This morning I thought I’d take a ride out to Shireoak Hall in Worksop, Nottingham. There is limited explores on this particular location and yet looked to be on a public footpath, so I thought I’d head over to see.
On approaching there is a sign which says you have reached Shireoak Hall and it does state there is parking, but when you go up the drive, you come to what appears to be a farm house.
This is a pub/coach house and the farmer who owns the pub also now owns the land to Shireoak Hall.
I did knock on the door of coach House to speak to the owner, just to make sure it was indeed a area where I was allowed and he stated it was but nobody was allowed on the land of where Shireoaks stands,which I was aware may be the case as it is in a derelict state.
What saddens me about this explore was the sheer dread this gentleman had of this hall being found. He spoke of past experiences where people had came and have just remained on his land regardless of him telling them to go. He said that countless times people had came and tried to completely wreck the place and his biggest fear was it being set on fire.
He said that 20-30 years ago, many came just to look and take in the beauty and history of it, but said he now believed times had changed and people are more disrespectful of such places and I had to agree they are.
He did kindly agree to me having a walk around the path and taking some pictures and such if I so wished, but I will say now, if you do plan on visiting, he will keep a steady eye on you and with his experiences of others coming to visit the site… I really can’t blame him.
History
The manor of Shireoak was given to the Priory of Worksop by Emma de Lovetot, the wife of its founder. After the Dissolution of the Monasteries by King Henry VIII, the land was granted to Robert and Hugh Thornhill, who sold it on to Thomas Hewet, a rich London merchant, who commissioned the building of the hall.
On his death, he left it to his son, Henry Hewet who left it to his son, Sir Thomas Hewet, who was Sheriff of Nottinghamshire for 1627.
It was then inherited by the latter’s grandson, another Sir Thomas Hewet, who was Surveyor-General of Woods in 1701 and 1714 and Surveyor of the King’s Works from 1719 to 1726.
Extensive alterations and improvements to the house was made and several fine avenues was created, aswell as, cascades and water gardens. Sir Thomas also erected a banqueting house in the wood and formed or enlarged the deer-park.
Sir Thomas left his estates to his godson, John Thornhaugh, of Osberton, who adopted the surname of Hewet.
On the death of John Thornhaugh Hewet, Shireoaks and other properties passed to the Rev. John Hewet, Rector of Harthill, who built a chapel in the grounds. It was left by him to his relative John Wheatley.
In 1812 Wheatley sold Shireoaks to Charles, Duke of Norfolk, who renovated it but whose descendants sold it in 1842, together with the Worksop manor estate, to the then Duke of Newcastle.
Not recorded anyway else, the Eddison family then occuptied the hall. Benjamin Eddison was recorded living here on the cenus from 1850s, which he died at the hall and his son took ownership of the hall until the 1920s.
In 1945 the hall, by now somewhat dilapidated, was sold to a local farmer, who I had the pleasure of meeting.
Hauntings
If you look up Hauntings for Shireoak Hall, nothing will actually come up.
The reason I visited is because I thought it would have some story to tell. Alot of places like this, their haunting history isn’t documented or recorded anywhere. Sometimes it is only from locals of the area that you get to hear of ghostly tales that surround some of the places you visit.
This was no expection because luckily for me, I had a local to the area come onto the video I did of the walk round of it who stated she had heard stories of its haunting past growing up as a young girl.
Gill stated that there was stories of a young servant girl who haunts the hall. There was stories that a previous owner haunted the hall and that a girl haunts the ponds after she was drowned.
So I was interested to see if the locals history of the hall was true and if at least a drowning was documented at the lake of the hall, so I called upon Gina Marshall, who is currently helping us with locations we visit and their history, to see if she could find anything out.
There was nothing in the newspaper archives to suggested a girl drowned in the pond but there was a report for a male…
As for a previous owner haunting the hall, we’ll Benjamin did indeed die here.
And as for the servant girl haunting the hall, servants did work here, infact alot did. So it’s possible.
I didn’t feel it was right to ask the current owner if he had witness anything here and even if he had I don’t think he would have told me, he simply wants to protect it and rightly so….
Written and researched by
Charlene lowe Kemp
Gina Marshall