Tag Archives: Apley Grange

YORKSHIRE

APLEY GRANGE

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Apley Grange, Harrogate. It is thought that the house was built for William Sayles Arnold (1858-1915) who moved from Edenfield House in Doncaster. It is likely that the mansion was built by his own building company, Harold Arnold and Son, of Doncaster. Image: Niven Architects.

On this day, one hundred years ago. Apley Grange in Harrogate, was advertised in the Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer. A century later this forgotten mansion reveals a colourful history.

Back in 1919, Apley Grange would have been relatively modern, thought to have been built in 1914 (as Appelby Grange), most likely for Mr William Sayles Arnold (1858-1915) of Edenfield House in Doncaster. Since 1882, he had been the head of Harold Arnold and Son, builders and contractors, one of the largest firms in the North of England. On his death he left estate worth £274,313. 

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Apley Grange, with grounds of six acres, was sold by private treaty by Messrs Renton and Renton in June 1930. Image: Society of the Holy Child Jesus.

In the 1920s, it was briefly occupied by Mr Thomas Hartley Seed (1881-1939), of Harper, Seed and Co, ship-brokers and coal exporters of Newcastle. He had suffered significant embarrassment during the Great War when he was found guilty of attempting to sell coal to Germany. He was heavily fined, but went on to become the head of Thomas H Seed & Co, shipowners, based in London, Newcastle and Hull.

Apley Grange was later occupied by the Hon. George Nicholas de Yarburgh-Bateson (1870-1943), the brother of Robert Wilfrid de Yarburgh-Bateson, 3rd Lord Deramore of Belvoir. He later moved to Deighton Grove in York and succeeded to the title on the death of his brother in 1936.

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Apley Grange now operates as a care home and was extended in 2009. Old pictures of the original house appear elusive, but it is thought that the interiors were Art Deco in design. In 2007, a marble bathroom was removed: ‘Marble steps lead up to the extra long bath which is set into an arched 8ft-wide, 6ft-high alcove lined with a marble design in white and two shades of green, the lighter of which may be the famous Connemara marble which is unique to the west of Ireland and found on some of the world’s great monuments including the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, Kensington Palace and Trinity College Dublin. The marble design continues around the walls of the bathroom to a matching white marble sink set on a chrome stand’. Image: Society of the Holy Child Jesus.

During the 1930s it became home to John Edward Marshall (1881-1937), the head of Thomas Marshall (Marlbeck) Ltd, women’s gown and mantle manufacturers, of Leeds. Following his death in 1937, he left instructions for 30 dozen bottles of first-class Burgundy to be bought, six dozen of them to be delivered to each of his friends within six months. “In the hope that in consuming it they may often be reminded of the cordial relations which have existed between us.” His widow, Charlotte, remained at Apley Grange, but the house was almost lost when fire partly destroyed the roof the following year.

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John Edward Marshall spent his later years in agriculture and owned farms at Pateley Bridge and Deighton Banks, near Wetherby. Image: The British Newspaper Archive.
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From The Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer. 29 November 1947. Apley Grange was up for sale – ‘one of the finest properties of its kind in the North of England’. Its days as a family home were numbered. Image: The British Newspaper Archive.

In the late 1940s Apley Grange was sold to the Sisters of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus who used it as classrooms and dormitory for their school in Hookstone Drive, subsequently replaced by St John Fisher Catholic High School, before the community moved into the house. Happily, the house still survives under their ownership and is known as Apley Grange Nursing Home, providing personal and nursing care for up to 42 members.

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Modern-day interiors at Apley Grange. In March 1938, hot soot, falling onto a wooden rain gutter, caused flames to work inwards under the roof. The fire had burned for some time because the whole of the roof rafters had become charred and flames had burned through the ceiling of a second storey room. Image: Niven Architects.
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Apley Grange now operates as a care home. Many of the interiors have been lost, but there are still some traces of the original decor. Image: Niven Architects.
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