Oulton Hall

Story

Oulton Hall in Oulton, West Yorkshire, England is a Grade II listed building. It was once the home of the Blayds/Calverley family. After a major fire in 1850 the hall was remodelled, but its fortunes declined until it was revived for use as a hotel. It is now a 4 star hotel, part of the QHotels group.HistoryOulton Hall was originally a "modest eighteenth-century house" owned by the Blayds family. In 1807 the house was left to John Calverley, who was a partner in Beckett's Bank and Mayor of Leeds in 1798. He changed his name to Blayds in order to inherit the property, but his descendants reverted to Calverley. He enclosed the surrounding common in 1809, and it was landscaped to designs by Humphrey Repton soon afterwards. In around 1822, he commissioned Sir Robert Smirke to remodel the house, and it was enlarged by Smirke's brother, Sydney, in 1839. In 1850 a fire destroyed much of the property, including most of the Smirkes' work. The Leeds firm of Perkin and Backhouse rebuilt the hall, and further work was done in 1875 by Perkin and Sons and in 1885 by Chorley and Cannon of Leeds.The hall had various uses during the 20th century. In the First World War it was used as a hospital and convalescent home for wounded soldiers, and in 1925 the hall and grounds were sold to the county council. After the owners left in the 1930s the house was requisitioned by the military during the Second World War. It was used it as a mental hospital until 1971. Oulton Hall then changed hands, but due to the lack of resources of the new owner it fell into disrepair, and in 1974 it was derelict. In 1991 De Vere Hotels acquired the lease and rescued it. Restoration and expansion cost £20 million to turn the hall into a hotel set in an estate of 300acre, with gardens, a 27-hole golf course and a spa.