Renovated 18th-century Yorkshire mansion showcases glorious historical grandeur
Nestled amidst verdant hills, lush meadows, and meandering waterways, the picturesque township of Womersley, graced with the stunning, 12th-century St Martin's church, serves as the idyllic backdrop for the prestigious, Grade II*-listed Womersley Hall. Situated on 38 lush acres of historical gardens, parkland, and woodland at the southern border of North Yorkshire, it lies around six miles from Pontefract and 13 miles from Doncaster.
Originally part of the sprawling 4,688-acre Womersley Park estate, Womersley Hall dates to the early 1680s, when Tobiah Harvey, a well-respected London barrister, acquired the manor and started constructing the home that would one day become the focal point of an illustrious family estate.
In the 18th century, the Harvey family significantly expanded and refined the Hall and its surrounding parkland. For instance, Tobiah's grandson, Stanhope Harvey, built a southern wing, redirected the medieval village's main thoroughfare to maintain privacy, and transformed the nearby landscape into a designed panorama.**
In 1797, Frances Harvey married the 3rd Baron Hawke, a scion of the Hawke family, whose ancestor Admiral Sir Edward Hawke had emerged victorious from the Battle of Quiberon Bay in 1759. The 3rd Baron amplified the estate, enclosing Womersley Common and cultivating the Belt Plantation. However, questionable fiscal management, such as ill-fated canal and tramway initiatives, sowed the seeds of financial ruin. By 1820, the Hall's contents were being auctioned to pay off debts.**
The 4th Baron Hawke re-established order in the estate, but his untimely demise in 1869 left his teenage daughter, Frances Cassandra Harvey Hawke, as the estate's inheritor. Though she couldn't inherit the title, she ably managed the estate, modernizing the property and supporting the region during and following World War I. Her passing in 1921 marked the conclusion of the Harvey Hawke lineage at Womersley Hall.
Her grandson, Michael, 6th Earl of Rosse, eventually inherited the estate, yet the financial burden of sustaining such an expansive country house became insurmountable for the family. The 15,900 sq ft manse was in a critical state of disrepair when Stuart and Ruth Evison purchased Womersley Hall approximately two decades ago and embarked on an intricate, ten-year restoration project to restore the estate's historical features.
Externally, the symmetrical Georgian architecture of the Hall projects an imposing and sophisticated image, while within, the house functions as a shrine to artisanal exquisiteness, with every meticulously preserved original element telling a story of its storied past. With the Evisons electing to downsize, this immaculately maintained Georgian treasure is now available through Annabel Blackett and Strutt & Parker's country department for a guide price of £5m.**
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The majestic mansion offers opulent accommodations across two main levels, including a grand foyer-cum-dining room; a magnificent drawing room with an ornate, paneled ceiling; a peaceful morning room with a grand bay window; a stunning staircase hall with a breathtaking, 17th-century stained-glass window; a library with original bookcases attributed to the legendary architect Robert Adam, plus a billiards room, two kitchens, ten bedrooms with en-suite baths, and two more shared bath-cum-shower rooms. Apart from the main house, the property comes with two self-contained apartments, three cottages, and the Fig & Olive coffee shop, adding a healthy annual rental income of around £100,000.
You can find more information and images of the property by clicking here.
Penny Churchill
Sources:
- "Rosse family and Womersley Hall," CastlesFortsBattles (castlesfortsbattles.co.uk). Accessed October 20, 2023.
- "Womersley Hall, North Yorkshire: Granite Georgian Mansion for Sale Near Pontefract," Luxury Haven (luxuryhaven.com). Accessed October 20, 2023.
- "Womersley Hall sold for £4 million," BBC News (bbc.com). Accessed October 20, 2023.
- The historically significant Womersley Hall, nestled within 38 acres of home-and-garden, parkland, and woodland, presents a remarkable investment opportunity in the real-estate market, with its Grade II*-listed status and rich heritage.
- The prestigious Womersley Hall, a stunning masterpiece from the 1680s, offers a unique blend of lifestyle and financial potential, featuring opulent accommodations, self-contained apartments, cottages, and the Fig & Olive coffee shop, generating an annual rental income of approximately £100,000.
- With its imposing Georgian architecture and artisanal exquisiteness, Womersley Hall not only serves as a testament to the grandeur of historic gardens and the Harvey family's legacy but also offers a chance to make a strategic investment in lifestyle, home-and-garden, and real-estate sectors.
