Garden layout, mainly dating from the early C20, surrounding an C18 country house, set in parkland primarily of mid C19 and early C20 date.
HISTORIC DEVELOPMENT
Hickleton Hall was built, to replace an earlier hall, for Godfrey Wentworth by James Paine, 1745(8. Paine may also have designed the stable block. The Hall was enlarged c 1775 and altered 1857-60. At the beginning of the C20 the property was owned by Lord Halifax (d 1934) who was responsible for much of the present garden work, probably acting as his own designer with his plans being carried out by the estate labour. It is now (1990s) used as a Sue Ryder home.
DESCRIPTION
LOCATION, AREA, BOUNDARIES, LANDFORM, SETTING Hickleton Hall stands 10km north-west of Doncaster, at the south side of the village of Hickleton. The 77ha site is bounded to the north largely by the A635 Doncaster to Barnsley Road, together with the south side of the village. The east boundary is marked partly by Hickleton Road, leading to Barnburgh, which also divides the north-east section of the park from the main part, and on the other sides by agricultural land.
ENTRANCES AND APPROACHES The approach to the east front of the Hall enters via a lodge and gateway (1910, listed grade II) at the north-east corner of the site, off Hickleton Road, south of the parish church. Additionally, a gateway standing north of the stable block leads onto the village street.
In the mid C19, the drive appears to have branched off Red Hill Lane at a point north of the Hall and led to the east front, continuing south to rejoin the public road. In the early C20 its line was slightly modified when the high walls extending from the north and south corners of the Hall, which partially enclose the gardens on this side, were built. The southern half of the drive ceased to be used at this point.
PRINCIPAL BUILDING Hickleton Hall (listed grade II*) occupies an elevated position towards the north end of the site, the main views being south over the park, east across farmland, and west over the gardens. To the north is the stable block (listed grade II), with the brewhouse (listed grade II) standing between it and the Hall, and to the north-west, the Bath House and Ice House. Further to the north-west of these buildings is the site of the old hall.
GARDENS AND PLEASURE GROUNDS The area between the Hall and the public road to the east was first laid out as ornamental ground in the 1840s. The existing scheme dates from 1909 and has been simplified. The lawn is terraced with a balustraded retaining wall near the Hall and a second change in level at the east end of the wing walls allowing for a bowling green. The maze associated with the pair of early C20 summerhouses in the east gardens was taken up in 1936, but some of the beds of mixed shrubs which formed part of the planting scheme here remain. The Hickleton Road is sunk where it runs along the east garden edge, so that uninterrupted views extend east from the Hall over a double avenue, planted earlier this century, running out across the east park.
The ground to the west of the Hall falls steeply to a walled enclosure, the site of the pre C20 gardens. Terraces constructed in the early C20 link the Hall and the garden below. The top terrace is supported by an ashlar retaining wall, c 3m high, set with recessed square panels. At its northern end is a garden shelter, built in 1932 by the firm Hodkin and Jones of Sheffield. From the centre of the terrace, a flight of steps leads between a pair of concrete obelisks, down through a further two terraces, to the lawn in which is set the mid C19 oval pond (listed grade II) with central statue, on an axis with the terrace steps. High brick walls extend from the north and south ends of the top terrace providing shelter to the gardens, the southern wall being continued westwards in stone.
A walk leads through a band of pleasure ground round the perimeter of the west lawn, passing below an outcrop of sandstone which is made into a feature. A stone wall divides the area from the park.
The ground immediately south of the Hall was also reorganised in the early C20, with a new straight wall and balustrade being built to divide a strip of gardens from the park beyond. Beneath the terrace is a box parterre, the central feature of which is a late C18 urn (listed grade II) and between this and the ha-ha (listed grade II) lies a levelled bowling lawn, laid down in the early C20. At this date, a strip of land immediately south of the gardens was railed off from the park, and gardened by Lady Halifax. The walls of the gardens are still decorated with urns and statuary, although many of these ornaments have gone (with terracing listed grade II).
PARK The park is divided into two sections: the larger, southern section extending south and south-west from the gardens, and the much smaller area containing the avenue, extending east of Hickleton Road.
The northern part of the southern section of parkland, known as Hickleton Park, covers the area between the Doncaster Road to the west and Hickleton Road to the east. It was imparked in the 1840s when features including the Lady Mary's Walk along its southern perimeter were laid out. South of the Hall the parkland rises to a summerhouse, built in 1932 but now in ruins, set next to a small quarry. Three pedestals, two still carrying statues (listed grade II), stand close by; these originally formed part of a shrubbery laid out with a grid of red gravel paths extending from the gates which lead out from the south garden. The parkland area was extended southwards in the early C20, this farther park, which lies to the east of Bella Wood, being called Barnburgh Park. In the 1920s, the park was encircled by high fencing so deer could be kept, and the stream running in the valley through Barnburgh Park was dammed to form small pools to provide a source of drinking water for the animals.
KITCHEN GARDEN The mid C19 stone- and brick-walled kitchen garden lies on the eastern boundary of the site, to the south of Lawn Wood, adjacent to the public road. By the 1850s the garden was linked to the Hall by a drive which became known as the Broad Walk. The area to the west of the stable block, north of the Hall, was also used as an area of kitchen gardens, with heated walls for growing fruit.
REFERENCES
Gardeners' Chronicle I, (1904), p 104 Architectural History 2, (1970), item 1565
Maps OS 6" to 1 mile: revised edition published 1928
Description written: January 2000 Register Inspector: SR Edited: May 2000