The
Unofficial Website
Firbeck Hall
The estate here was purchased in the latter half of the 16th Century by William West. It is not known if a previous house existed here but West built
himself a new hall. West was a lawyer, steward to the Earl of Shrewsbury, a prolific writer about the Law and important in the affairs of Rotherham and Sheffield. He died about 1596/8. He was
succeeded at Firbeck by his son, William, then his grandson John. John's estate was left to Sir Francis Fane, the son of John's sister Elizabeth.
In 1669 Fane sold the estate to William Woolhouse. He in turn sold it in 1676 to Jonathan Staniforth of Rotherham. The estate then consisted of Firbeck Hall, a dovecote, papermill, watermill, houses and land in Firbeck, Maltby, Blyth, Thwaite, Letwell, Gildingwells, Throapham, Laughton and the Ewes. Worth a few bob then!
On the death of Amelia Staniforth in 1792 the estate passed to a distant relative who sold it to Henry Gally of Langold. Henry Gally added 'knight' to his surname. His son also called Henry Gallyknight begun remodelling the house in Elizabethan style and landscaping the gardens about 1820. In the mid 19th Century the Firbeck estate worth £70,000 ws left to the Ecclesiatical Commissioners. It was bought in 1853 by Mrs Miles of Bristol who left it to the Jebb family in 1878. The Jebbs lived there until the beginning of the 20th Century. The estate was put on the market in 1909 but failed to sell. In the First World War was a home for Belgian refugees.
The hallwas badly damaged by fire in 1924. In 1934 the house was sold to Cyril nicholson who converted it into a country club, The Firbeck Sports and Country Club, renowned for its luxury. When the Second World War started it was converted to an annexe of the Sheffield Royal Infirmary. In 1945 it was purchased by the Miners' Welfare Commission as a rehabilitation home. It continued to be used for this purpose until it was closed in 1984.
It stood empty for some time until it was sold to a gentleman by the name of Glen Saint who runs a local construction company. Since Mr Saint bought the place it has continued empty and neglected and no plans have been released concerning what is to be done with it. The house is Grade II listed but is falling into neglect and needs a great deal of money spending on it. For the present is it 'watertight' which means that the roof isn't leaking. However local history and conservation groups together with Rotherham council are worried about its future.
May 2005 -The hall is in a semi-derelict state; the ground floor windows are boarded up and the glass seems to have largely disappeared from the other floors. According to Rotherham Council the roof is, for the present, water tight, but Tim Bristow (below) says that all the lead has been stripped so it can't be long before the leaks start. I expect that the hall has been entirely asset stripped.
People who live in the neighbourhood say that the grounds have been used by itinerant travellers as a car wrecking yard, a scrap merchants and for tyre burning. As you can imagine the locals are not happy about it.
A gentleman by the name of Tim Bristow who lives about three miles from Firbeck Hall out in the wilds of Nottinghamshire at Oldcotes has been in touch. Tim has been trying to buy Firbeck Hall for the last five years in order to do it up in part as a family home and in part as apartments. Lucky man to have the wherewithal to be able to consider doing up a 200 room house on the verge of ruination. Another espondent has been in touch and she wanted to buy the lodge and do it up as it was her old family home.
This is part of the communications from Tim:-
"Firbeck Hall in S Yorks with 200 rooms is at risk of becoming a ruin - Family home up to the Thirties then a Country Club (the Gleneagles of England as advertised with repeated visits in 1935 from the Prince of Wales and Mrs Wallace Simpson) and regular live BBC music broadcasts from there in the Thirties) then RAF station in the War then Miners Rehabilitation hospital - now empty for 10 years owned by a builder who will not sell and now the building is at serious threat of ruin with urgent work required on roof - all the lead has been nicked..."
I must admit that I had not realised that Firbeck Hall was so large or so (formerly) stately. As Tim says it is such a pity that such an important building has been allowed to get into such a sorry state. Both Rotherham Council and the Rotherham Advertiser have been trying to move things along but the wheels turn very slowly indeed.
Have a look at some of Tim's Photographs taken April 2005:-
If you wish to contact Tim or offer him any help or advice in this matter Email .
Alternatively if you have a few million to spend yourself and fancy a major project this could be the one.
What does the Future hold for Firbeck Hall? All I can do in answer to this question is shrug my shoulders. The present owner is obviously is no hurry to do anything soon: either do the work himself (he is a builder after all) or sell it on and let somebody else tackle it. It is a listed building but as usual around here, and probably other places as well, the authorities seem to be essentially toothless.
Obviously restoration is a major project which is likely to cost millions of pounds, though I'm sure with proper management, some of it can be obtained from public funds. The other alternative is to let the hall continue to rot until there is no alternative but to demolish it. And what have we then - why a nice plot to develop executive housing of course!
This comment was found dated 2005 on BD the Architects Website:-
"The theft was a wake-up call for Firbeck's owner Glen Saint who, after years of neglecting the building, was inspired to forge a partnership with a new conservation officer at the local council and try to solve its problems. The first move for Saint, the owner and head of a local construction firm, and Peter Thornborrow, the local conservation officer, was to install a waterproof felt on the exposed roof to save the largely intact interiors. Since then, the owner has implemented 24-hour security, is in regular regular contact with the conservation officer and has even hired an architect to draw up plans for the conversion of the building.
He has turned from an incommunicative, often difficult owner into somebody ready to take on his responsibilities. It is the beginning of a long slow process, but the apparent epiphany experienced by Saint means the building may now have a future beyond an uninterrupted decline or an 'accidental' fire, of the kind which claim several historic buildings each year.
Twenty-four hour security seems to consist of a man with a landrover and a rifle on regular patrol according to one source.
As I rewrite this in September 2007 I have heard nothing about happenings at Firbeck Hall.