Bretton Estate Archive

DD70

Bretton Estate Archive

13th century-20th century

Deeds and papers relating to the Wentworth, Beaumont, Popeley and other families and to Birstall, Bretton, Cumberworth, Darfield, Emley, Kexborough and many other West Riding places 13th-19th century, mainly 16th-18th century; notably correspondence, plans etc relating to Barnsley canal, Dearne canal, Aire and Calder navigation, Calder and Hebble navigation and other canals 1773-1793; genealogical material on the Savile family 16th-17th century; the Wentworth and Popeley families 18th century; includes court rolls for Barugh 1487-1639, West Bretton 1448-1763, Cawthorne 1472-1691, Flockton 1582-1638, High Hoyland 1606-1691, Kingston (Carlton in Lindrick) [Nottinghamshire] 1441 and other manorial papers, rentals for Cawthorne late 15th-16th century, one relating also to manors of Walton and Wrenthorpe 1579, Flockton 1678; constables' returns of arms in Tickhill wapentake 1662 and other lists for musters, trained bands etc, various wapentakes 16th-17th century; survey of Gomersal by Robert Saxton 1619.

As one would expect of an estate collection it contains lots of documents which cover the business of buying and selling of land and valuations of land, including conveyances, mortgages, leases and rentals. There is a good range of family papers, consisting mainly of wills, marriage settlements and inventories. Perhaps the main deficiency is the lack of personal papers, such as letters, but it is possible to get a picture of life at Bretton Hall from the material that is available. As for the buildings and architecture, there are designs for the house and stables by Atkinson, Wyatt and Basevi.

English

By appointment

The Bretton Estate Archive is Lord Allendale's collection of manuscripts, plans, letters, wills etc generated by the management of the Bretton Estate over a 700 year period. It [used to be] housed with the National Arts Education Archive at Bretton Hall. As a historical collection it is amongst the best in Yorkshire for its geographical spread and chronological range, and also in its various types of document. The early material is complemented by the Bretton Collection held at the Yorkshire Archaeological Society in Leeds.

The beginnings of the Bretton Estate were in the 13th century when the Dronsfields, as Lords of the Manor, gradually built up land and property in the southern part of what was then the West Riding of Yorkshire. They were followed by the Wentworths for the next 300 years and the Beaumonts inherited in 1792, developing the estate until its eventual sale to the West Riding County Council in 1948 and 1958.

Three documented houses have been on the estate, the first being a timber built house for Sir Thomas Wentworth, Knight Marshal to King Henry VIII. The second house was the 37 roomed timber house where Sir Thomas Wentworth resided. He was a Cavalier who fought on the side of King Charles 1 and he was knighted in 1660 at the Restoration and created a Baronet in 1664. The third house was the 18th century Palladian mansion built by Sir William Wentworth between 1720 and 1730. In the 19th century additions were made by William Atkinson, Jeffry Wyatt (later Wyatville), William Lindley and George Basevi.

From the 18th century, when Sir William Wentworth presided over a fairly typical and prosperous small family, living on agricultural rents, supplemented by mineral leases, the Estate developed through his son, Sir Thomas Wentworth. He it was who inherited, in 1777, the lucrative and extensive estates of his Blackett uncle in Yorkshire, Northumberland and Durham. He changed his name to Blackett under the conditions of his uncle's will. On his death in 1792 his illegitimate daughter, Diana, inherited the majority of his estates and she was then married to Colonel Thomas Richard Beaumont. He was a Tory MP in Northumberland and he held extensive properties of his own around Hexham. By the 19th century much of their lands in the north of England lay above valuable mineral seams, which increased their already considerable income.

From that time Bretton Hall became the centre of a vast estate of around 20,000 acres and it also became a large employer of skilled and unskilled labour as Diana and her husband made alterations and also increased their land holdings. It grew to be a wide ranging estate with property not only in Bretton but it incorporated almost all the settlements along the line of the River Dearne, including Darton, Kexbrough, Barugh, High Hoyland, Cumberworth, Shelley, Skelmanthorpe, Nether Shitlington (Netherton), Over Shitlington (Overton) and Middle Shitlington (Middlestown) to name but a few. There were properties at Birstall, Cleckheaton, Gomersal, Morley Wibsey, and also iron workings at Pudsey and Tong.

In the 19th century the Bretton Estate was a mass of interests in urban property, agriculture, coal mining, lead mining and with share interests at home and abroad. Thomas Wentworth Beaumont was known as the richest commoner in England when he inherited the estates of his mother, Diana, and his income was in excess of more that £100,000 per year. He did not live at Bretton Hall until his retirement from politics in Northumberland in 1837 and he revived it after he had sold most of the contents of the house and gardens at an auction at Bretton in 1832. He died in 1848.

Wentworth Blackett Beaumont, his son, carried on his parliamentary career and looking after the estates in Yorkshire, Northumberland and Durham. However the 1850s were difficult years and he had to reduce rents to tenant farmers during the depression. Later mineral rents followed the same pattern and in the 1880s the lead mines in Northumberland expired. Lands in outlying Yorkshire villages were sold.

Wentworth Blackett Beaumont's love for Bretton diminished after the death of his first wife and he spent more time at his London home. He also began to concentrate the family's interests back in Northumberland. He was elevated to the peerage in 1906 for his services to the Crown and took the title Baron Allendale of Allendale and Hexham. He died in 1907 and was succeeded by his son who became second Baron and later in 1911, Viscount Allendale. So the pattern changed, with succeeding Viscounts becoming Lord in Waiting to King George V, King George V1 and the present Queen. The second Viscount uprooted the family and moved to Bywell Hall in Northumberland around the time of the Second World War. He sold the 260 acres of parkland and lake left, to the West Riding County Council for £30,000.

When the Estate House closed in 1958 staff were unaware of the significance of the material left and many items were dispersed to interested local people and other materials were burned. However, what remained was taken to Bywell Hall in crates and remained there until 1975. Several Bretton Hall lecturers were allowed to examine the boxes and as a result the materials were loaned to Bretton Hall to be catalogued and made available to students and researchers. House was closed and much archive material was lost. The majority of what was left was taken to Bywell Hall and remained there until 1975. Luckily a lecturer at Bretton Hall was able to examine the boxes and was allowed by Lord Allendale to bring them to Bretton Hall on loan, where they can now be used by students and researchers.

To facilitate research there is a catalogue in eight volumes covering a chronological period from the 13th to the 20th centuries. Unfortunately, it is not in chronological order. An updated catalogue is in preparation but this is a long drawn out process and corrections are being made