| Description | Oulton Park was designated as a Registered Park and Garden by English Heritage in c1984. The Park contains Oulton Hall, a remodelled late 18th century Grade II Listed Building (Department of the Environment 1988, 33) and a small number of other non Listed historic buildings.
The Hall and Park were originally developed by a local banker called John Blayds. The original house was modified after enclosure of the surrounding commnon land in 1809 (Sheeran 1990, 115). Humphrey Repton was commissioned to landscape the former common. Repton's original design appears to have affected an area of c0.5 km around the hall, including a substancial remodelling of the existing building. The park was extended and further developed, so that by 1854 it was approximately four times larger than that proposed by Repton (English Heritage 1984). Located on the eastern edge of the park is a lake, a former entrance and raised earthern banks (the latter used to screen the house from the public road). The original main drive from the east is now abandoned, with the present main drive being from the north.
Oulton Hall is a late 18th Century house built in the Classical Style (for the first John Blayds) , with later additions by Sir Robert Smirke (for a later John Blayds) built in c1822 and further alterations being undertaken in 1851 4 and in 1875 and 1885. The house is ashlar built to two storeys with a three storey service wing. Other buildings in the park include a church by Thomas Rickman built between 1827 and 1829 (located on the north east boundary of the park) and stables by John Clarke built in 1837 (Department of the Environment 1988, 33, Pevsner 1979, 387).
A large house at 'Olton' is shown on Saxton's map of 1577, however, only the settlement of Oulton is shown on the 18th century maps of Warburton and Jeffreys ( Warburton 1720, Jeffreys 1775). The park and house are shown on the Ordnance Survey First Edition map of 1854, a representation that also shows a Boat House and Summer House.
Within the park (to the south of Oulton Hall) is an area of 'ridge and furrow' earthworks that can be seen on aerial photographs (PRN 4510), these are likely to be associated with the pre enclosed medieval landscape. A later addition to the landscape is a possible site of a 2nd World War Anti Aircraft Battey (PRN 6385).
The designs of Humphrey Repton are contained in his 'Red Books', with the book containing the Oulton Park designs being discovered during the 1960s in a Leeds Solicitors office. This book has not as yet been consulted by the West Yorkshire Archaeology Service (20/11/2001).
The House and Park are derelict and during 1980s have been the subject of several abortive schemes for re use. Further evaluation required in advance of development. |