Thornbridge Hall

Thornbridge Hall is a large country house situated near the village Great Longstone in the local government district of Derbyshire Dales in Derbyshire, England. It is a grade 2 listed building.

History

From the 12th to the late 18th century, Thornbridge Hall was the seat of the Longsdon family. In 1790, John Morewood bought Thornbridge Hall for the princely sum of £10,000. He made his money selling linens out of Manchester to St Petersburg in Russia. The Morewood family considerably enlarged the house. In 1859, Frederick Craven rebuilt the house in Jacobean style and installed the William Morris/Edward Burne-Jones window in the Great Hall.

In 1896, George Marples, a Sheffield businessman and lawyer, extended the house to nearly its present form, built lodges and cottages, landscaped the park and gardens, added his own private railway station, and acquired the Watson buffet fountain from Chatsworth House.

From 1929, Charles Boot, the Sheffield entrepreneur who designed and built Pinewood Studios, added items from Clumber Park and panelling from Derwent Hall. His company, Henry Boot Construction, was contracted to demolish Clumber after a fire in 1938. It was Boot who was responsible for bringing the many items to Thornbridge, although the bulk were lost to private buyers through auction. Thornbridge Hall is now home to a vast array of statues, facades and fountains originally belonging to Clumber.

Sheffield City Council took over the house in 1945 and it became a teacher training college. In later years, it was used as an educational centre and conference centre by the council, providing residential facilities for teachers and pupils in the house itself and in various outbuildings.

At this time the housewas of sufficient note that a Great Western Railway GWR 6959 Class or Modified Hall class steam locomotive number 6964 built in May 1944, was named "Thornbridge Hall" in June 1947. It was withdrawn from service in September 1965 and scrapped at T. Ward, Beighton.

The Hunt family purchased the house from the Council in 1997, started restoration work to the gardens, and removed additions to the house to reveal its earlier proportions.

Present use

From 2002 Thornbridge Hall has been owned by Emma and Jim Harrison and is both a private family home and an exclusive venue for events. It is not open to the public.

The Thornbridge Brewery is based in a converted joiner's and stonemason’s workshop within the grounds of Thornbridge Hall. They aim "to make a small range of quality cask and bottled beers using new recipes, innovative approaches and the use of local fresh ingredients." Their first beers appeared in February 2005 and have won many awards.

External links

[http://www.thornbridgehall.co.uk Today's owners of Thornbridge]

[http://www.thornbridgebrewery.co.uk/ Thornbridge Brewery]

[http://www.greatwestern.org.uk/m_in_hal_hall69b.htm Thornbridge Hall locomotive]