Stockeld Park

Stockeld Park

Stockeld Park, located two miles north-west of Wetherby on the Leeds to Harrogate road, is a Grade I listed country house and estate in North Yorkshire, England which is now the family home of the Grant family. Within the estate is 'Stockeld Park, Home of Adventures', a family-run seasonal tourist attraction and Christmas tree plantation.

The house is constructed of stone in the style of a Palladian villa and features a cantilevered staircase, 18th and 19th century furniture and works of art. Features of the grounds include a dovecote, lodges, a ha-ha, a walled garden and thatched timber loggia.[1]

History

The 2,000-acre (8.1 km2) Stockeld estate had belonged for several generations to the Middelton family of Ilkley. In 1757, the then owner, William Middelton, commissioned architect James Paine to build the present house, which was completed by 1763. William Middelton died before it was completed and the house and estate passed to his infant great-nephew, William Constable. Constable adopted the name and arms of Middelton and eventually took up residence, but his wife, the mother of his ten children, had a high-profile affair with a groom. William, after divorcing his wife, left Stockeld to live in his other property in Ilkley, leaving the house empty for some twenty years. Succeeding generations of Middeltons continued to live at Ilkley, leasing out the Stockeld until it was eventually sold in 1893 to Robert John Foster, owner of Black Dyke Mills in Bradford.

Foster commissioned architect Detmar Blow to make several improvements, including converting the orangery to a chapel and was appointed High Sheriff of Yorkshire for 1898–99. During the Second World War, the house was requisitioned for use as a maternity hospital.

Stockeld is now occupied by Peter Grant, a great-grandchild of Robert John Foster. The main rooms are used for receptions and conferences. Parts of the estate grounds are open to the public during adventure seasons and advertised as having "imaginative, creative play areas and interactive fun". Within the adventure site there is a maze, skate rink, gift shop and café.

References

  1. ↑ Historic England. "STOCKELD PARK HOUSE (1149986)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 26 August 2014.

External links

Coordinates: 53°56′11″N 1°26′05″W / 53.9365°N 1.4348°W / 53.9365; -1.4348

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