11 – Thorpe Hall

Thorpe Hall, originally built as the private residence of George Thorpe, a wealthy Bradford draper was unveiled as the eleventh heritage blue plaque by Ilkley Civic Society of 22 February 2008.

It was a luxurious house, called Ardenlea, with panoramic views across the valley and set within its own extensive grounds.  Marie Curie put the building up for sale in 2000 to help pay for a brand-new purpose-built hospice in Bradford. It was saved from demolition when given Grade II listed status on 27th September of that year and sold to developers who renamed it Thorpe Hall, taking its name from its original occupant

The Owners/Occupiers of Ardenlea up to being converted to flats were:

1881-1903

George Thorpe (1825-1903)

1881-1899  Occupied by George Thorpe
1899-1903 Occupied by Benjamin Nussey (1841–1924)

1903-1906

George Thorpe Estate - Vacant

1906-1914

Bradford Third Equitable Building Society - Vacant

1914-1962

Trustees of the Railwaymen’s Convalescent Homes

18 May 1915-1962
Railwaymen’s Convalescent Home

1962-2001

Marie Curie Memorial Foundation

1963-2001
Ardenlea Nursing Home

2003 - Converted to residential flats

THE ORIGINAL PLOT OF LAND

The land that Ardenlea was built on was auctioned off by William Middelton, Lord of the Manor, in his land sale on 16 August 1872.  The bulk of Ardenlea is built on the whole of Lot 11 (a site overlooking the Busks, and a carriage drive northward, having Queens Drive on the south) and part of Lot 7 (a site having the most beautiful part of Parish Ghyll on the east, Queens Drive on the South and a carriage road on the north). Lot 11 was purchased by Mr. J. Hutton of Eccleshill for £555 and Lot 7 by Mr. Berry, a Merchant of Leeds for £500.

In 1875 George Thorpe (1835-1903) bought two acres from John Hutton & Chedorlasmer Gardiner, there having been no development since the auction.

MR. T. C. HOPE – THE ARCHITECT

Portrait from Bradford Society of Architects and Surveyors Past Presidents Thomas Campbell Hope 1889 & 1910

Mr. Thorpe engaged Hope and Jardine as the architects for a palatial residence which was built on the site in 1881.  Mr. T. C. Hope (1834-1916) was no stranger to Ilkley having been the architect advertising in Bradford Observer in March 1860, requesting contractors to erect two semi-detached villas in Ilkley and in 1868-9 he was the architect for Ilkley College (see Blue Plaque No. 13 – Deaconess Court). Nor was he a stranger to George Thorpe as Mr. T. C. Hope was the architect for George Thorpe’s business premises in 1871-76.  It is possible that they were close friends as at George Thorpe’s funeral in 1903, T. C. Hope is listed under the relatives attending.

Mr Thomas Campbell Hope was born in Bradford in 1834. His father was a travelling draper who came from Gretna Green to Bradford & married there. Mr Hope was educated in Bradford and served his articles with a Bradford firm, subsequently commencing on his own account as Architect, Surveyor & Valuer in 1858 from 31 Kirkgate.  In the early 1870s David Jardine, who had probably been articled to Hope, joined him in partnership in 12, Exchange Buildings and then at 2, Cheapside. This arrangement had ceased by 1887.  George Roberts became a partner around 1912.  He was president of the Bradford Society of Architects and Surveyors in 1889 and 1910.

Mr. T C Hope was largely responsible for the layout of Manningham as a residential suburb with designs for many terrace houses in Ash Grove, Hallfield Road, St Paul's Road, Parkfield Road Estate and Melbourne Villas. Among other buildings for which he was responsible were:

1868 – Ilkley College (see Blue Plaque 23 – Deaconess Court), 1871-6 – Thorpe Buildings (Store for George Thorpe), 1872 Lilycroft School, 1882 - Bradford Technical College, 1884 - Albert Buildings, Tyrell Street, 1886 - Grange Road School, 1888 - Nutter Orphanage and 1904 Rawson Square extension of the Market Halls.

Mr Hope was elected to the City Council as a representative of the Manningham Ward on three occasions without opposition in 1883, 1886 and 1889, but in 1892 he was defeated by Mr. F.W. Jowett and did not seek to re-enter municipal life.  For several years he was Chairman of the Tramways, Paths & Team Labour Committees. Mr Hope was married 3 times.

Mr Hope was for some years a director of the Bradford Third Equitable Building Society, for who he was the architect for their building on Market Street and was one of the founders of the Bradford Ratepayers and Property Association of which he was the first president.

Thomas Campbell Hope lived in Bradford until 1900 when he moved to Ilkley, 19 Alexandra Crescent until his death in 1916.  Whilst in Bradford he resided at 12 Hanover Square in the 1860s, Oak Villas Manningham in the 1870s and in 1881 he lived just 2 doors way from Mr. Benjamin Nussey, who went onto rent Ardenlea, and during the 1890s at 6 Victor Road.

He died in 1916, leaving a widow (having been married three time), two sons and five daughters.

 

ARCHITECTURAL DETAILS OF ARDENLEA

The house was built in 1881, under the personal supervision of Mr. George Thorpe.  It was constructed in Bradford ashlar (wall stone), relieved by finely worked and richly carved stone dressings in Ilkley stone.  The interior was fitted out in mahogany, pitch pine, costly plate-glass, and decorated tiles, specially designed mantelpiece, overmantels, and other ornamental woodwork by an eminent Bradford firm.  The property included a large garden laid out with trees, shrubs, shady walks, rockeries and grottos, greenhouses and a cottage for the gardener & coachman at the West corner & stables for 3 horses.

In 1885 Mr. Thorpe bought a further acre of land and laid out The Pleasure Ground and Tennis Court and in 1897 bought more land to build the semis Ardencroft and Briarwood next door, again the architect was Mr. T. C. Hope.

When the property was put up for sale in 1906 the following extract from the details describes the ‘completed’ property:

The Main front entrance is approached by a carriage drive from the public road and is protected by an open stone portico. On the ground-floor are a Vestibule; a beautiful Central Hall, nearly 48ft. long by 16ft. wide; Dining-room, 24ft. by 24ft., including the bay window; Morning-room, 24ft by 18ft., also including the bay; a Drawing-room, 24ft. by 24ft.; a Billiard-room, 26 ½ ft. by 24 ½ ft., communicating with a Conservatory; Lavatory and Cloak-room, Butler’s Pantry, Store-room, spacious Kitchen, Scullery, and Larder.

The First Floor is approached by a very fine principal staircase from the central hall, and by another staircase from the domestic offices.  It contains 6 Bedrooms, 3 Dressing-rooms, Bathroom, Linen-room, and Housemaid’s Closet.

On the SECOND FLOOR are three large Bedrooms, Boxroom and Tower-room

The BASEMENT, which is thoroughly dry and admirably ventilated, contains numerous Cellars.

The OUTBUILDINGS comprise a four-roomed Gardener’s Cottage, Stabling for three horses, with Coach-house, a laundry, and a range of Glass Houses.

There are useful KITCHEN and FRUIT GARDENS.

The PLEASURE GROUNDS and GARDENS are extremely beautiful.  Extending over an area of nearly three acres, picturesquely undulating, well timbered, and watered by a natural stream flowing from the uplands, they have offered an irresistible opportunity for effective development.  Choice shrubs and ornamental trees have been profusely planted, their luxuriant growth indicating a salubrious climate and congenial soil.  A perfect Tennis Ground has been laid down, and the many shady walks, the rockeries, grottos, and ornamental pools, all combine in presenting a charming diversity of natural and artificial effect, which renders the Grounds of Ardenlea a constant source of pleasure to the residents, and one of the most delightful retreats in Ilkley.

The property was officially given Grade II listing in 2000 and Historic England records the details of the building with contributions from the Ilkley Civic Society who helped campaign for the listing. - https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1389294

1881-1903
George Thorpe (1835-1903)

George Thorpe with his wife, Hannah (seated) with daughter Clara in the driving seat outside their home, Ardenlea. Son, Frederick is lounging in the grand entrance way and the coachman is keeping a tight rein on one of his charges - Mike Dixon Collection

Clara Thorpe - Mike Dixon Collection

George Thorpe was a native of Pateley Bridge.  He was born 9 May 1835 with the birth registered at the Salem Independent Chapel to William Thorpe, a boot and shoe maker, and his wife Ann.  George was one of at least eight children (John, Edward, Thomas, Mary, Ann, Joseph and Nathan).  By the age of 15 he was Drapers Assistant still in Pateley Bridge.

Bradford Review 19 May 1860

Shortly after 1851, George moved to Bradford and was apprenticed to Mr. Robert Cousen's, a Linen Draper at 12 Ivegate.  Robert Cousen died in Nov 1854 aged 52 after a long illness and it is unclear until 1860 who ran the business.  In May 1860 the trustees of Mr. Cousen announced that Mr. George Thorpe was taking on the management and supervision of the business, following the death of Mary Ann Cousen, Robert’s widow on 4 May 1860.  Subsequently on 13 September George married Fanny Cousen (1844-1861), Robert’s daughter.

In 1861 the couple were living at 12 Ivegate, Bradford next to the Unicorn Inn.  George aged 25 was now employing four assistants and one apprentice all living at 12 Ivegate.  Two of the assistants were his brothers Joseph (aged 21) and Nathan (aged 18) and the apprentice was George Steel (aged 13) a nephew.

In addition, Fanny’s sister Maria (aged 11) was also living there.  In August 1869 George’s brother, Joseph (also a Linen Draper) married Maria (1849-1926) in Accrington.  Jospeh had moved to Accrington with his first wife, Ellen who died in July 1865.  Joseph and Maria remained close to George, with Joseph being a Linen Draper in firm set up by George (Thorpe Brothers) and from 1887-97 were living in Wilton Villas, The Grove, Ilkley not far from Ardenlea, before retiring to Guiseley.

Unfortunately, George’s wife Fanny died shortly after the 1861 census was taken.  George Thorpe subsequently married Hannah Clarkson (1844-1900) in 1865, daughter of Edward Cowling Clarkson (1804-1883), an Iron Monger at Accrington.  Originally born in Kildwick, Edward Clarkson in later years moved to Ilkley and died at Fir Cottage, Grove Road.

By the census of 1871 George and Hannah were living at 22 Howard Street, Horton with his two children, Frederick Herbert born 1866 and Clara, born 7 Feb 1867 and two servants.

Wharfedale Airedale Observer 26 September 1884

George’s business, Messrs George Thorpe and Co, having occupied 12 Ivegate and now employing 18 men, 10 females and 3 boys was booming and big enough for him to commission the building of Thorpe Buildings, located at the intersection of Ivegate and Tyrell Street from the architects Thomas Campbell Hope and David Jardine.  The date stones are 1871 and 1876.  The price of the triangle purchased in 1871 was £26. 5s. per square yard, and the square in 1876, £42 per square yard, both sold by the Bradford Corporation at public auction.

The area of the site was 7,000 square feet, the height of the building from the street to the top of the dormer is 75 ft and was built entirely with cleansed ashlar, from the Bradford quarries. It was one of the largest buildings of its kind in Yorkshire, with George Thorpe’s Drapers Store occupying it until 1900 with upwards of 100 men and women being employed in it.  It was one of Bradford's Largest Dept Stores standing opposite the other major Dept Store Brown Muffs.  In 1869 Mr Muff had built a house in Ilkley, Woodbank on the corner of Parish Ghyll Walk, Queens Road and Princess Road  and along with Mr Matthew Todd, a Bradford Woolcomber who built Oaklands on Westward Drive - both now demolished - and Mr Thorpe they formed a triumvirate of Bradford Business men living just about next door to each other.  Thorpe Building was one of the first stores in Bradford to use light for display purposes.  The store sold Clothes, Curtains, Bedsteads, Carpets and House Furniture.

Click here to read more about the store in 1893

Leeds Mercury 10 October 1900

In 1896 George Thorpe retired from the business.  His retirement led to the business being converted into a public company.  The prospectus for the new company was published widely around the country, with his son Frederick Herbert agreeing to stay on as a joint managing director.  Click here to see the prospectus as published in St James Gazette, London 29 July 1896.

The venture through this public company did not prove successful.  Within one year the Westminster Gazette was reporting that profits were not reaching the levels indicated in the prospectus but that it was not of immediate concern.  By October 1900 the company was placed into liquidation.  The liquidator, Mr W. M. Gray 21 years later was to purchase St John’s (see Blue Plaque 10)

In 1900 the ground floor was purchased to be the banking hall for Halifax Commercial Banking Corporation, which was amalgamated with Bank of Liverpool & Martins Ltd later known as Martins Bank Ltd, and then Barclays Bank following a further merger in the late 1960s.  In the 1990s TSB Bank opened on the ground floor of the building and closed on 2nd February 2024 due to relocation to Broadway.Prior to moving to Ardenlea in 1881 George Thorpe’s family were living at 4 Melbourne Place, Bradford.

In around 1899 George Thorpe left Ardenlea for the ‘Cedars’, Swan Road in Harrogate due to his wife’s ill health.  Ardenlea was rented out to Mr Nussey, with Clara joining George in Harrogate and Frederick residing at Arden Croft.  Unfortunately, Hannah was to die in 1900 and 3 years later after six months of failing health on 30 Jan 1903 George died at Cedars, leaving an inheritance of £23,125 18s 5d.

George had spent his life focused on business, along with Mr T. C. Hope, he was also a director of Bradford Third Equitable Building Society right up to his death and took no part in politics or public affairs.

Frederick Herbert Thorpe (1866-1926)

Frederick was in 1881 being schooled at Thorpe Arch Grange School.  On 21 Oct 1897 he married Edith Mary Kempson (1875–1972) the daughter of Ilkley Minister Rev. Howard Kempson.  They were to have 6 children, although one died in infancy; George Donald Kempson (1899-1899 died in infancy) Barbara (1899-1983), Edith Dorothy (1901-1999), Frederick Basil (1900-1983), Anthony Howard Kempson (1906-1924) and Joan (1911-2002).

Sheffield Daily Telegraph 27 June 1903

After his father’s death, Frederick put Ardenlea up for sale or let with Mr Nussey moving out to his new home at Westfield, Ilkley.  The property continued to be unoccupied (at least by anyone that registered themselves on the electoral roll) from 1904 until 1915 when the Railwaymen’s Convalescent Home opened.  It was advertised for sale in 1906 to close George Thorpe’s estate, and subsequently in 1908 and 1910.  By 1910 the owner in the West Yorkshire Tax Valuation survey was the Bradford Third Equitable Building Society.

By 1911 Frederick Thorpe had moved to Lauriston, Grange Estate, Ben Rhydding where he died in 1926.

The family in 1930 moved to 6 West View where E. Dorothy Thorpe founded Moorfield School in some converted rooms, having taught at High School for Girls on Wells Road.  She and her sisters (Barbara and Joan, a music teacher who in 1942 married Mr Foxwell and moved to Surrey) educated many girls in Ilkley, with Dorothy retiring in 1965.  In 1939 Edith Mary and the children were all still in Ilkley, however now at Holme Lea, Queens Road and around 1966 moved to White Farm on Parish Ghyll Drive, where in 1972 Edith Mary, Frederick Thorpe’s wife died.

Moorfield School relocated to Wharfedale Lodge, Ben Rhydding Road, in 1968 where it continues to flourish today.

Frederick Basil Thorpe was a Worsted Manufacturer Salesman.

The connection with Ardenlea was maintained by Dorothy and Barbara, who volunteered at the Marie Currie Nursing home serving teas on Sundays.

Clara Thorpe (1867-1948)

Following her father’s death Clara married Rev. Wilfred Norman Luther Moreton in 1904 at Harrogate, where Rev. Moreton was senior curate at St Lukes.  For the next five years they were in Rawdon until in 1910 Rev. Moreton was inducted as the vicar at St Clements Church, Sheepscar, Leeds and in 1911 they were living at the St Clements Vicarage.  In 1915 Rev. Moreton was inducted as the vicar at St Stephens in West Bowling Bradford living at 106 Birch Lane.  Clara and Wilfred returned to Harrogate when Wilfred accepted the living at St Mark’s Harrogate in 1922. When Wilfred retired, they stayed in Harrogate.

1899-1903
BENJAMIN NUSSEY (1841–1924)

Benjamin Nussey (1841–1924) By Solomon Joseph Solomon (1860–1927) Leeds Art Gallery, Leeds Museums and Galleries

Benjamin Nussey rented Ardenlea from George Thorpe from 1899 until Mr. Nussey moved to his new home Westfield on Parish Ghyll Drive just around the corner from Ardenlea in 1903.  Westfield no longer exists however it stood between Red Gables and The Pines

In 1901 at living at Ardenlea were his wife, Annie, son George (Solicitor), 2 daughters Annie Marian and Mary Maud, four servants and a gardener in the cottage.  Benjamin Nussey and his eldest daughter Dora Leathley were not at home for the census and not found elsewhere so were possibly abroad.

Whilst at Ardenlea Mr Nussey was chair of the committee responsible for building the Ilkley Coronation Hospital which opened in 1904.

Mr Nussey had been the silk spinning manager at Manningham Mills for the Lister Company and prior to living at Ardenlea lived at 8 Mount Royd, Manningham. He is credited with being the ‘Inventor of Lister Sowing Silk’ and had famously ‘discovered’ Jose Reixach on a visit to Spain.  He retired in 1886 because of illness and was replaced by William Watson jnr of Addingham.  (In 1892 William Watson along with Marshall Hainsworth – see Blue Plaque 16, Hillside – purchased Ben Rhydding Hydropathic Establishment and the Watson family ran it until 1945).  Benjamin Nussey was the fifth of six children born to George Nussey Esq. (A Dyer and Drysalter) and Mary Ann Leathley of Leeds, he continued to live at Westfield until his death in 1924.

Ilkley Cemetery

His wife Anne Elizabeth (1849-1919) was born in Walton, Lancashire.  She was the daughter of Gentle Brown (1816-1886), who died in Ilkley, although was only in Ilkley for a very short while.  For a period after Anne’s wedding to Benjamin in 1872 Gentle Brown and his wife Sarah lived with Mr. Nussey.  During the course of his life, Gentle Brown was a Retired Corn Merchant (1881), Land owner (1871 - Tonbridge), Retired Merchant and Proprietor of Land (1861 – Seaforth, Merseyside) and Ship Broker (1851, Walton) and from 1831-1850 a Master Marina in the African Trade.  Mr Brown originated from Heighington, Lincolnshire.

Dora Leathley Nussey (1873-1934) the eldest daughter was for 26 years honorary secretary of the Ilkley University Extension Society, and for many years president and chair of the Ilkley Society for Equal Citizenship (The National Union of Societies of Equal Citizenship was the new name in 1919 for National Union of Women Suffrage Societies and focused on a campaign to equalise suffrage, which was achieved in 1928).  During the first world was, Dora was interested in educational work in connection with the Y.W.C.A, however her greatest recognition was being awarded, along with Mrs Rabagliati the Medaille de la Reine Elizabeth by his Majesty King Albert of the Belgians for their work supporting Belgian refugees.  (Much more information on this is available in Caroline Brown and Mark Hunnebell’s book ‘Ilkley and the Great War’). Dora moved to Upper Ewe Croft, Victoria Drive where she died in 1934.

Benjamin, Ann Elizabeth and Dora are all buried in Ilkley Cemetery.

George Leathley Nussey (1875-1953) when living at Ardenlea had already attended Harrow, Clare College Cambridge and qualified as a Solicitor, however ill health compelled him to seek a more open-air life and, on his marriage in 1907 to Mabel Douglas Reid he turned to farming at Algarkirk, near Boston in Lincolnshire.  He met his American born wife in the UK, although they were married in New York.  Their first home was in Spalding, then Boston in 1914 before settling in Witham Bank West in 1923.  Mr Nussey became a Justice of the Peace in 1919 and only resigned two years before his death.  He was prominent in many spheres of social and civic life, probably best known as a J.P. and chair if the Holland Bench, former member for 15 years and sometime chair of the Boston R.D.C. and as president form its formation of the Boston Players Society.

Annie Marian Nussey (1876-1970) married Philip Nobel Fawcett (1863-1942) at St Margaret’s Church on 23 August 1900 with the reception being held at Ardenlea prior to a honeymoon in Germany.  Mr Fawcett was a Barrister at Middle Temple (whose father, Henry Fawcett was also a barrister at law, however not the Henry Fawcett who was Postmaster General and married the Suffrgette, Millicent Garrett) and for 40 years Secretary of the Incorporated Council of Law Reporting until 1939 and the commanding officer of the army’s Wimbledon Battalion of the Surrey National Reserve.  They moved to Surrey, although in 1911 Marian as she was known was boarding at Westview Farm in Ilkley with five of her 8 children and 2 nurses.

Mary Maud Nussey (1878-1954) died at 18 Woodbury Avenue, Petersfield, Hampshire.  In 1921 Miss Nussey was living at Whithill, Wootton Courtney, Somerset with Miss Maud Mary Hewitt (1877-1947) as Co-Heads of the household with a visitor Miss Marion Wilkinson Bennett (1877-1950), who Miss Nussey must have known from Ilkley as in 1911 Marion, who was only three years older lived in Marsden House, Middleton in 1911 (the daughter of Mr. Edward Augustus. Bennett who had been the Surgeon at the Great Marsden Lunatic Asylum).  In 1939 Miss Nussey was still residing with Miss Hewitt however at Luckbarrow, West Luccombe, Allerford, just a few miles away.  Both ladies were living on private means, with Miss Hewitt being the daughter of George Edwin Hewitt who in 1888 retired as the Chairman and majority owner of Cavendish House, Cheltenham’s oldest department store, having gone into partnership in 1876 with Mr Debenham, who went on to found Debenhams.

1903-1915
VACANT PERIOD

So far, no records have been found indicating that anyone lived at Ardenlea between 1903 and 1915.  The 1910 tax survey and 1911 Census have no residents, nor can any registered voters be found living at the property in the Electoral Rolls.

1915-1962
RAILWAYMEN’S CONVALESCENT HOME

 

Front View - Sally Gunton Collection

Rear View - Sally Gunton Collection

THE CHARITY

1939

Founded in 1899, the Railwaymen's Convalescent Home charity started with one specially built home in Herne Bay, Kent which opened in 1901.  John Edward Nichols, a cashier with the London, Chatham & Dover Railway was the main instigator.  With rising demand in 1910 the Trustees purchased Leasowe Castle on the Wirral which opened in 1911.  Ardenlea in Ilkley was purchased in 1914 with money largely made available from a fund associated with the North-Eastern Railway Company and opened in 1915, followed by Bridge House at Dawlish in 1918.  Before WW1 Mrs. Bruce Culver, wife of the Secretary of the Railwaymen's Convalescent Homes, had been given the Old Wool Hall at Lavenham, by Princess Louise, and this had been converted and opened as The Railwaywomen's Convalescent Home. In 1921 Mrs. Culver offered this home to the Railwaymen's Convalescent Homes and the organisation was renamed the Railway Convalescent Homes.  In total there were eventually 10 properties around the country however the need had diminished during the 1950s and they began to close.  Ardenlea was the first close in 1962 with Bridge House in Dawlish finally closed in late 2020 as falling use and finally the effects of Covid-19 made its continued operation no longer viable.

If railway employees subscribed ½ penny a week (this was available to all railway workers irrespective of which company they worked for), they could go to any of the homes.  This was the same cost in 1939, with over 360,000 employees contributing, when subscription was promoted with ‘It is too late to Think of joining when sickness or accident have over-taken you.  Be wise and join now.  If you think you will never need the homes yourself, then join for the sake of your less fortunate colleagues.’.  By 1951 the cost had risen to 2 pence per week, with 450,000 employees contributing however there were 200,000 eligible employees not subscribing.

The benefit was for two weeks after sickness, accident or operation, and it could be extended up to a maximum of four weeks.  There were ‘no petty restrictions or irksome rules.’

ARDENLEA RAILWAYMAN’S CONVALESCENT HOME

Leeds Mercury 10 May 1915
Mock Trial - Sally Gunton Collection

After purchase in 1914 Ardenlea was converted to be suitable as a convalescent home and was formerly opened on 8 May 1915 by Sir Alexander K. Butterworth the General Manager of the North-Eastern Railway Company. It opened with accommodation for fifty patients and staff with facilities like a hotel, billiard room, elegant day room, dining room, smoke room with card tables and grounds.

A grand piano was presented to the home in 1915 by the London & North-Western Railway employees and still stood in the smoking room in1999.  The North-Eastern Railway Magazine of October 1916 painted the following picture of life at Ardenlea. ‘It is astonishing how soon patients arriving at the Home, tired, weary and sick at heart, put aside their cares and pains and adopt the genial brotherly spirit that prevails.’…’it might justly have been named Arcadia’ … ‘New plants and trees grow in the gardens.’ … ‘The lawns looked as if they had just been ironed’ …’ the fountain threw a misty spray into the air’ … ‘A beehive was installed under a shady tree, and in the long succession of greenhouses grew tomatoes and other inviting delicacies.’ … ‘The meals are good, substantial, well cooked and daintily served.’… ‘After the evening meal a mock court is held now and then, and trifling charges are tried with all the ceremony of a veritable tribunal.  The maximum penalty is a fine of 1d.’

Main Hall and Staircase Sally Gunton Collection

Smoking Room - Sally Gunton Collection

Landing First Floor - Sally Gunton Collection

Writing and Rest Room - Sally Gunton Collection

Dining Room - Sally Gunton Collection

A Ward - Sally Gunton Collection

Billiards Room - Sally Gunton Collection

A Ward - Sally Gunton Collection

In addition, to the mock trials, there were regular sing songs and smoking concerts.  There was also a ladies fortnight.  Over the years there were many postcards sent from the patients, especially of groups of patients and staff involved in play readings and mock trials.  Here are just a few over the years.

1917 - Sally Gunton Collection

1925 A Play - Sally Gunton Collection

1881 Porch Date - Sally Gunton Collection

1938 - Sally Gunton Collection

For unknown reasons, in the 8 Jul 1931 Yorkshire Post, the Railway Convalescent Homes’ trustees indicated Ardenlea and its two- and three-quarter acres would be put up for public sale unless a private sale could be agreed.  Since the property continued as a Railway Convalescent Home it would appear that the reason was not sufficient to go through with the sale.

Ardenlea suffered a major fire in 1946 caused, it was believed, by a lighted cigarette left in the smokeroom. One wing was destroyed but the rest of the home was saved. It was decided to replace that wing with a new much larger one and to refurbish and modernise the rest of the building at the same time costing £17,000.  Ardenlea was reopened in September of 1953 by Sir John Benstead, deputy chair of the British Transport Commission and president of the Railway Homes.  Mr. A. L. Crewe, chair of the Board of Trustees was also present, and a service of dedication was conducted by Assistant Bishop of Bradford, Dr. A. O. Hardy.

1963-2001
ARDENLEA NURSING HOME - MARIE CURIE CANCER CARE

The Marie Curie Memorial Foundation in 1962 purchased Ardenlea and undertook extensive refurbishment before opening Ardenlea Nursing Home in early 1963.  This was the eight home out of ten that Marie Curie Memorial Foundation opened between 1953 and 1965.  When the home was closed in 2001 Marie Curie compiled a history of Ardenlea, including lots of detail about it’s time as their Nursing Home.

When it first opened it had 37 inpatient beds – two wards of seven beds, two wards six beds, one with five beds, one with four beds & two single bedrooms – reflecting a ‘Nursing Home’ rather than a ‘Hospice’.  Over the years the concept of Specialist Palliative Care came into being and by the late 1990s only the largest wards had four beds and there were four single rooms and in total 20 patients.

The cottage and Coach House (which had provided the Matron’s home) in the grounds were sold years prior to final closure of the Hospice.

By the Mid 1990s Marie Curie was finding that it had outgrown Ardenlea and other factors such as the difficulty in adapting a Victorian building to comply with the latest legislations and provide a warm and draught-free place for a modern Specialist Palliative Care Centre along its distance from Bradford (the main source of patients) proved too much.  At the same time Bradford Health Authority was reassessing the future of Palliative Care Services and it seemed sensible for Ardenlea to be relocated to Bradford.  Marie Curie built a new centre in the centre of Bradford and moved there in September 2001.

2002-todate
CONVERSION TO NINE FLATS (2002-)

In April 2002 planning permission was granted to convert the Nursing Home into nine residential flats.  The developer was Wainwright Estates Limited of Wakefield and the architects, Bowman Riley Partnership of Skipton the architects, planners and designers.  The first flats were sold in 2003.

This plaque has been sponsored by Ilkley Civic Society  & Thorpe Hall Management Co (Ilkley) Ltd

Ilkley Local History Hub would like to hear from people with pictures or information about Thorpe Hall / Ardenlea - localhistory@civicsociety.ilkley.org

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    […] the home of George Thorpe, a Bradford Department Store owner, now called Thorpe Hall – See Blue Plaque 11 for further details of Mr. Hopes […]

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