Newhill
Newhill is the new settlement on the hill - simple! There was some kind of settlement here in the Middle Ages for there was a water mill then called Monk Dam, mentioned in a deed of 1257 when William le Fleming gave his lands at Wentworth to the monks of Bolton-in-Craven. The remains can still be seen at Mill Lane below Newhill Grange. Newhill Park, although park is a rather posh name for it, is all that remains of the grounds of Newhill Hall and is an open green space. The modern Newhill is an area of housing to the west of the town of Wath upon Dearne which, I am presuming, was built on land that once belonged to the Newhill Estate.
Newhill Hall
Newhill Hall was built in 1785 and had attached to it a considerable estate with gardens and farms.
- The Payne family were well-known Quakers and well-to-do farmers.
- Richard Payne was a solicitor by profession but was renowned as one of the best sportsmen in the country. He bred polo ponies and hunters and won numerous show prizes for his horses.
- His brother, John Henry Payne lived at Hall Farm on the west edge of Newhill Park. He was a keen botanist and chemist and a notable eccentric who wore homespun clothes.
John, a present day descendant of the Paynes has been in touch with some correct information about Newhill Hall.
"The Hall was actually built by John Payne, a prosperous farmer, in 1785 (architect William Lindley of Doncaster) not Richard Payne (the solicitor). My great uncle Richard and his twin sister Gulielma were born at the hall in 1866. The Newhill Paynes before John built the Hall were farmers and lived at Newhill Grange. John's unmarried sons and daughters and other relatives lived in the hall until Dr Henry Payne took his family there in 1865."
None of my aunts (the misses Payne) ever lived there. They lived in the house at Old Hall farm - which by the 1930's had become "90 Newhill". My great uncle Richard (the polo-pony breeder and solicitor) lived there until he died in 1944 and it was then the squatters moved in. They were not vandals or rabble but were families from London who were evacuees which had up to that time been living apart from each other with local families and found this huge unoccupied house on the doorstep. Who could blame them finding a chance to move in together?
It would be wrong to say that the evacuees were responsible for wrecking the place, after all it became the home for dozens of families. But with nobody responsible for upkeep it inevitably fell into disrepair. The Council bought it by compulsory purchase order and demolished 1953. (It is said in my family that someone made a fortune selling not only the stone but many of the interior fittings - Adam fireplaces and so forth)."
Newhill Grange
Newhill Grange, which would have been the estate farm in the posh days is still there and a very extensive set of buildings it is. It was home to Wath Golf Club before they moved to Abdy. These have been converted into several substantial homes. This is part of the converted grange: there's a lot more of it.
The Payne Mausoleum
This early 19th Century monument in Newhill Park is listed site but I know nothing else about it. This is what I have found. The mausoleum was built in 1834 for John Payne who was a local landowner. He was a politically inclined liberal and a supporter of the American Colonists. The Mausoleum is in New Hill Park which was once the grounds of Payne's home, Newhill Hall (now demolished).
There are extensive plans being considered for the renovation of the park and the mausoleum but I haven't seen any of it has started yet.