial register for Diana Beaumont

1831 – Thomas Wentworth Beaumont inherited from his mother

He was the fourth generation of the family to extend the house.  He also added most of the ha-has to the grounds.

Thomas Wentworth Beaumont

1832 – Thomas arranged for a three-days auction at Bretton to clear out all the memories of  his mother Diana , with whom he did not get on.  The “far famed domed conservatory” was sold for a mere £546.  (The conservatory originally cost Diana Beaumont £15,000 )

On the third day Paxton bought the majority of the plants for the Chatsworth estate.

​1835-1847   During these years Thomas Wentworth Beaumont employed London architect George Basevi for building projects: the Orangery, the Estate House in Bretton Village, changes to Wyatt’s dining room, changes to Lindley’s Office Block and the building of the new Stable Block, which was not finished.  A monumental chimney piece weighing three and a half tons was sent from Basevi’s studio for installation in the Dining room.

​1836 – Thomas added the Orangery (needlework / textile room).  He used the only non-Yorkshire architect to work on the house in the person of George Basevi from London.

Basevi was employed for all three of Thomas Wentworth’s building projects.

1840 – A new Dining Room (staff common room) was built.

Bretton Hall Dining Room

1841 – A monumental chimney piece weighing three and a half tons was sent from Basevi’s studio to Bretton for installation in the new dining room.

(In recent times, Rushbonds valued this feature at almost £1 million.)

Chimney Piece in Dining Room

1842 –  A new Office Block was constructed, which extended the main building northwards.

 1848 – Death of Thomas Wentworth Beaumont

1848  – Wentworth Blackett Beaumont inherited from his father.  Although he and his wife enjoyed Bretton for the remainder of the century, they added nothing of significance to the house or grounds.

They completed the building of gatehouses at the extremes of the private estate.   By this time it was 500 acres which is the size of the Yorkshire Sculpture park.  Estate House was also added at this time.  It was in fact Estate Office as the estate manager had a much more impressive house on the other side of the main road which remains to this day.

1904  – Wentworth Blackett Beaumont became 1st Baron Allendale.

1st Baron Allendale – 1904

1907 – Death of Wentworth Blackett Beaumont (1st Baron Allendale)

2nd Baron Allendale & 1st Viscount Allendale

1907  – Wentworth Canning Blackett Beaumont inherited from his father and became the 2nd Baron Allendale.  By this time the family were not living at Bretton other than for Doncaster Races and a few other such meetings.

1911 – Wentworth Canning Blackett Beaumont was awarded the title of  1st Viscount Allendale.

​He selected the title from the Allendale village on the family’s Northumberland Estate.

In Celtic, the word ‘Allendale’ means ‘Valley of the Shining Water’.

The Beaumont families now live at Bywell House in Northumberland and continue to use the title of ‘Viscount’

1912 – Wentworth Canning Blackett Beaumont undertook an elaborate restoration at Bretton Hall.

1923 – Death of Wentworth Canning Blacket Beaumont – (2nd Baron Allendale and 1st Viscount Allendale)

1923 – Wentworth Henry Canning Beaumont succeeded his father and became the 2nd Viscount Allendale.

1927  – In this year, during the visit of the future Princess Royal, who was the daughter of King George V,  a fire broke out at Bretton Hall during the evening.

Princess Mary played a major role in rescuing the Allendale’s sleeping children and assisting in the managemnt of the fire.

For more information about the fire:  Click  Here

1935  Farms and small plots of land belonging to the Bretton estate started to be sold.  This was the start of a process which was to see the West Riding buying the Hall and Stable Block and 260 aces of land to make into Bretton Teacher training College 1947/8.  The final sale of the family’s holdings from the Bretton estate, however, was much later – in 1958.

1939-47   Bretton Hall was occupied by a unit of the Royal Artillery 39th Signals Training Regiment.

The Beaumont family moved to Bywell Hall, their home in Northumberland.

1942 – Wentworth Hubert Charles Beaumont (the future 3rd Viscount Allendale) was shot down after flying 70 spitfire missions.  He spent the rest of the war in Stalag Luft 3 in Sagan Poland. Because of the injury to his legs he acted as escape office in this camp for the rest of the war.

3rd Viscount Allendale ( 1922-2002)

1946 – The first official viewing and suggestion that the West Riding should buy Bretton Hall to create a training college for men with a musical bias took place.  The West Riding Chief Education officer asked the Ministry of Education for approval to establish a teacher  training college for Art, Drama and Music and the possibility of establishing a residential Special school.

1947 – Bretton Hall was used by the West Riding Architects department.   Viscount Allendale directed that there be a sale of the family’s remaining furniture and effects from Bretton.

1948 – The West Riding of Yorkshire purchased Bretton Hall , the lodges and lakes,  with 260 acres of land for £34,023.   A further £101,000 was spent by the West Riding on alterations and adaptations.

Thus ended 700 years of occupation of the estate by one family, connected by marriage, from the de Bretton, Dronsfield, Wentworth and Beaumont family lines.  None of them changed the estate’s original name of  ‘Bretton’.

Beaumont Bull & Wentworth Griffin

1949 – Mr J. F. Friend was appointed as the first Principal.

The college opened on 25th September with the Principal, six tutors and 56 students (26 women and 30 men).

Staff on the First Day in 1949

For timeline  1949  –  2007   Click Here

For timeline  2007  onwards   Click  Here