I am often amazed just how many major attractions there are within my local area that I have yet to visit and until very recently Cannon Hall, near Barnsley in South Yorkshire was one such example of a place.
Cannon Hall is a grand country mansion that is located on the edge of the picturesque village of Cawthorne. Cawthorne lies approximately seven kilometres to the east of Barnsley's town centre and is roughly halfway between junctions 37 and 38 of the M1 motorway. A bus that departs from the central interchange every 30 minutes serves Cawthorne if you are visiting by public transport, but it is then a good 10-15 minute walk from where the bus terminates to Cannon Hall itself. It is however a very pleasant walk that will take you past some of the most affluent houses in this part of Yorkshire, the sort of dwellings that even lottery winners could only dream of. The largest house of all however is of course Cannon Hall, which despite its huge size and extensive grounds is almost invisible from the public road.
The exact year of construction of Cannon Hall is not known but it was built at some point during the 12th century, although a house of some description stood on the same site at the time of the Doomsday Book in 1086. Cannon Hall derived its name from one of its inhabitants during the 13th century, Gilbert Canun. It is more associated however with the Spencer family
who occupied Cannon Hall from 1660 until 1951. The Spencer family made their money in the iron industry and become one of Yorkshire's most prominent families. Through marriages they eventually became the Spencer-Stanhope branch of the family and spawned many influential descendants.
Today, Cannon Hall is owned and managed by Barnsley District Council. It is a public museum and also houses the Regimental Museum of the 13th/18th Royal Hussars and the Light Dragoons. Cannon Hall was acquired by Barnsley District Council in 1951 when it was sold by the last member of the family to live there, Elizabeth Spencer-Stanhope. It opened to the public in 1957.
On approaching Cannon Hall the first thing that struck me was the grounds. These grounds were landscaped during the 18th century by Richard Woods of Chertsey, and include parkland, lakes, waterfalls and woodland. In some ways the view from the car park reminded me a little bit of Chatsworth Park in Derbyshire, albeit not quite as grand. The house stands at the highest point on the estate so even from the car park it is quite a steady climb up to the house and I would imagine that this might be difficult for the infirm.
The walk up to the house takes the visitor past a Georgian Walled Garden, which is full of pear trees and also past a Victorian playground. One of the more curious objects however is a large shelter. From a distance this resembles a large bus shelter, but as you get closer you realise that it is constructed entirely of trees. The branches have been bent over to create the roof and large, thick tree trunks form its supporting walls. At the side of this construction there is a large placard explaining that this is actually a deer shelter that was constructed during the 18th century to provide shelter for the vast herds of deer that roam freely around the park.
Entry into the house is completely free but this cannot be said about Cannon Hall Farm that stands adjacent to the house. The current cost to enter the farm is £3.75 for adults and £3.25 for children. We did not visit the farm but we did make use of the toilets, which are free to use and fully equipped for disabled visitors. We also had a look around the garden centre, which is also free to visit. Also located here are tea rooms and a restaurant.
The house looks very grand even from afar. It is constructed of light sandstone and has a very solid, square appearance which reminded me of many of the other large country manor houses in this area including Cusworth Hall near Doncaster and the nearby Brodsworth Hall.
Cannon Hall is built on three different levels. The ground floor and the second floor includes all of the original rooms of the house, fully furnished with much of the original furniture of the Spencer-Stanhope family. The upper floor features a military museum dedicated to 13th/18th Royal Hussars and the Light Dragoons.
At the main entrance there is a small reception area and a gift shop and there is also a 17th century fire engine on display, which as you can imagine rather dominates the lobby area.
From the lobby there is a single long corridor that runs the full length of the house and each of the rooms are located off this corridor. This same pattern is repeated on the second floor, but not on the top floor, which is much smaller and just contains a single large room.
The rooms vary considerably in size and a few of them are actually locked so you have to make do with just peering through the glass doors. Other rooms are open and you can wander freely around them. Each room contains a wealth of information describing what purpose the room served. Some like the library and the large dining rooms, complete with dinner services laid out on the tables are self explanatory but other rooms are less obvious.
One of the largest rooms on the ground floor is the ball room, which was also used to host banquets. This room even has a balcony, upon which a full orchestra would play. In each of the rooms it is always worth looking upwards as the ceilings are incredibly ornate, whilst the rooms along the front of the house have wonderful views of the grounds. All along the front of the house there is a shallow ditch. This interesting feature is known as a ha-ha, supposedly named because many people were surprised to find that it was there and fell into it. Its purpose was to prevent the deer getting right up to the house and causing structural damage.
The second floor is where the various bedrooms are to be found. Many of these rooms feature huge oil paintings on the walls, which are largely of family members over several generations of the Spencer-Stanhope family. Beneath these paintings there is information about the people in the paintings and it is evident that some of them were quite unusual characters.
The top floor where the military museum is located seems at first glance oddly out of place, but once you enter this is quickly forgiven. The 13th/18th Royal Hussars and the Light Dragoons played an important role in The Charge of the Light Brigade during the Crimean War and here you can find lots of information relating to this historic event. The museum uses both sounds and smells in addition to the visual displays to tell its story which gives things an interesting twist. Cannon Hall is a great place to spend a full day and is suitable for both adults and children alike. It is open at the following times:
April to October Wednesday-Saturday: from 1030am until 5pm (last admission 4.15pm) Sunday - Midday until 5pm November, December and March Open Sundays only from Midday until 4pm (last admission 3.15pm) It is closed during January and February.
Cannon Hall Cawthorne Barnsley S75 4AT
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
May 30th, 2008
exceptional by (5%):
very helpful by (95%):
