Gunnergate Hall

Gunnergate Hall
General information
Location Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England
Completed 1857 (1857)
Client Charles Albert Leatham

Gunnergate Hall was a mansion house with grounds in the south of Middlesbrough in North Yorkshire, England.

History

Gunnergate Hall was built in 1857 for Charles Albert Leatham, a wealthy Quaker banker.[1][2][3] Albert Leatham died in 1858 and in 1860 his widow sold Gunnergate Hall to ironmaster John Vaughan[4][5][6] who used it as his residence.[7] John Vaughan died in 1868 and his second son Thomas Vaughan inherited the hall and lived there.[1][5][6] Thomas Vaughan spent extensively improving the hall,[1] however his business failed and the hall was sold in 1881 to Carl Bolckow,[1][5][6] son of Henry Bolckow. Carl Bolckow sold the hall to mayor and shipbuilder Sir Raylton Dixon in 1888.[1][5][8] Sir Raylton Dixon died in 1901[1][2][5] and thereafter the hall was left unoccupied, and fell into disrepair.[1][8] The hall was used as an army base in both world wars[1][5][8] but was demolished in 1946 shortly after the Second World War,[1][3][4][5][8] and the land acquired by Middlesbrough Council.[2]

Description

Gunnergate Hall was located off Tollesby Lane[4] and there is a plaque in the grounds that shows the former location of the hall.[8] The main entrance drive was from Stokesley Road in Marton.[5] Gunnergate Hall had three lodges but only two survive, Hunter’s Lodge on Gunnergate Lane and High Lodge on Tollesby Lane.[3][4]

The hall had a banqueting hall, ballroom and billiard room[6] and the grounds had a rockery, tennis courts, greenhouses, waterfall, lake, fountain, and boat house.[2][6] A water tower in the grounds may have supplied the lake fountain or else provided water pressure for the house.[9]

Fairy Dell Park
Fairy Dell
Type Nature Reserve and Parkland
Location Middlesbrough
Coordinates 54°31′34″N 1°12′40″W / 54.526°N 1.211°W / 54.526; -1.211Coordinates: 54°31′34″N 1°12′40″W / 54.526°N 1.211°W / 54.526; -1.211
Operated by Middlesbrough Council with The Friends of Fairy Dell
Status open all year round
Awards Green Flag Award
Website Friends of Fairy Dell

Fairy Dell Park

Fairy Dell is a local nature reserve,[10] and the former gardens and grounds of Gunnergate Hall.[2][11] Fairy Dell is a laid out parkland and natural wooded beck valley with an ornamental lake and flood defence lakes that is part of the Marton West Beck wildlife corridor.[12][13] The site was redeveloped as a flood defence in the late 1970s by Northumbrian Water and Middlesbrough Council.[12]

Access to the park can be gained from nearby Newham Grange Country Farm.[14] Wildlife to be found include watervoles, herons, kingfishers, moorhens, and mallards.[10][14] Numerous chainsaw sculptures have been created in the woodlands by Steve Iredale.[14] Activities undertaken by the Friends of Fairy Dell interest group include path clearing, strimming, and planting.[15] The park was given a Green Flag Award by the Civic Trust.[12]

Discoveries within in the area have included animal bones and a sunken path. An archaeological dig is planned for 2014 led by Tees Archaeology.[16][17][18] A £38,000 grant has been obtained from the Community Spaces Programme of the Heritage Lottery Fund for improving footpaths and natural woodland, flower planting, extra seating and the archaeological dig.[16][17][19]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Marton". Local History and Genealogy of the Teesside and North Riding Area. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Marton West Ward in Northumbria in Bloom - The Friends of Fairy Dell". Spanglefish.com. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
  3. 1 2 3 Middlesbrough Council. "Lodges: 84 Gunnergate Lane and 21 Tollesby Lane". Flickr. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Wilson, Chris Scott. "Bolckow & Vaughan, Men of Steel, Part Three: Rewards of Labour". Retrieved 11 August 2013.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Hughes, Betty (June 2000). "Gunnergate Hall revisited". Now and Then. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 "MacFarlane Clan & Families Genealogy: Thomas Vaughan, of Gunnergate Hall and Ugthorpe Lodge". Retrieved 11 August 2013.
  7. ↑ Wilson, Chris Scott. "Bolckow & Vaughan Men of Steel Part Two: The Boom Years". Retrieved 11 August 2013.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 "Fairy Dell, Gunnergate Hall, East of the Lake". Hidden Teesside. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
  9. ↑ Delplanque, Paul (24 January 2013). "The mysterious tower". Gazette Live - Remember When. Teesside: Evening Gazette. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
  10. 1 2 "Fairy Dell, Newham". Groundwork UK. 2013. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
  11. ↑ "Health Walks Around Middlesbrough; Fairy Dell". 2010. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
  12. 1 2 3 "Fairy Dell". Keep Britain Tidy. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
  13. ↑ "Friends of Fairy Dell". Friends of Fairy Dell. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
  14. 1 2 3 "Discover Fairy Dell in Middlesbrough". Love Middlesbrough. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
  15. ↑ "Friends of Fairy Dell". Langdon Square Community Centre. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
  16. 1 2 Nichols, Rob (28 October 2013). "Discover the delights of Heritage Lottery Fund Winners Fairy Dell Tomorrow". One Giant Leap. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
  17. 1 2 "Middlesbrough group to unearth sunken path's history". BBC News. 14 October 2013. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
  18. ↑ Barnes, Heath (31 July 2013). "Fairy Dell Middlesbrough Ancient Lake Deposits". History of a Beck. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
  19. ↑ "Fairy Dell Park is a place to sing about". Gazette Live. Retrieved 4 December 2013.

External links

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