Wentworth Castle: Tracing the history of people who worked at stunning Yorkshire country estate

The Archives & Research team at Wentworth Castle Gardens are looking for leads to help them research the lives and activities of the estate workers of the past.

Wentworth Castle is a Grade-I listed country house, the former seat of the Earls of Strafford, at Stainborough, near Barnsley, in South Yorkshire. It is now home to the Northern College for Residential and Community Education.

A spokesman said: “Have you anything that could help us?”

Many youths from local families were apprenticed there or took up casual work and stayed on.

Some left and went on to great things – such as inventor Joseph Bramah. Many were tempted away by the collieries, but some came back to the gardens for less strenuous roles in later life.

A spokesman said: “We have seen the fascinating diary of daily gardening activities written by John Allen, formerly a miner and colliery deputy, born and raised in Stainborough.

“There were many young men or families who moved here to the estate for work, from Yorkshire or all over Britain.

“They brought skills such as stonemasonry, gardening, carpentry – or simply came as manual labour on the farm or as servants in the house. Many stayed for generations.

“The stories of many families became entwined through marriages. It was a village community of its own around the house, farm, gardens, and Stainborough and Hood Green.

“We are building up a picture of this community – because the gardens we see today appeared because of the people with the spades in their hands, and those who built temples and columns with hand tools and no modern machinery.”

“The gardens today reflect the lives of these people just as much as those of the owners. We have some documents – records of wages from some periods, bills and accounts, journals and logbooks – but there are many gaps.”

At previous Open Archive days, the team has met descendants of many hard-working characters.

They have heard about the 20-year-old fitter’s labourer who came to Wentworth Castle in 1885 to help install generators for electricity, married, lived and worked on the estate for 50 years, becoming the head blacksmith.

Also, a crofter’s son from the Isle of Skye, who became a stone mason, and boarded at Steeple Lodge in Stainborough, before marrying, moving to Nursery Cottage and raising a family of four daughters and one son. And a laundry maid from Barnsley who left a lively account of her time at Wentworth which her family shared.

The spokesman added: “We have been shown some fabulous family photographs – all of which help fill in the picture of the gardens’ changing history. Stories and anecdotes passed down through the generations bring the site to life. We’d love to hear yours.

“Has a member of your family from past generations had a connection with Wentworth Castle when it was a private estate?

“Did they work here, or did they trade with the estate providing goods or services? Do you have an entry in an accounts book, an old photograph or just an anecdotal story that has been passed down to you by word of mouth?

“If you would be willing to share and give us that first line of enquiry the team would love to see you.”

One way might be to come along to the Archives on Tour event, in partnership with Barnsley Archives, on September 24 (www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/yorkshire/wentworth-castle-gardens) or an Open Archives event on November 12.

Alternatively send an email to [email protected] and your message will be passed on to the team.

Wentworth Castle Gardens was forced to close in the spring of 2017. During the closure years a small team of gardeners and a group of community volunteers carried out essential maintenance of the gardens and curated an archive of material about the site’s history.

In September 2018, it was announced that the National Trust planned to enter into a new partnership with Northern College and Barnsley Council to reopen the gardens and parkland to the public the following year.