A brief account of the restoration programme of the historic site and gardens.
The Origins of the Cusworth Hall Gardens
Cusworth became the home of the Wrightson family in 1669 when Robert Wrightson moved there from Hemsworth. The Wrightson (later Battie-Wrightson) family remained at Cusworth until 1961. This was when Mrs Barbara Isabella Georgiana Pearse (née Battie-Wrightson) sold Cusworth Hall to Doncaster Rural District Council. The Hall has since been converted for use as a Museum of South Yorkshire Life. Mrs Pearse conveyed the hall's walled gardens and some adjoining property to the Cusworth Church Trust. Accordingly their designations have changed: the Pinfold Stable is now St Hubert's Orthodox Church; the Head Gardener's house is Cusworth Glebe; the Cart Shed is the Battie-Wrightson Memorial Hall; the Bothy is Church Cottage and the former Blacksmith's shop is now the Vestry. Interestingly, the Head Gardener's House and the Bothy occupy the former site of the original Cusworth Hall, which was built by the Wray family c. 1583. This was demolished when the present Cusworth Hall was built to the west of the site.
South of the Cusworth Church Trust property is a long terrace, which was originally a vegetable garden with old style cordon and espalier Bristol Cross and Hazel pear trees. Recently, the Terrace was landscaped to create a lawn quite reminiscent of an Elizabethan bowling alley and is decorated with classical flower urns. Stone mullion windows are visible on either side of the former entrance steps to the garden of Church Cottage, and it is tempting to suggest that these may have formed a part of the original Cusworth Hall.
South of the Cusworth Church Trust property is a long terrace, which was originally a vegetable garden with old style cordon and espalier Bristol Cross and Hazel pear trees. Recently, the Terrace was landscaped to create a lawn quite reminiscent of an Elizabethan bowling alley and is decorated with classical flower urns. Stone mullion windows are visible on either side of the former entrance steps to the garden of Church Cottage, and it is tempting to suggest that these may have formed a part of the original Cusworth Hall.
The Bowling Green
Wide stone steps lead from the Terrace to the sunken Bowling Green which, originally, may have been a colourful 17th Century Dutch-style parterre garden.
Between 1726-1733 a large number of handmade bricks were obtained to create additional walled gardens. On 3 June 1726, the Cusworth Cash Book records: "B. Whitaker was paid £2 2s 0d for the Summer House" built in the large garden. By the late 1720s, the fashion for parterre gardens was declining in favour of lawns. Consequently, Cusworth garden became a Bowling Green and the Summer House became known as the Bowling House. Fruit trees were grown around the walls; fig and peach along those facing south and apples and plums in more shaded parts. Beyond the Bowling Green, another flight of stone steps leads downwards through a grassed embankment into a sheltered Rose Garden. At one time the roses were set in geometric shaped beds, divided by miniature box-hedging and gravel. In this garden a 270 year old English yew tree has a central position, around which there was once a rustic seat. In a water-butt situated by the Bowling House in the Rose Garden three of William Wrightson's bowls were found in perfect condition. They bear his initials and are dated c.1730.
The Bowling Green has not fulfilled its intended purpose since the outbreak of the Second World War, whereas the other gardens and greenhouses were maintained until 1959. The Bowling Green was requisitioned by the Royal Corps of Signals, and a corner site was used to accommodate carrier pigeons. It was intended to use the birds for relaying messages between the military bases at Cusworth Hall and neighbouring Hickleton Hall, had Doncaster Telephone Exchange been destroyed by enemy action. The concrete pigeon hut bases were removed in 1990 and work is currently being undertaken to restore the Bowling Green which local people refer to as "the most atmospheric place in Cusworth".
Between 1726-1733 a large number of handmade bricks were obtained to create additional walled gardens. On 3 June 1726, the Cusworth Cash Book records: "B. Whitaker was paid £2 2s 0d for the Summer House" built in the large garden. By the late 1720s, the fashion for parterre gardens was declining in favour of lawns. Consequently, Cusworth garden became a Bowling Green and the Summer House became known as the Bowling House. Fruit trees were grown around the walls; fig and peach along those facing south and apples and plums in more shaded parts. Beyond the Bowling Green, another flight of stone steps leads downwards through a grassed embankment into a sheltered Rose Garden. At one time the roses were set in geometric shaped beds, divided by miniature box-hedging and gravel. In this garden a 270 year old English yew tree has a central position, around which there was once a rustic seat. In a water-butt situated by the Bowling House in the Rose Garden three of William Wrightson's bowls were found in perfect condition. They bear his initials and are dated c.1730.
The Bowling Green has not fulfilled its intended purpose since the outbreak of the Second World War, whereas the other gardens and greenhouses were maintained until 1959. The Bowling Green was requisitioned by the Royal Corps of Signals, and a corner site was used to accommodate carrier pigeons. It was intended to use the birds for relaying messages between the military bases at Cusworth Hall and neighbouring Hickleton Hall, had Doncaster Telephone Exchange been destroyed by enemy action. The concrete pigeon hut bases were removed in 1990 and work is currently being undertaken to restore the Bowling Green which local people refer to as "the most atmospheric place in Cusworth".
The Bowling Pavilion
The Bowling Pavilion was vandalised in 1972, when the doors, casement windows, internal window seats and moulded shutters of the upper floor were all stolen. The 'open' window cavities were subsequently filled with breeze-blocks to secure the building against possible structural damage and to prevent unauthorised entry. Loose roof slates were removed to prevent danger and eventually the timbers collapsed. Fortunately, the weathervane of 1726 was salvaged and kept, along with the king post, at Church Cottage. The post was an important item to save because it provided evidence of the exact roof height. During July and August 1991, after nearly 20 years of neglect, the attractive hipped-roof was rebuilt. It has reclaimed Welsh slate, lead mop-roll hipped-gables, and is surmounted by the restored original weathervane. The first-floor restoration work was carried out in 1992. This included the reinstatement of a floor, sash and casement windows (each with 15 panes of glass), panelled double doors, a ceiling, plasterwork, Trompe L'oeil decoration, interior shutters and window seats. These were all made to the original designs. The two-storey Bowling Pavilion and gardens were Grade II listen in March, 1990. Since 2004, the site became the property of Doncaster MBC and included in Cusworth Hall Museum and Park.
The Cusworth Hall Gardens Trust is a UK registered charity No. 1152888