Cannon Hall is a country house museum located between the villages of Cawthorne

Cawthorne

Cawthorne is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley in South Yorkshire, England. The village was once the centre of a localised iron and coal mining industry, though today it is the centre of a very affluent commuter belt, west of Barnsley...

 and High Hoyland

High Hoyland

High Hoyland is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley in South Yorkshire, England, on the border with West Yorkshire. It lies to the west of Kexbrough, and is located at approximately , at an elevation of around 200 metres above sea level...

 north of Barnsley

Barnsley

Barnsley is a town in South Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Dearne, north of the city of Sheffield, south of Leeds and west of Doncaster. Barnsley is surrounded by several smaller settlements which together form the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley, of which Barnsley is the largest and...

, South Yorkshire

South Yorkshire

South Yorkshire is a metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It has a population of 1.29 million. It consists of four metropolitan boroughs: Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham, and City of Sheffield...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. Originally the home of the Spencer and later the Spencer-Stanhope family, it now houses collections of fine furniture, paintings, ceramics and glassware. It also houses the Regimental Museum of the 13th/18th Royal Hussars (Queen Mary's Own) and the Light Dragoons.

Although there was a house on the site when the Domesday Survey

Domesday Book

Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...

 of 1086 was conducted, Cannon Hall picked up its current name from the 13th-century inhabitant Gilbert Canun. By the late 14th century Cannon Hall was in the ownership of the Bosville family of Ardsley, now a suburb in south-east of Barnsley

Barnsley

Barnsley is a town in South Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Dearne, north of the city of Sheffield, south of Leeds and west of Doncaster. Barnsley is surrounded by several smaller settlements which together form the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley, of which Barnsley is the largest and...

. It was during this period that the most violent event in Cannon Hall's history took place. The Bosvilles had let the Hall out to a family (whose name has been lost), the daughter of whom was romantically involved with a man named Lockwood. Lockwood had been involved in the murder of Sir John Eland, the Sheriff of the County. The tenant, afraid of the position in which he could find himself accommodating a fugitive, sent word to Bosville. Bosville's men arrived at Cannon Hall, where the fugitive was slain in a cruel and violent manner.

Cannon Hall's history settled down after this notably unpleasant episode. In 1660 the estate was purchased by John Spencer, a Welsh hay-rake maker. The Spencer family had arrived in Yorkshire from the Montgomeryshire

Montgomeryshire

Montgomeryshire, also known as Maldwyn is one of thirteen historic counties and a former administrative county of Wales. Montgomeryshire is still used as a vice-county for wildlife recording...

 in the Welsh borders, a safer place than Wales for those with Royalist sympathies such as those of the Spencers (John Spencer even managed to get a pardon from Charles II

Charles II of England

Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...

 himself when John was held in York prison on manslaughter charges). The Spencer family quickly became active in the local iron and coal industry, eventually building up a huge empire and funding the rebuilding of Cannon Hall.

The core of the present Cannon Hall was built at the opening of the 18th century for John Spencer, possibly by John Etty of York, more surely with interior joinery by William Thornton, another well-known local craftsman. It was enlarged with the addition of wings in 1764–67 by the premier mid-Georgian architect working in Yorkshire, John Carr. Subsequently the wings were heightened, giving the rather high-blocked mass seen today. The last member of the family, Elizabeth, sold the house to Barnsley Council in 1951. Cannon Hall Museum opened to the public in 1957.

The surrounding parkland was landscaped in the 18th century by Richard Woods

Richard Woods

Edward "Richard" Woods, CNZM is Chairman of the Board of the Environmental Risk Management Authority, a New Zealand Government Agency that ensures compliance with the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act - HSNO Act 1996...

 of Chertsey

Chertsey

Chertsey is a town in Surrey, England, on the River Thames and its tributary rivers such as the River Bourne. It can be accessed by road from junction 11 of the M25 London orbital motorway. It shares borders with Staines, Laleham, Shepperton, Addlestone, Woking, Thorpe and Egham...

, and features acres of parkland, lakes, waterfalls, follies and vistas. The Victorian

Victorian era

The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...

 pleasure grounds are located close to the Georgian

Georgian era

The Georgian era is a period of British history which takes its name from, and is normally defined as spanning the reigns of, the first four Hanoverian kings of Great Britain : George I, George II, George III and George IV...

 walled garden, which houses an impressive collection of pear trees, among other plants. Cannon Hall Museum, park and gardens is owned and operated by Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council

Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley

The Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley is a metropolitan borough of the metropolitan county of South Yorkshire, England. Its main town is Barnsley....

.

The Hall has a varied and exciting programme of events, including the annual Regency Ball, a Christmas Fair each December and guided tours, workshops and children's activities throughout the year.

Most recently, they have established a florist, plant and gift shop in the old potting shed outbuilding next to the walled garden.

External links

• Cannon Hall Museum - Official Site
• Cannon Hall Museum - Barnsley Live Official Tourism Site
• Cannon Hall - Unofficial Cannon Hall site with historical and visitor information

Cannon Hall, Barnsley Florist - The Florist at Cannon Hall, Cawthorne, Barnsley