Kippax Park

All archive documents are from the West Yorkshire Archives Service, Leeds unless otherwise stated.

Thanks to Edgar Pickles for all his help and information.

Estate owners

The manor of Kippax had been an important manorial site belonging to Earl Edwin in 1066. After the Conquest it was given to Ilbert de Lacy as part of the ‘Honour of Pontefract’. It continued as part of the estate of the de Lacy family until 1292 when Henry de Lacy resigned the honour to King Edward I, who passed it to his brother, 1st Earl of Lancaster. Henry de Lacy’s daughter and heir, Alice, married Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster and in 1311, they inherited the honour after her father’s death. With Thomas’ execution for treason in 1322, the honour reverted to the crown as part of the Duchy of Lancaster.

In 1595, Kippax Park was leased to Thomas Bland and was inherited by his son, Sir Thomas junior, in 1612. It continued with the eldest son of the Bland family: Sir Thomas (1st Bt), Sir Thomas (2nd Bt) and Sir Thomas (3rd Bt) until the latter’s early death in 1668. Sir John (4th Bt) was 5 when he inherited from his brother and the estate was managed by his mother until he came of age in 1684. Sir John was succeeded by his son, Sir John (5th Bt) in 1715 and grandson, Sir John (6th Bt) in 1743. Both Sir John and his brother, Sir Hungerford (7th Bt) died without issue and Kippax Park was left to their unmarried sisters, Elizabeth and Anne. On the latter’s death in 1786, the estate devolved to their cousin, Thomas Davison, who added the Bland name on inheriting.

Thomas Davison Bland died in 1794, with his son, Thomas Davison Bland junior, coming of age in 1804. On his death in 1847, his son, Thomas Davison Bland III, inherited followed by his son, John Davison Bland, in 1885. John died in 1928 without issue and left the estate to the daughters of his cousin, Frederick Davison Bland.

Key owners responsible for major developments of the designed landscape and dates of their involvement:

Edmund de Lacy c. 1249 – 58?

Thomas, Earl of Lancaster and Alice de Lacy c. 1311 – 1322?

Sir Thomas Bland c. 1595 – 1612

Sir John Bland 4th Bt c. 1684 – 1715

Sir John Bland 5th Bt 1715 – 1743

Sir John Bland 6th Bt c. 1745 – 9

Thomas Davison Bland senior 1786 – 94

Thomas Davison Bland junior c. 1804 – 43

Thomas Davison Bland III 1843 – 85

John Davison Bland 1885 - 1928

Early history of the site

Kippax had been an important site prior to the Norman Conquest as part of the large estates belonging to Earl Edwin. Soon after Ilbert de Lacy acquired it in the 1070s, he built a wooden castle next to the church (SE 416 304) and it became his administrative centre for his lands known as the ‘Honour of Pontefract’. After the centre moved to Barwick in Elmet in the late 12th century, the wooden structures were dismantled and area turned over to grassland.   

The first evidence of Kippax Park as a separate area was in 1322 (Contrariants roll, TNA DL41/133), however Edmund de Lacy was granted free warren (right to hunt) in all his territories in the Honour of Pontefract including Kippax in November 1249 (PRO 1903, 346). His Inquisition Post Mortem in 1258, showed he held the manor of Kippax and 154a of arable land in the demesne. Three of his ‘bondmen’ listed there were called ‘Parcur’ perhaps indicating a role associated with a park (YAS 1892, 63-4). Edmund’s son, Henry, held the honour of Pontefract until 1292, when he resigned it to the king. It then passed to the king’s brother, the 1st Earl of Lancaster. In 1311, Kippax passed to Alice de Lacy, Henry’s heir, and her husband, Thomas 2nd Earl of Lancaster.

Following the execution of Thomas (2nd Earl of Lancaster) in 1322, the Honour of Pontefract including Kippax reverted to the Crown and a park was listed as part of its lands (TNA DL41/133). These were granted to Queen Isabella in 1327 by her son, Edward III and then to his wife, Phillipa, in 1329. A complaint was made re trespass in the park at Kippax belonging to Queen Phillipa in August 1329 (PRO 1891, 435) and again in September 1340 and in 1341 when game was hunted and trees felled (PRO 1900, 97 & 203).

In 1341, a survey of Kippax listed a ‘capital messuage, barn and oxhouse’ with 67 acres of arable land in the demesne of which 23a lies in the Southfield, 22a in the Westfield and 22a in the Northfield and 100 acres of wood (Lumb 1935, 97-102). In the manor as a whole, there was c. 600 acres of arable land and 2 acres of pasture at ‘Welsike’ and ‘Gildcliff’ (ibid), as the adjacent park would also have provided space for grazing animals. There is no reference to the size of the park in the survey. It could have been as large as 400 acres (Figure 1) if the later ‘Park Field’, the manorial fields to the north of the later park and the ‘West Ends’, where there is the remnant of a ditch at its western extent, were included. In a survey of lands of Kippax Hall in 1577, there was also reference to ‘Gilberthorpe flatt whereof half an acre in grass next the park’ (NYCRO ZKZ/4/5/1/5) and this must refer to the later Gilberthorpe farmstead near the ditch remnants. Sheffield Beck would have provided a natural southern boundary and the old Roman road was probably the eastern extent.

No occupant of the capital messuage or manor house was listed, perhaps because it referred to the old castle site and tenants rented nearly half of the demesne land (Lumb 1935, 97-102). In 1356/7, William Hudson, the reeve (king’s official or steward), recorded his expenses and income including 20s for coal in the ‘new demesne’ covering 33a (WYL160/212/111) suggesting that more land had been taken into the lord’s hands. Accounts for the park in 1405 show that £8 4s 5d was spent on the construction of a new building called ‘New Hall or Lodge’ (TNA DL29/730/12006). It is thought that this refers to the lodge on the site of the later Kippax Park mansion.

A rental and survey of Kippax taken in 1425 (WYL160/212/112) again confirmed that there was no manor house at the site of the old castle. There were now 76 acres of arable land in the demesne and 104 acres of the ‘old demesne’. The tenants had one common pasture called ‘le Shillox’ containing 11 acres in addition to the 2 acres of pasture at Welleske [Welsike] and Gilcliff [Gildcliff] as before. Sir John Gray held one piece of land ‘within the water of his pond’, which probably was the later millpond. The agistment (right to graze animals) of the park of Kippax on the west side was leased to the tenants for 10s a year (possibly the fields later known as ‘West Ends’).

Accounts of the reeve from 1438-9 referred to hay being brought for the game (deer) to feed them in the winter. In addition there was:

‘56½ acres of new hedge made (47s 1d) in the circuit of the said Park the acre at 10d with the stipend of one man mending the defects of the hedges of the said Park (14d) got 4 days taking by the day 3½ together with stipend of one wagon (9s) carrying ‘lynsull’ (possibly lind [lime wood] or timber ‘ligna’) from divers places of the Park to the same work for 9 days taking by the day 12d together with one lock with key (5d) bought for the gate of the Park.’ (WYL160/212/111).

This equated to 2.4 million square feet of new hedging or c. 10 miles assuming they were at least 9ft high and 5ft wide to ensure the deer could not escape.

There was more work the following year:

‘And paid to one man for the making of 24 acres of new hedge of the park aforesaid in circuit of the said park in very many places defective this year the acre at 10d – 20s. And in the stipend of one man with his wagon carrying ‘linsell’ for one day for the making of the same hedge’ and repairs to a barn next to the lodge to keep the hay (ibid).

Together with a new lock for a gate, this suggested that significant new boundaries were being made. In the same year, a grange (or farm) was being built of wood with a thatched roof (ibid), which may be on the site of the later manor house. A survey from 1577 noted that ‘the hall of Kippax’ had 24 acres adjacent to it to the south that may previously been in the park (NYCRO ZKZ/4/5/1/5).

The park continued to be maintained as 3 gates were repaired in 1451/2 (TNA DL508/8240) and repairs made to the park pale in 1482/3 (TNA DL511/8264) and in 1485/6 (WYL160/212/111). In the latter year, hay was bought for the deer (ibid). In the same document, there is reference to the farm of the ‘estrays’ which was leased with the ‘farm of the hawking’. The latter may relate to the sport of falconry that was enjoyed by the nobility and in or adjacent to the park.

By 1550, the records showed the sale of trees from the park for pit props (WYL160/212/111), which continued throughout the second half of the 16th century. By this stage, it is not clear whether it was still functioning as a deer park. In 1585, Queen Elizabeth gave William Davison a lease of 50 years giving him the right to herbage and pannage (grazing of livestock) in Kippax Park (Cheshire Archives DCH/E/110a). The lease for the park itself was transferred to Thomas Bland of Castleford from the Earl of Essex and others in 1595 for 41 years (WYL160/212/159). The document mentions a lodge that may longer be in use and the stone walls with ditches that surrounded the park. It allowed for the land to be farmed and the right to claim herbage and pannage. It is likely that the northern boundary was now further south following the later line between the estates, as the 1577 survey of Kippax manor listed ‘Park Field’ (NYCRO ZKZ/4/5/1/5). The other boundaries were probably unchanged.

Thomas Bland already had property in the neighbouring Allerton Bywater and had married Elizabeth Estofte in 1587 at Kippax. In 1604, he was knighted and this may have prompted him to build a house in Kippax park, probably on the site of the former lodge. He bought timber in 1609 from Outwood, part of Wakefield Park, that may have been used for building it (Pickles 2006, 250). Sir Thomas Bland died in 1612 and was succeeded by his son, also Sir Thomas. Both he and his son, Sir Thomas (1st Bt), were strong Royalists and their estates were subject to a fine of £405 6s 8d in 1646 (YAS 1895, 77). In his petition, Sir Thomas junior claimed that he was £1500 in debt (ibid). He died in 1657 and his son, Francis (2nd Bt) succeeded him but died 6 years later leaving his 2 year old son, Thomas, as his heir.

Sir Thomas (3rd Bt) died five years later and his brother, Sir John (4th Bt) inherited aged 5, with his mother managing the estate. In the hearth tax return of 1672, Lady Jane Bland was listed as the occupier with the house having 15 hearths, which was a substantial property. She and her son had bought up land in the surrounding areas of Allerton Bywater, Astley and Brigshaw by 1684 (Pickles 2006, 256). With his marriage to Anne Mosley, Sir John became the owner of Hulme Hall, near Manchester, in 1695 when her father died.  In his will (TNA PROB 11/552/57), he is described as ‘of Hulme Hall’ suggesting that this was his main residence.

On his death in 1715, his son, John (5th Bt), inherited and Kippax may once again become the principal home as work was recorded on the house in 1718 (Pickles 2006, 257). A drawing of the house by Samuel Buck c. 1720 (Hall 1979, 218) showed the main Jacobean block with a wing to the east. There was a separate building (probably the stables) to the southeast. To the south of the hall was a courtyard with entrance gates and beyond that rows of trees that may have been an orchard. On the western side of the courtyard, a walled garden area may be depicted but the sketch is not clear. By 1729, the deer park was walled or fenced and the part in the Allerton Bywater township, was included as shown on the map of it surveyed that year (WYL72/117/1).

A survey of the manor of Kippax in 1739 (WYL160/29/17/1) showed that it was divided into large fields: ‘Park Field’ north of Kippax Park, ‘Town Closes’ to the northwest of Kippax Park, ‘Tate Field’ adjacent to it with ‘Church Field’ or ‘Pitt Field’ north of main road from Ledston. The Kippax Hall demesne was separate, as was the Kippax Park estate. Sir John continued to expand his landholding there, by buying a close of land from William Barber, which he added to his park and the two meadows adjoining called ‘The Pipe Meadows’ in the southwest part of the estate before 1742 (TNA PROB 11/731/422).

Chronological history of the designed landscape

1743 – 1806

With the death of Sir John in 1743, his son John (6th Bt) inherited Kippax although his mother had control for next 14 years of the family estate under her husband’s will. After this time, it would go to the eldest grandson who would be alive at this time (ibid). However this did not stop his son, the 6th Bt, from embarking on significant expenditure at Kippax. On 4 September 1750, Dr Pococke noted in his diary: ‘To the west, on the plain, is Kipax [sic] where Sr John Bland is building a fine house’ (Cartwright 1888, 62). He is said to have spent £8,000 on the house (Carlisle 1826, 57) and was funded by an Act of Parliament in 1751 (Parliamentary Archives HL/PO/PB/1/1751/25G2n69) enabling the divestment of estate lands in Lancashire and Cheshire in exchange for Kippax.

Two substantial wings were added to the core section of the main house and on either side, identical service buildings enclosed by walls were built (Figure 2). The triangular walled kitchen garden to the east was probably constructed at this time, as the new buildings would have covered the previous adjacent gardens. Sir John did not live long to see the new building as he died in 1755 to be succeeded by his brother, Sir Hungerford (7th and last Bt), who died a year later. The estate was left to their two unmarried sisters, Elizabeth, who died in 1761 and Anne. On the latter’s death in 1786, the Kippax Park estate went to Thomas Davison, who was the great-grandson of the 4th Bt and who added Bland to his name.

The designed landscape he inherited can be seen on the estate map of 1786 (WYL160/M170, Figure 3). The areas were:

Mansion house, pleasure lawn, plantation – 14a 2r 26p

Kitchen garden – 3a 1r 25p

‘Barn Yard’ – 1a 1r 7p

The Park – 129a 1r (north) & 50a 3r (south in Allerton)

Horse Coppice – 14a 1r 19p

Pared & Burnt Close – 3a 2r 24p

Glen Settle – 2a 7p

New Plantation – 2r 13p

Upper West Ends – 14a 0r 24p

Ditto Plantation – 1a 2r 22p

Little West Ends – 3a 0r 14p

Ditto plantation – 2r 24p

Far West Ends – 17a 0r 12p

Lower West Ends – 12a 0r 37p

Lower Pipes – 7a 2r 36p

Upper Pipes – 6a 3r 31p

Park Plantation – included in park

Total – 183a 3r 1p

Due to the lack of archival evidence, it is difficult to say when certain features were added. The boundary of the park, as delineated by the wall, probably dated to the late 17th or early 18th century, as did the two regular ponds in the northwest section of the park. The ‘Pleasure Lawn’ and plantation to the north of the hall were more likely to postdate the rebuilding of the hall in the 1750s, together with the walled kitchen garden.

The survey map was commissioned as the new owner planned to make changes to the layout and engaged the landscape designer, Adam Mickle II (c. 1747-1811), to prepare an improvement plan the following year (WYL292/29, Figure 4). Mickle’s proposals included an entrance off the Great North Road with a carriageway leading to the front entrance of the hall, a lake made by damming Sheffield Beck and extensive plantations around the eastern entrance and walled kitchen garden. The two former ponds were to be filled in but the formal gravel walks to the north appear to have been retained, with some more added. The plantation to the north was to be reduced in size and more plantations on the western edge of the new lake were proposed.

Either Mickle’s plans were too ambitious or Davison Bland did not like them, as they were not implemented with an estate map of 1806 (WYL160/M166, Figure 5) showing no changes to the landscape. Prior to his death in 1794, Davison Bland had been enlarging his estate. In Kippax, the enclosure of its common fields in 1792 (WYL160/29/17/4-5) allowed him to add a narrow strip of 3½ acres in Park Field along the road north to the village. In the same year, he agreed a lease for 18 years from Granville W. W. Medhurst of Kippax Hall of the areas Weetland Close, Weetland Flatt and Stocken or Pannal Hill Close (WYL160/212/184) that lay next to the northeastern edge of the park and the walled kitchen garden.

These changes to his landowning may have allowed him to remove the public road that had previously ran along the boundary of the main northern plantation starting at the northern edge of the walled kitchen garden in the east. It continued to the northwest corner of the estate next to the ‘New Plantation’ before continuing northward through Park Field to the village. No specific highway order has been found for it, so may have been part of the enclosure act for the town fields (Parliamentary Archives HL/PO/PB/1/1791/31G3n63).

Thomas Davison Bland junior came of age in 1804 and he gained further land next to the southern parkland with the enclosure of common fields in Allerton Bywater as shown on the map of the township drawn up that year (WYL160/M264). These are shown on the estate map of 1806 (WYL160/M166, Figure 5). These additional lands meant the estate now covered just over 371 acres.

1807 – 1885

Davison Bland continued to acquire land adjacent to his property, most notably to the north. In 1817, he agreed to purchase 75 acres of land in Kippax from William G. H. Medhurst of Kippax Hall (WYL160/212/177) and marked in blue in the map of the township of that year (WYL292/30, Figure 6). The sale appeared to be a long lease with the land reverting to Davison Bland in 1843, as on the estate map of 1827 (WYL160/M165, Figure 7), these areas are still marked as belonging to Medhurst. He had also expanded the southern parkland, increasing it to 95a 3r 37p, with the land he had acquired in Allerton Bywater (ibid).

The western boundary of the northern parkland had been moved west to take in former fields of ‘Lower West Ends’ and part of ‘Upper West Ends’. Together with the field ‘Pared & Burnt Close’ to north, the northern parkland now had a total area of 148a 2r 10p. There was also a new coach road by 1827, leading from the old Roman road (now A656) south of Sheffield Beck and therefore in a different location to Mickle’s proposal. It then went north in front of the hall before continuing onto Kippax village, rejoining the old road (WYL160/M165, Figure 7).

With the addition of Wood Close and Owl Wood southwest of the park and further land to the north in Park Fields, by 1827 the ‘Manor of Kippax Park and part of Allerton Bywater’ (main estate) covered 389a 30p (WYL160/216/153). He also owned a further 335 acres in the rest of Allerton Bywater. With further purchases in 1843 from the Medhurst’s estate, including the reversion of the agreement made in 1817, Davison Bland was able to continue expanding the designed landscape around the hall.

The 1st edition 6” OS map, surveyed between 1845 and 1847 (Figure 8) showed that the park had been extended further west to include the former ‘West Ends’ fields covering 30a 3r 21p (excluding the plantation of 2r 34p). To the southwest, Owl and ‘Hool’ Wood had been expanded to include former Wood Close of 4a 11p. There was also further planting around the kitchen garden and Pannel Hill, which he now owned, together with the inclusion of Horse Coppice to the south of this (14a 1r 19p) into the park. Two lodges had been built, one at the entrance from the public road to the east and the second to the north, next to the road leading from Kippax village. Around these new lodges were small plantations to screen the parkland from the road. An icehouse had been built in the northwest section of the ‘Quarry Plantation’.

Thomas Davison Bland died in 1847 and his son, also Thomas, inherited the estate. Apart from some additional plantations in Allerton: Little Plantation, Whin Covert, Allerton Plantation and Pit Plantation, there are little changes made to the landscape before his death in 1885.

Later history

Thomas’ son, John, inherited the estate on his father’s death and an account book survives from the time he took over in 1886-9 (WYL160/29/15/1). It details repairs to the park’s walls and to the greenhouses in the walled kitchen garden. There were also purchases of rhododendrons from J. Dickson, trees and shrubs from J. Backhouse and trees from J. Carter in 1888/9, suggesting some changes to the pleasure grounds north of the hall. The 1st edition 25” OS map, surveyed in 1890 (Figure 9) shows the revised layout together with additional glasshouses in the walled kitchen garden. In the accounts, new frames were purchased in March 1888 (ibid) and these may be the smaller freestanding glazed areas in the centre of the garden.

John Davison Bland died in 1928 without a direct heir and Kippax Park was inherited by the daughters of his cousin, Frederick Millbank Davison Bland. The contents of the hall were sold off the following year and the hall largely abandoned. The designed landscape remained in place until the 1950s when the hall was demolished, with the building materials sold off in 1955 (Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer, 8 January). The area around the hall and parkland to the south was then used for open-cast mining as shown on OS map surveyed in 1959 (Figure 10). It was later returned to farmland after the mining operation ceased.

Location    

Kippax Park lies 7.5 miles (12km) southeast of Leeds and 5 miles (8km) north of Pontefract.

Area

The historic designed landscape of Kippax Park at its greatest extent in 1905 covered c. 365 acres (148 ha).

Boundaries  

The eastern boundary ran along the A656 road starting just south of Kippax Lodge at SE 426 283 and ending just north of Sheldon Hill at SE 427 292. The northern boundary followed the northern edge of the Quarry Plantation and then the Lodge Plantation to SE 421 299. It then went along the northern extent of the parkland from SE 421 296 to SE 414 297. The western boundary continued from the latter position to SE 413 294 next to the footpath before following the edge of the parkland to Sheffield Beck and then the western edge of Owl Wood. The southern boundary started at the southwest corner of Owl Wood and then east following the southern extents of the plantations including ‘Whin Covert’ and ‘Little Plantation’ before reaching the public road.

Landform

The underlying geology of much of Kippax Park’s designed landscape is Pennine Middle Coal Measures Formation, comprising of mudstone, siltstone and sandstone. This land has had recent open-cast mining and only recently returned to agriculture. On the northern edge is a ridge of sandstone known as Yellow Sands Formation. The area outside this has lowly permeable seasonally wet acid loamy and clayey soils with low fertility and impeded drainage.

Setting

Kippax Park is in the Leeds Landscape Character Area LCM4, which is classified as arable fringe farmland. These are actively farmed areas that previously had industrial areas but now are under pressure from the encroachment of urban activities. Kippax Park mansion stood at 35m AOD, with the land falling away to the south to Sheffield Beck at 17m OD and remaining flat south of this in Allerton Bywater. To the north of the hall, the land rose sharply to 64m OD at the northern edge of the Quarry Plantation. To the west of the mansion, the land slowly fell to 29m OD.

Entrances and approaches

Kippax Lodge (also Low Lodge) [Grade II - NHLE 1237396]

The Historic England entry notes the lodge as early 19th century and was probably built between 1828 and 1843. Leading from here was a carriageway north to the hall that was put in between 1806 and 1827.

Lodge

Situated at SE 42160 29799, this was probably built at the same time as the southern lodge. A carriageway had existed from its location to the hall from at least 1786 but it was altered probably between 1806 and 1827 to move it away from the edge of the pleasure grounds.

Principal buildings

Kippax Park

Built in early 17th century, it was substantially enlarged in the 1750s with service buildings added to east and west. It was demolished in the mid 1950s.

Icehouse

Located at SE 42176 29540. Although not named on the 1st edition 6” OS map, there is a building in the right area so must date from at least 1845. It is not marked on any earlier estate maps and the site is now levelled.

Bathing House

Shown on the 1786 estate map (WYL160/M170), it was located at the junction of Sheffield Beck and a stream to the north at SE 417 290. It was marked on the 1827 estate map (WYL160/M165) but not on any subsequent maps.

Gardens and pleasure grounds

The sketch by Buck c. 1720 showed the south front with a courtyard and possible walled gardens to the west with a regular arrangement of trees in front of the courtyard. There is no other archive material detailing the grounds before the remodelling of the 1750s. The 1786 estate map (WYL160/M170, Figure 3) showed there was an open area called the ‘Pleasure Lawn’ immediately north of the hall that extended upwards to the summit of the ridge. In 1778, a ‘Yucca Foliis Filanentosis’ [Yucca filamentosa] was reported to be growing at Kippax (Leeds Mercury, 28 July) and this may have part of a shrubbery area here. By the 1840s, this had become more densely planted with trees and shrubs. There may have further planting in the late 1880s as there was a record of the purchase of trees and shrubs including rhododendrons.

Kitchen garden

Built probably in the 1750s, this unusual sharp triangular structure was 300m east of the hall. The main walled area covered c. 2 acres and was originally divided into two, with a slip garden to the south of a third of an acre. There are no buildings marked on the estate maps but there are plans for two greenhouses (WYL160/1/29/8) that may have been constructed inside. The first (Figure 11) is described as a vinery and greenhouse and is relatively small at 20ft wide and c. 10ft high. This could well date to the second half of the 18th century. The second (Figure 12) is much larger at c. 40ft wide and 10ft high and perhaps is later 18th or early 19th century. Two buildings are depicted on the 1st edition 6” OS map that may be them, although they would have been updated with glass roofs as shown on the 1st edition 25” OS map (Figure 9).

Park and plantations

Medieval park

Created by 1322 but possibly as early as the mid-13th century by Edmund de Lacy, it covered up to 400 acres (Figure 1). It became part of the royal Duchy of Lancaster estate in 1322. During their tenure it slowly decreased in size as the northern and western sections were converted into open fields. By the time Thomas Bland took on the lease in 1595, it had reduced to c. 125 acres.

Kippax Park

By 1786, land to the south in the Allerton Bywater township had been added (50a) to the park giving a total area of 180 acres. In the early 19th century, it was extended to the west and south and by 1905 covered c. 280 acres. There are surviving earthwork traces of the surrounding boundary ditch. This is probably most apparent East of Owl Wood on the southern boundary, where remains of the ruined park wall lie at the base of the ditch in places.  The ditch is either contemporary with the wall, in which case the wall has been located to presumably make it invisible when viewed from the house or the ditch predates the wall (Ian Sanderson pers.comm.).

Quarry Plantation

Originally part of the hall’s pleasure ground, it covered c. 6 acres in 1786. By 1905, it had increased to 26 acres. Removed when open cast mining was carried out in the 1950s.

Owl Wood

Next to the southwest corner of the parkland, it was a narrow strip of just over 3 acres in 1729 (WYL72/117/1) when it was named ‘Little Bushy Close’. By 1806, it had increased to just over 4½ acres (WYL160/M166). The adjacent Wood Closes were added by 1845 to expand it to just over 18 acres. Although now reduced, the eastern section is intact.

Pit Plantation

South of Owl Wood, this was added possibly to screen the Kippax Colliery buildings just to the south of it that were extant in 1890. The plantation covered just over 7 acres in 1905. Area is still woodland.

Whin Covert

Added before 1890, this small wood of just over 1½ acres was near the main footpath from the hall south to Allerton Bywater. Area is still woodland.

Little Plantation

Opposite Whin Covert was another small plantation of just over 3 acres, added before 1890. Area is still woodland.

Lodge Plantation

Next to the northern lodge that was constructed in the 2nd quarter of the 19th century, it covered 2½ acres and is extant.

Water

There were two formal ponds to the west of the hall dating from the 18th century and possibly earlier. The northern one at SE 41959 29394, covering about ¼ acre, survived until the mid 1950s. The other is last shown on the 1827 estate map and must have been filled in sometime after this date.

Books and articles

Carlisle, N. 1826. Collections for a history of the ancient family of Bland. London, W. Nicol.

Cartwright, J. J. ed. 1888. The travels through England of Dr. Richard Pococke, Vol 1. London, Camden Society.

Hall, I. 1979. Samuel Buck’s Yorkshire Sketchbook. Wakefield, Wakefield Historical Publications.

Lumb, G. D. 1935. Miscellanea. Leeds, The Thoresby Society.

PRO 1891. Calendar of Patent Rolls, Edward III 1327-30. London, HMSO.

PRO 1900. Calendar of Patent Rolls, Edward III 1340-3. London, HMSO.

PRO 1903. Calendar of Charter Rolls, Vol 1, Henry III 1226-57. London, HMSO.

Pickles, E. N. ed. 2006. A History of Kippax. Leeds, Kippax and District Historical Society.

YAS 1892. Yorkshire inquisitions of the reigns of Henry III and Edward I, Vol I [Record Series Vol XII]. Leeds, Yorkshire Archaeology Society.

YAS 1895. Royalist Composition Papers, vol 2 edited by John William Clay [Record Series Vol XVIII]. Leeds, Yorkshire Archaeology Society.

Primary sources

North Yorkshire County Record Office (NYCRO)

ZKZ/4/5/1/5                       Survey of Kippax, 1577

The National Archives (TNA)

DL29/730/12006              Auditor’s accounts for northern counties, 1405/6

DL41/133                           Inventory of charters and documents found in Pontefract castle relating to the de Lacy family

DL508/8240                       Ministers’ accounts, 1451-3

DL511/8264                       Ministers’ accounts, 1482-3

PROB 11/552/57              Will of Sir John Bland of Hulme, 07 May 1716

PROB 11/731/422            Will of Sir John Bland of Kippax Park, 20 February 1744

West Yorkshire Archives Service, Leeds

WYL72/117/1                    Map of Allerton Bywater for the Manor belonging to Lord Bingley (annotated after 1766), 1729

WYL160/29/1/8                Plans of Greenhouse and Vinery, 18th century

WYL160/29/15/1              Kippax Estate ledger 1886-9

WYL160/29/17/1              Extracts from survey of Kippax manor, 1739

WYL160/29/17/4-5          Copies of Kippax Inclosure Map, 1792 & land sold to Bland in 1843

WYL160/212/111             Extracts and translations from Ministers’ accounts relating to Kippax, 1356 -72

WYL160/212/112             Extracts and translations from public records relating to Kippax: rental and survey 1425

WYL160/212/159             Bargain and sale from Earl of Essex, Gelley, Meyrick and Henry Lyndley of London Esqs to Thomas Bland of Castleford Esq of Kippax Park, 1595

WYL160/212/177             Final concord between T D Bland and William G. H. Medhurst of 75 acres of land in Kippax, 1817

WYL160/212/184             Lease for 18 years from Granville W. W. Medhurst to Thomas Davison Bland of closes on parcel ground in Kippax called Weetland Close, Wetland Flatt and stocken otherwise Pannal Hill Close, 1792

WYL160/216/153             Survey of the estates of T D Bland esq., c. 1824

WYL160/216/154             Survey of the townships of Kippax and Allerton Bywater, 1828

WYL160/M165                  Plan made for T D Bland esq, 1827

WYL160/M166                  Plan of Kippax Park and the adjoining lands belonging to Thos Bland, 1806

WYL160/M170                  Kippax Park and the additional meadows, 1786

WYL160/M264                  Map of the township of Allerton Bywater, 1804

WYL292/29                        Plan of alterations by Mickle, 1787

WYL292/30                        Plan of the township of Kippax, 1817

Maps

Ordnance Survey 6” 1st edition, surveyed 1845 to 1847, published 1850

Ordnance Survey 25” 1st edition, surveyed 1890, published 1892

Ordnance Survey 6” (1:10,560) revised edition, revised 1959, published 1968

Figure 1 – Possible extent of the medieval deer park on the revised edition 1” OS map, surveyed 1894, published 1896. National Library of Scotland CC-BY.

Figure 2 – Kippax Park from JP Neale, 1822. © The Trustees of the British Museum (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).

Figure 3 – Map of the Kippax Park estate, 1786. West Yorkshire Archives Service, Leeds (WYL160/M170). www.wyjs.org.uk/archive-service

Figure 4 – Improvement Plan by Adam Mickle, 1787. West Yorkshire Archives Service, Leeds (WYL292/29). www.wyjs.org.uk/archive-service

Figure 5 – Map of the Kippax Estate, 1806. West Yorkshire Archives Service, Leeds (WYL160/M166). www.wyjs.org.uk/archive-service

Figure 6 – Plan of the township of Kippax, 1817. West Yorkshire Archives Service, Leeds (WYL292/30). www.wyjs.org.uk/archive-service

Figure 7 – Map of the Kippax Estate, 1827. West Yorkshire Archives Service, Leeds (WYL160/M165). www.wyjs.org.uk/archive-service

Figure 8 – Kippax Park showing extent of parkland. 1st edition OS map surveyed 1845 to 1847, published 1850. National Library of Scotland. CC-BY.

Figure 9 – Pleasure grounds and walled kitchen garden at Kippax Park. 1st edition 25” OS map surveyed 1890, published 1892. National Library of Scotland. CC-BY.

Figure 10 – Extent of opencast mining at Kippax Park. OS 6” (1:10,560) map revised edition, revised 1959, published 1968. National Library of Scotland CC-BY.

Figure 11 – Plan of mid to late 18th century greenhouse and vinery. West Yorkshire Archives Service, Leeds (WYL160/29/1/8). www.wyjs.org.uk/archive-service

Figure 12 – Plan of late 18th century/early 19th century greenhouse. West Yorkshire Archives Service, Leeds (WYL160/29/1/8). www.wyjs.org.uk/archive-service