Cantley Hall
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Cantley Hall is a
grade II* listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...
Georgian
mansion A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word ''manse'' originally defined a property l ...
set in , in the village of Old Cantley in
Doncaster Doncaster ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, Yorkshire, River Don, it is the administrative centre of the City of Doncaster metropolitan borough, and is the second largest se ...
,
South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the north, the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north-east, Lincolnshire ...
,
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
. It is constructed in two storeys of stuccoed brick with a graduated Westmorland slate roof.


Early history

Cantley Hall was probably a home from around the 7th or 8th century, owned by a
Saxon The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...
called Tochi prior to the
conquest Conquest involves the annexation or control of another entity's territory through war or Coercion (international relations), coercion. Historically, conquests occurred frequently in the international system, and there were limited normative or ...
of England by the
Normans The Normans (Norman language, Norman: ''Normaunds''; ; ) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norsemen, Norse Viking settlers and locals of West Francia. The Norse settlements in West Franc ...
in 1066, after which it probably went to the Everingham's or Everingham Ancestors. By 1209 it was known as Kanteleia, and Cauntele in 1246. By 1280 it was in the possession of Robert de Everingham. By the late 15th century the name of Cantley had been established and remained, while the residents of the estate were the Smith family.


Childers family

In 1610, Hugh Childers the Mayor of Doncaster from 1604, added Cantley Lodge to the existing family's traditional home at Carr House, Warmsworth, Doncaster by buying the Cantley estate from the Stapleton family. In 1714 Leonard Childers of Cantley Lodge bred the famous stallion ''"
Flying Childers Flying Childers (1715–1741) was a famous undefeated 18th-century thoroughbred racehorse, foaled in 1714 at Carr House, Warmsworth, Doncaster, and is sometimes considered as the first truly great racehorse in the history of thoroughbreds and th ...
"'', son of ''"
Darley Arabian The Darley Arabian (–1730) was one of three dominant foundation sires of modern Thoroughbred horse racing bloodstock. The other two founders were the Godolphin Arabian and the Byerley Turk. This bay Arabian horse was bought in Aleppo, Syria ...
"''. ''"Flying Childers"'' was later sold to the
Duke of Devonshire Duke of Devonshire is a title in the Peerage of England held by members of the Cavendish family. This (now the senior) branch of the Cavendish family has been one of the wealthiest British aristocratic families since the 16th century and has b ...
, was never beaten and is still regarded as one of the fastest horses ever raced. He later retired to
Chatsworth House Chatsworth House is a stately home in the Derbyshire Dales, north-east of Bakewell and west of Chesterfield, Derbyshire, Chesterfield, England. The seat of the Duke of Devonshire, it has belonged to the House of Cavendish, Cavendish family si ...
,
Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...
although he mainly covered mares owned by the Duke, as he was too far away from the main breeding centre of
Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...
. Leonard's successors after his death in 1748 were his daughter Mildred Childers, who had married William Walbanke, and then their son Childers, who probably moved from Carr House to Cantley later in the century and who added the surname Childers to his own on inheriting. Between 1785 and 1786, Childers Walbank Childers considerably remodelled Cantley Lodge into an impressive country mansion and created the shooting forest Black Carr Plantation.Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council , Enjoy Black Carr Plantation
Colonel John Walbanke-Childers (died 1812), son of Childers Walbanke-Childers, sold Carr House and made further improvements to Cantley, renaming it Cantley Hall. His son, another John (1798–1886), was MP for Malton from 1836 to 1846 and from 1847 to 1852 and a JP and Deputy Lieutenant for the West Riding. By the mid-19th century, he owned in the West Riding (i.e. Cantley Hall estate), 7,400 in Cambridgeshire and 200 in Lincolnshire. He served as
High Sheriff of Yorkshire The Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the responsibilities associated with the post have been transferred elsewhere o ...
for 1858–59 and in 1893 his wife, a staunch Anglo-Catholic, was patron for the refurbishment of Cantley Church by
Sir ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as part ...
John Ninian Comper. For most of his life he leased the hall to various tenants. His only grandchild Rowlanda Frances Childers continued the tradition before finally selling the property in 1901 to Grassmoor Collieries.


After 1901

In 1904 Cantley Hall and its residual was bought by the
William Wentworth-Fitzwilliam, 7th Earl Fitzwilliam William "Billy" Charles de Meuron Wentworth-Fitzwilliam, 7th Earl Fitzwilliam, (25 July 1872 – 15 February 1943), styled Viscount Milton from 1877 to 1902, was a British Army officer, nobleman, politician, and aristocrat. Early life and cont ...
. After
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, the Fitzwilliam family faced with quickly declining revenues from their land, started selling off parts of the estate, including Black Carr Plantation in 1950 to Oates Brothers Timber Merchants. The house itself was acquired by brewer Thomas Darley, who died in 1982 and whose wife died in 1987. A sale of contents was held and the house sold to car magnate John Carnell in 1989. In 1990, Carnell sold Cantley Hall to Graham Kirkham, later Baron Kirkham of Old Cantley, founder and chairman of
sofa A couch, also known as a sofa, settee, chesterfield, or Davenport (sofa), davenport, is a cushioned piece of furniture that can seat multiple people. It is commonly found in the form of a bench (furniture), bench with Upholstery, upholstered ...
retailer DFS.


See also

*
Grade II* listed buildings in South Yorkshire There are over 20,000 Grade II* listed buildings in England. This list includes those in South Yorkshire. Barnsley Doncaster Rotherham ...
* Listed buildings in Cantley, South Yorkshire


References

{{coord, 53.5122, -1.0591, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Buildings and structures completed in 1786 Country houses in South Yorkshire Grade II* listed buildings in South Yorkshire Buildings and structures in Doncaster