Domesday
In 1086 Roger de Busli held 2 carucates and 2 bovates of land in Wentworth and Swinton as part of the manor of Wath. The land at Wentworth and Swinton was waste and worthless. Domesday Book also records that the King had retained three other estates in Wentworth in his own hands.
14th Century
In the Middle Ages Wentworth was split into three estates. Adam of Newmarch held one share as tenant of the Honour of Tickhill. Another share was held by William le Fleming and a further portion was part of the manor of Newhall, West Melton, held by the Fitz Swein family.
The Newmarch tenancy passed to a family known as de la West Hall, Thomas de la West Hall being returned as co-lord of Wentworth in 1315. This share passed to the family of Woodhall and then to the Jacksons who sold it to Thomas Wentworth in 1565.
The Fleming portion was given to the canons of Bolton, in Craven. It was this portion of Wentworth that included the site of Wentworth Woodhouse and the family known as de Wentworth or de Wentworth Woodhouse were tenants of the canons. William de Wyntword of Wentworth had married Emma, daughter of William Wodehouse in the reign of Henry 111. William de Wynteworth Wodehus had a license from Edward I to divert the highway near his house in 1303.
Wentworth Family
The Wentworth family prospered and increased their estates. When William Wentworth who married the daughter of Sir Richard Fitzwilliam of Aldwark, died in 1508 his estates included Woodhouse Hall, Wentworth, the manor of Hooton Roberts, the manor of Tinsley, Haigh, Hoyland and land in Rotherham, Greasbrough and Pollington. His son Thomas seems to have acquired the freehold of Wentworth Woodhouse on the dissolution of Bolton Abbey and their successors throughout the 16th century continued to add to the estates.
Thomas Wentworth
In 1614 the estates were inherited by Thomas Wentworth who was to make a considerable mark in the world. In 1620 he was elected one of the members of Parliament for Yorkshire. In the Commons he soon distinguished himself as a supporter of popular rights against the faction of the Duke of Buckingham. He was again elected to Parliament, for Pontefract, in 1624 but the following year, his attempt to get re-elected as a member for Yorkshire was blocked by the Royalist party. He was again in parliament in 1628 and by this time had changed his allegiance. His conversion to the royal party was rewarded with the title of Baron Wentworth of Wentworth Woodhouse and the office of Lord President of the North.
In 1633 he went to Ireland as Charles I’s Chief Governor. His administration of Ireland earned him the title Earl of Strafford and the enmity of Parliament. On his return to England in 1640 he was impeached by Parliament and executed on Tower Hill in 1641. Following Stafford’s execution his estates and titles were forfeit but within five days the King had given orders for their restoration to the Earl’s son. On the death of the second Earl in 1695, the estates passed through the female line to his nephew Thomas Watson-Wentworth whose son was created Marquess of Rockingham. The second Marquess was prime minister on two occasions and on his death in 1782, the estate again passed through the female line to his nephew, Earl Fitzwilliam.
Wentworth Woodhouse remained in the hands of the Fitzwilliams until the death of the 10th Earl without male heirs in 1979. The title became extinct. Prior to his death, the Earl had transferred the village of Wentworth to an amenity trust.
Wentworth Woodhouse
The first Marquess of Rockingham began to rebuild the 17th century house at Wentworth. The west front, which has been attributed to Vanburgh, was built between 1725 and 1734. Before it had been finished work had started on the vast east front, designed by Henry Flitcroft, which was not finished until the 1760s. A further storey was added to the wings in 1782-4.
In 1949 the east front was leased to the West Riding County Council for use as a teacher training college, the west front being retained for use by the family. The teacher training college merged with Sheffield City Polytechnic in 1977 and the building was used by the Polytechnic until 1986. Plans to turn the house into a high class hotel came to nothing in 1988 and it is once more in private hands. The estate is graced with a number of 18th century follies. The most notable of these are Keppel’s Column, Hoober Stand, the Mausoleum and Needle’s Eye.
Churches
Wentworth has two churches. The medieval parish church was originally a chapel-of-ease to Wath and is first mentioned in 1235. The church was altered in the late 15th century and in 1548 Thomas Wentworth bequeathed pillars and stone that he had bought from Monk Bretton Priory for the building of a new aisle. In 1684 the second Earl of Strafford spent £700 on rebuilding the church into a fit place to house the memorials to his father and himself. These monuments are still to be seen in the chancel together with monuments to the father and grandfather of the first Earl and to other ancestors. The old church was partially dismantled after its replacement was completed. In 1925 the chancel and north chapel was restored by the 7th Earl Fitzwilliam. The top portion of the tower of the old church fell during a gale in 1962. The graves of a number of estate servants can be seen in the churchyard.
The new church was erected by the children of Charles William, 5th Earl Fitwilliam, in memory of their parents. In addition, the 6th Earl had 15 children and needed a larger church. The architect was John Loughborough Pearson, architect of Truro Cathedral. Construction began in 1873 and the building was consecrated in 1877. The six bells were installed in the old church in 1863 and moved to its successor in 1893.
Education
Near the church stands the village school, erected in 1835. This was originally the infants’ and girls’ school. A boys’ school had been established by Thomas Watson-Wentworth in 1716 as part of the almshouse at Barrow. The boys moved to the infants’ and girls’ school when the Barrow school closed in 1943.
Development
Wentworth was very much an estate village with almost all the property housing workers on the estate. The Methodist chapel of 1834 sits on one of the few sites that were not owned by the Fitzwilliams.
The Earls provided a number of village amenities including the Mechanics’ Institute (1835). The area known as the Kennels takes its name from the Fitzwilliam Hounds who were kennelled there until the 1930s.
Although the Fitzwilliams had extensive coal mining interests in the area, there was no mining within Wentworth until the Second World War when extensive open-cast mining was undertaken to the south of the house and village.
In 1801 the population of Wentworth stood at 978. It increased steadily throughout the 19th century, reaching a peak of 1,949 in 1911, before declining, equally steadily, to 1,252 in 1991.
(Extracted from:- R.M.B.C, Patchwork of parishes, 1997)
Useful Links
Map of Wentworth
Attractions at Wentworth
Wentworthvillage.net
Return to the Local Towns and Villages index page
Archives and Local Studies Service
Rotherham Maps Online
Find out more about your area
Sitemap
