The Three Darnall Halls

[Bayleaf]

This article first appeared in the Transactions of The Hunter Archaeological Society and is reproduced here by kind permission of the Society.

THE THREE DARNALL HALLS

By MARY WALTON.

THE house whose interesting aspect, and rapidly approaching end, prompted the writing of these notes, stands in Main Road, Darnall, presenting its side to the street and its front to a small open space called Dunkirk Square. It has been a handsome house, of Jacobean, or even Elizabethan, building, and even in its present squalor retains much of its attraction.

For a long time its name was Dunkirk, but persistent local tradition calls it Darnall Old Hall, and it is so named on the 25-inch ordnance map of 1893. It seems clear, however, that this never was the "hall" of Darnall manor.

Over the door is a stone marked

B

WA

1702

In this form of memorial tablet, the letter at the top usually stands for the surname, and the two inferior letters for the Christian names of the owner and his wife. The owner who put up this tablet was William Bamforth, and three deeds in the City Library show the house coming into his possession and passing out of it.

Unfortunately, these three deeds are only "leases for possession." In the eighteenth century it was common to transfer property by means of two legal documents. In the first, the property was let for one year at the conventional rent of one peppercorn, and for a consideration of, generally, five shillings; in a fuller document dated the following day, the property was "released" for the actual sum transferred, or on special conditions.

The real business was in the second deed, and without the releases it is impossible to say whether these three deeds represent the first portions of mortgages, settlements, or conveyances outright; but in the case of the third, there is further evidence to prove a conveyance.

The first deed[1] is dated 1st July, 1701, and records that Joseph Walker of the City of London, gentleman, Jane his wife, and Mary Walker his daughter and heiress, give lease for possession to William Bamforth of Orgrave, yeoman, of a messuage in Darnall and closes called Parke Field, Oaker Close, Turner Croft, and half an acre in Kirkbridge Field.

The Joseph Walker from whom William Bamforth obtained the property was brother to William Walker of Darnall, who died in 1700 and was buried in the parish churchyard.[2] The deed therefore is probably part of a conveyance outright, and Joseph Walker was probably disposing of his brother's property.

After recording the coming to Darnall of William Walker not long before his death, the author of "Walks in the Neighbourhood of Sheffield",[3] says that rumour, both at the time and afterwards, persistently represented this William[4] as being the Walker who was the executioner of Charles I. He maintains that there is no truth in the legend.

He then continues :

"However, there is another circumstance connected with the supposed regicide, which now first presents itself to our knowledge, and which the speculators for or against Walker, may make the most of. The Mr. Hardcastle, before mentioned,[5] about eighteen years ago, purchased the old building, which was known to have been the residence of the debatable party. Passing through the outer door, which was strongly studded and barred with iron, an ordinary earthen floor presented itself. Upon removing this dirt, the purchaser was agreeably surprised to discover a substantial oaken boarding, resting on solid joists of the same material. Behind this building, now converted into four tenements, may be observed the orchard originally attached to the place. The old trees here reveal a date even anterior to the time referred to. The wanderer will find the whole worth gazing at - the old and still retained name of the place is Dunkirk, and it will be found midway in the village fronting the north-east."

Unfortunately, not one definite fact has come to light about William Bamforth. John Bamforth of Sheffield, who stands at the head of the tree of Bamforth of High House, had a third son William of Darnall, who was probably buried at Sheffield 9th February, 1683-4, and who had a son William; it is tempting to suppose that the son was William of Orgrave.

The wording of this deed suggests that the house was already standing, a fact which is in any case clear from its appearance, and that immediately after his purchase William Bamforth carried out improvements or repairs and put up the tablet over the door. Whether he lived in it or not I have not been able to find out, but some time before 1726 he moved to Chesterfield, for on 17th July of that year William Bamforth of Chesterfield transferred (according to the second deed[6]) a messuage in Darnall with Park Feild, Turner Croft, Oaker Close alias Owler Greave Close, and a parcel in Kirkbridge Feild (together with land in Handsworth), to Marmaduke Carver of Chesterfield.

Marmaduke Carver did not long hold the land. On 13th September, 1727,[7] along with Joseph Newbold of Holmesfield, blacksmith, he transferred the same land to Joshua Jepson of Ecclesfield, yeoman.

There is a pedigree of Jepson and Oddy in the Jackson Collection.[8] The Joshua Jepson who bought this house (his paternity is not established, but the family is old at Ecclesfield) evidently lived in it, for he became known later in life as Joshua Jepson of Darnall. His daughter Hannah married Richard Oddy of Hill Top, Rotherham (1707-1782), in September, 1739,[9] and they had a son Joshua Jepson Oddy, first of Silkstone but afterwards of Darnall; he was born 2nd March, 1741, and died at Darnall 25th June, 1816. He evidently inherited this house, and property in Ecclesfield, from his grandfather, Joshua Jepson.

In 1794, William Fairbank surveyed his lands; they include the house and fields passed to him from William Bamforth. The plan which shows the house is SheD 266 S in the Fairbank Collection at the City Library, It shows a garden and croft extending to the Car Brook. In the survey made by William Fairbank for the enclosure of Darna11,[10] Joshua Jepson Oddy is shown as owner and tenant of this house. There is then a gap of a few years in the history of the house between Oddy's death in 1817 and the doubtful date of 1823, when Mr. Hardcastle bought it.

These are all the facts known to the writer about the history of this house, which merely constitute the story of a respectable house passing by sale and inheritance among substantial yeomen. There remains to be considered its relation to the manor of Darnall, and to the two other houses also called Darnall Hall.

William Bamforth's house was held of the manor of Darnall. The court baron of Darnall apparently did not meet often, for the jury did not approve Joshua Jepson's purchase until 19th June, 1742. Their decision is recorded in a copy court roll[11] of the court baron of William Spencer, lord of the manor of Darnall, of that date. No name is given to the house.

Not long afterwards - to be exact, on 17th May, 1744, a similar inquisition[12] in the court baron of the manor of Owlerton, records that William Spencer died seised of the house called Darnallhall, held of that manor. This in itself is sufficient to prove that "Darnall Hall" in 1744 meant neither Joshua Jepson's house nor the Staniforth mansion which is called Darnall Hall in the enclosure survey.

There is, however, more evidence than this. In court rolls of the manor of Owlerton the following entries appear: 27th November, 1706.[13] "Also Mr. Thomas Spencer then late of Attercliffe, deceased, died seised of and in the mannor house of Darnall and 23 acres of land of the yearly rent of 4d"; again, 19th December, 1724,[14] "Also, they said, that Thomas Spencer of Attercliffe, gentleman, deceased, died seised of the manor house of Darnall and two parcels of land, arable, meadow or pasture"; and in a rental of Owlerton dated 1761,[15] William Spencer appears as holding Darnall Hall and 23 acres.

The Spencers acquired the manor of Darnall in 1641, a moiety from Richard Wainwright of Dungworth, and the other moiety from an unknown source. It appears that they or their predecessors chose to build or take as their "hall" a house on an outlying portion of another manor; this may be odd, but the evidence is clear.

Mr. G. R. Vine [16] says that the old manor house of Darnall was at the end of what is now Coventry Road, and was used by the Darnall Cricket Club (whose ground is now the cemetery) for a meeting place. He gives no further details, but this house certainly belonged to William Spencer in 1771.[17] When it passed out of the possession of the Spencers has not been determined, but at the time of the enclosure it belonged to George Steer [18] and was sold by his executors in 1837.[19] Little of this house can be seen from the road.

As already mentioned, the name of "Darnall Hall' was given in the enclosure survey to a house still standing, and used now by the Darnall Liberal Club, which was built in 1723 by Samuel Staniforth (1689-1748) ; he came with his bride to an older house, which the present mansion replaced in 1722. These details are from Staniforthiana, or Recollections o f the family of Staniforth of Darnall in Yorkshire. [20]

The Spencers, who lived in Attercliffe in the 17th and early 18th centuries, and afterwards went to Bramley Grange, do not seem, in spite of being lords of the manor, to have been so prominent in Darnall as the Staniforths; and it is quite natural that when they left the immediate neighbourhood "the Hall" should have come to mean the residence of the powerful and friendly Staniforths, although they were never the lords of the manor.

The available evidence is sufficient to justify an opinion that the rather decrepit cottages in Coventry Road represent the real Darnall Hall; that William Bamforth's house never had any claim to that title, though it is much the most comely of the three buildings, and perhaps the oldest; and that the title of Darnall Hall was given to the building now known by that name by courtesy. It must, however, be remembered that it is not known who built the house we first know as belonging to the Walkers[21]

Notes

1 Miscellaneous Documents, 1017.

2 Hunter, Haallamshire, 2nd ed., 2nd series, 1841, p. 425.

3 p. 46.

4 Hunter says he came of a Darnall family. Were the Walkers, then, the original builders of the house?

5 He kept the "old country inn," as it then was, opposite the Staniforth almshouses (which were demolished in 1938).

6 Miscellaneous Documents, 1020.

7 Miscellaneous Documents, 1021.

8 Jackson Collection, 1110, 1245.

9 This lady is evidently the Mrs. Hannah Oddy whose death is recorded in "An Old Ecclesfield Diary," p. 17, in 1790.

10 Fairbank Collection, MB. 444.

11 Miscellaneous Documents, 1022.

12 Tibbitts Collection, 293.

13 Tibbitts Collection, 348.

14 Tibbitts Collection, 346.

15 Tibbitts Collection, 347.

16 The Story of Old Attercliffe, p. 282.

17 Fairbank Collection, Field Book 41, pp. 50-51.

18 Fairbank Collection, M.B. 444.

19 Fairbank Collection, SheD 278 L.

20 Ante,vol.3, p. 254.

21 I should like to acknowledge the help I have received from Mr. T. Walter Hall, who first suggested this research, and Mr. George Launders, who put me on the track of the passage in "Walks in the Neighbourhood of Sheffield" and one or two other sources.

[dunsbyowl1867]

Thanks again Peter another great read. Came across this photo od the staniforth/Darnall Hall on Picture Sheffield

https://www.picturesheffield.com/y01146

 

Link repaired

[Guest Gramps]

Thanks from me too...this ties in nicely with the other article on the Staniforth Darnall Hall.

I haven't been able to pin down the location of the Darnall Old Hall shown in the photo, - J R Wrigley says it was next to a pub called the Duke of York but I can see only 'The Ball' on Main road on the 1903 map....and there is also a 'Traveller's Inn' shown on the 1850 map.

I believe I have identified the location of the old Darnall Manor House on Coventry road - both on the 1903 and the 1850 map, but what seems odd is that there are apparently no photos or other illustrations of this property. How can a building of such historical importance disappear without trace ?

[Ponytail]

On 17/02/2010 at 18:43, dunsbyowl1867 said:

Thanks again Peter another great read. Came across this photo od the staniforth/Darnall Hall on Picture Sheffield

 

http://www.picturesheffield.com/cgi-bin/pi...ff.refno=y01146

Darnall Hall. 

Link in original post lost. 

 

y01146

Darnall (Staniforth) Hall, Main Road, built by Samuel Staniforth in 1723

The following rhyme was cast in leadwork on the roof; 'This house was built as you may see In seventeen hundred and twenty three. This house was built as you may hear By Samuel Staniforth in one year'. When the hall was sold by the Staniforth family, this was removed and is now on a stable wall at Kirk Hammerton Hall, near York. The hall was reduced to two storeys at a later date.

 

[Ponytail]

Map of the Estate of Samuel Staniforth in the township of Attercliffe-cum-Darnall. 1832.

https://www.picturesheffield.com/frontend.php?keywords=Ref_No_increment;EQUALS;arc03905&pos=103&action=zoom&id=100165

Full title: Map of the Estate of Samuel Staniforth in the township of Attercliffe-cum-Darnall made for the purpose of ascertaining the title to the several parts thereof as far as can now be done and shewing what parts thereof were entailed by the will of John Staniforth deceased dated 11th March 1700.

The following are marked:

Top left: Pale Side Field, Upper New Close, Partridge Flatts, Little Wood Close, Green Meadow, Bashforth Close, Calf Close, Barber Close, Lower New Piece, Long Close and Great Old Cotes.

Bottom left: Goose Dole, The Acre, Park Field, Lock Close, Old Town Flatt, Hanging Bank, Bowden Housestead Wood, Hollinhurst, Pingle, Six Acre or Rodger Close, Black Hedge, Stone Delf, Ash Close, Two Part Field, Hibberd Field, Owler Greave Close, an allotment, Pease Field, Croft, Near Turner Corft, Far Turner Croft, Near Town Field Close, Turners Flatt, Little Close, Stoop Gate Field, Cockers oak, Great Kirk Bridge.

Also shows road from Worksop.

Top right: Cow Pasture Tongue, Spring Field, Cow Pasture, Dickawood Close, Stacye Field, Straw Mill Close, Nicholson Croft, Little Town Field, an allotment, Darnall to Sheffield Road

Bottom right: Makin Croft, Pit Hill Close, Darnall Hall.

 

Plan of a Freehold Estate at or near Darnal [Darnall] purchased by Samuel Staniforth of Ibbotson Walker. 1839.

https://www.picturesheffield.com/frontend.php?keywords=Ref_No_increment;EQUALS;arc03940&pos=10&action=zoom&id=101830

Includes:  Little Park Field, Great Park Field or Three Part Field, Green Lane, New Close, Owler Greave Close or Please Land Close, Lock Close, Long Close, Broom Close or Hanging Bank, Far Ley Lands, Near Ley Lands, Broom Close or Hanging Bank, Winter Croft.

Land owners include: Church Burgesses and William Deakin.

Surveyor: J. Fairbank and Son. Made from the survey made at the time of the Inclosure. 

 

The following map fills in some of the gaps on Staniforths map dated 1832. 

A Map of an Estate in Darnall in the Parish of Sheffield, the property of John Smelter. 1813.

https://www.picturesheffield.com/frontend.php?keywords=Ref_No_increment;EQUALS;arc03936&pos=11&action=zoom&id=101852

Includes reference to:

Acres Hill Close, Stone Delves, Hollinhurst, Pellet Sick, Bottoms, Footway Field, Rough Close, Little Old Cotes, Horse Pasture, The Acre, Croft, Barn, Stables, stackyard and garden, houses and gardens, allotment on Owler Greave.

Samuel Staniforth is mentioned several times as a landowner.

 

[Ponytail]

Thomas Staniforth (1735 -1803), slave trader, merchant and politician, from a portrait by Wright of Derby. 

Copyright: Tate Gallery.  

https://www.picturesheffield.com/frontend.php?keywords=Ref_No_increment;EQUALS;s08478&pos=17&action=zoom&id=11675

The son of Samuel Staniforth and Alethea Macro of Darnall Hall. The family were a prominent family of Darnall but although Thomas was born in Sheffield he spent most of his life in Liverpool, where he and his son Samuel were involved in the African slave trade (slavery).

Thomas Staniforth was Mayor of Liverpool in 1797-1798.

 

[Ponytail]

On 14/02/2024 at 17:33, Ponytail said:

Thomas Staniforth (1735 -1803), slave trader, merchant and politician, from a portrait by Wright of Derby. 

Copyright: Tate Gallery.  

https://www.picturesheffield.com/frontend.php?keywords=Ref_No_increment;EQUALS;s08478&pos=17&action=zoom&id=11675

The son of Samuel Staniforth and Alethea Macro of Darnall Hall. The family were a prominent family of Darnall but although Thomas was born in Sheffield he spent most of his life in Liverpool, where he and his son Samuel were involved in the African slave trade (slavery).

Thomas Staniforth was Mayor of Liverpool in 1797-1798.

 

Link to: 

Sheffield and the Slave Trade Black Lives Matter. 

 

https://www.sheffieldhistory.co.uk/forums/topic/18100-sheffield-and-the-slave-trade-black-lives-matter/#elControls_151345_menu