Image ID: 08146

Ossington Hall: The west front from the lake

Ossington Hall
Ossington
England

In the Middle Ages Ossington had belonged to the Knights Hospitaller of St. John of Jerusalem, from whom it passed to the Duke of Suffolk, Richard Andrews and then to the Cartwright family. The Hall was built c 1728 by George Cartwright. In 1753 the estate was bought by William Denison, a successful Leeds woollen merchant who was then engaged in transferring much of his capital into property. William Denison, followed by his brother Robert, made plans for improvements and alterations to Ossington Hall, particularly during the 1780s. It was subsequently inherited by their nephew John Wilkinson who changed his name to Denison, and continued the improvements begun by his uncles. The house remained in the Denison family until its demolition in 1963. Most notable amongst the Denisons was John Evelyn Denison (1800-1873). The Ossington estates passed to him on the death of his father, John Wilkinson Denison, in 1820. He was an MP and Speaker of the House of Commons (1857-1872). He married Lady Charlotte Cavendish-Bentinck (third daughter of the 4th Duke of Portland) in 1827, and became the !st (and last) Viscount Ossington in 1872 (pictures of him can be seen at NCCE001929-31). Another was William Denison (1804-1871), who began his career as a military engineer and was involved with the construction of the Rideau Canal in Canada. He was knighted in 1846 and became lieutenant-governor of Van Dieman's Land. He was later governor of New South Wales, Australia and Madras, India. In addition to the family home at Ossington Hall, and other lands in Nottinghamshire, the Denison estates included lands in Lincolnshire, County Durham and Yorkshire, as well as their businesses in Leeds. The design of Ossington Hall has been attributed to the architect John Gibbs. Further work (notably Ossington church) was executed by John Carr of York, whilst the entrance front was remodelled in the 19th century by William Lindley of Doncaster. Essentially Palladian in design, the house featured two wings or pavilions, originally attached by curved 'quadrant' passageways, although these were replaced in 1839 by right-angled connections. The north pavilion housed the kitchens, whilst the south was first employed as stables and later given over as rooms for the tuition of the Denison children. Writing in the Transactions of the Thoroton Society of Nottinghamshire in 1980, H.A. Johnson provided the following description of the central house-block as it ultimately appeared:-'It was formed with a basement partly above ground, with two upper floors and an attic; the basement was faced with stone and the remainder built in brick. It was nine bays wide, with the middle third projecting slightly and topped with a pediment containing a circular window. There was a single-storey porch to the main entrance, added in the 19th century, mounted from floor level on a stepped approach. This porch was composed of round-arched openings framed with corner pilasters of the Doric order with the entablature supporting a flat roof. The fenestration was set out on a rhythm of three windows to each horizontal plain, using hung sashes in reveal; the openings of the three central bays and the basement had stone architraves with keystones. Two dormer windows with curved pediments were visible behind a parapet wall. The roof was slated and hipped. The garden elevation on the west side was much the same as the front of the house, with similar height and fenestration, but stood on a terrace raised to ground floor level with a good prospect of the park and lake. This elevation was stopped at both ends by a slightly projecting gable of single storey height containing a large three-light window under an open pediment.' Ossington Hall was demolished in 1963, and today only some garden features such as the terrace, lake, and 'baluster sundial' (designed in 1812 by Arthur Buckle) remain. The sundial now resides in the churchyard at Ossington. The papers of John Evelyn Denison, Viscount Ossington; Sir William T. Denison; estate papers and deeds concerning family lands; architectural plans for the Ossington estate and legal and financial papers are held at the University of Nottingham Library

Date: 1957

Organisation Reference: NCCE001953

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