Oulton Hall in

Oulton, West Yorkshire Oulton is a village in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough, West Yorkshire, England, between Leeds and Wakefield. It is at the junction of the A639 and A642 roads. Though now adjoining the village of Woodlesford, it was once quite sepa ...

, is a Grade II

listed building 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, Hi ...

in England. It was once the home of the Blayds/Calverley family. After a major fire in 1850 the hall was remodelled, but its fortunes declined until it was revived for use as a hotel. As of 2022, it is a 4 star hotel, part of the QHotels group as Oulton Hall Hotel, Spa & Golf Resort.

History

Oulton Hall was originally a "modest eighteenth-century house" owned by the Blayds family. In 1807 the house was left to John Calverley, who was a partner in Beckett's Bank and Mayor of

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

in 1798. He changed his name to Blayds in order to inherit the property, but his descendants reverted to Calverley. He enclosed the surrounding common in 1809, and it was landscaped to designs by Humphrey Repton soon afterwards. In around 1822, he commissioned

Sir Robert Smirke Sir Robert Smirke (1 October 1780 – 18 April 1867) was an English architect, one of the leaders of Greek Revival architecture, though he also used other architectural styles (such as Gothic and Tudor). As an attached (i.e. official) arch ...

to remodel the house, and it was enlarged by Smirke's brother,

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, in 1839. In 1850 a fire destroyed much of the property, including most of the Smirkes' work. The Leeds firm of Perkin and Backhouse rebuilt the hall, and further work was done in 1875 by Perkin and Sons and in 1885 by Chorley and Cannon of Leeds. The hall had various uses during the 20th century. In the First World War it was used as a hospital and convalescent home for soldiers diagnosed with

neurasthenia Neurasthenia ( and () 'weak') is a term that was first used as early as 1829 for a mechanical weakness of the nerves. It became a major diagnosis in North America during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries after neurologist Georg ...

. The hall opened as a hospital in July 1918 under the command of Colonel C. W. E. Duncombe to provide care for officers with

shell shock Shell shock is a term that originated during World War I to describe symptoms similar to those of combat stress reaction and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which many soldiers suffered during the war. Before PTSD was officially recogni ...

. Fifty officers were admitted in 1918, with seventy-one beds available in total. Treatment was focused on confidential talks with the doctor, occupational therapy and a focus on learning, poetry and gardening. The Leeds Education Committee allowed patients to attend classes in the city free of charge. Trips out were organised, with patients travelling to Ilkley, in 1923. The hospital closed in July 1925 and the patients were transferred to Grantham. This decision was unpopular in the press, as it took soldiers much further away from their families and left the North of England without a specialist treatment centre for psychological wounds inflicted by experiences in the First World War. In 1925 the owners sold the hall and grounds to the county council. It was used as a hospital for psychiatric patients until 1971. Oulton Hall then changed hands, but due to the new owner's lack of resources it fell into disrepair, and in 1974 it was derelict. In 1991 De Vere Hotels acquired the lease and rescued it. Restoration and expansion cost £20 million to turn the hall into a hotel set in an estate of , with gardens, a 27-hole golf course and a spa. File:Oulton Hall Sign 2016.jpg, Sign File:Oulton Hall Lobby 2016.jpg, Lobby File:Oulton Hall upstairs interior 2016.jpg, Upstairs

References

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Leeds City Council: ''Oulton conservation area appraisal and conservation management plan'', 17 May 2010
Buildings and structures in Leeds Grade II listed buildings in West Yorkshire Thomas Rickman buildings Rothwell, West Yorkshire