Heritage Open Day, Sunday 15th September 2024, 10:00am - 03:30pm

One of the most significant buildings in Rotherham's history will be open to the public as part of the Heritage Open Day Scheme.

Admission is free, as always in The Heritage Open Day Scheme, however you must register online for a place in advance.
For everyone's safety we will not accept walk-ins on the day.

On arrival, visitors will be given a short talk about the house and its history, and written guides to back them up and are then free to create their own programme.

They will be able to walk through the public rooms of the house, and watch slide presentations of its recent history. There will be talks on the builder of the house, "Thomas Howard, Earl of Effingham, Soldier, Politician and Man of Principle" and "Living the Dream? 40 Years at Thundercliffe Grange", where residents will talk about living here through the purchase, rebuilding and development of the house and its community.

There will also be tours of points of historic interest in the grounds.

A pop-up cafe will provide drinks and refreshments (cash only, no cards - sorry).

Visitors are asked to book the slot when they wish to begin. If they wish to go to one or more of the talks, they should also book those, making sure to arrive at least 20 minutes before.

Ground tours need not be booked, and will start approximately hourly.

Thundercliffe Grange, circa 1805

Thundercliffe Grange: Garden Front today

Thundercliffe Grange was an iron working centre for the Medieval monks of Kirkstead Abbey as the Cistercians developed the industrial and agricultural wealth of Yorkshire through their large estates. Once the Monasteries were dissolved it passed to a local gentry family. After playing a minor part in the Civil War it was purchased by the 3rd Earl of Effingham and became the Manor house for Rotherham and Kimberworth. The Earl was involved in the development of iron and steel in Rotherham because he owned the iron rich lands of Kimberworth where the Walkers developed their furnaces and forges. He is also famous (especially in the U.S.A.) for refusing to fight against the American colonists in their fight for independence, and as a leading Freemason for granting the charter to initiate the first lodge of black people in Boston. He was the creator of Boston Castle off Moorgate.

A later Earl was one of Wellington's Peninsular Generals, and it was he who put an extra floor on the building, giving it its present square appearance. The house and grounds then became, from the late Victorian era until World War II, a mental asylum for women, under the apparently enlightened regime of Dr. Gilbert Mould (whence possibly one of the ghosts). After the war, the building became a home and school for children with severe mental problems and thalidomide sufferers. When that institution was closed it was bought in 1980 by a number of local people who turned it into residential units under a sharing scheme called "Co-housing"

The ground floor state rooms were kept for communal use, and it is these which will be open to the public.

In the grounds, which are also kept for common use, are a small part of the excavated remains of the 12th to 18th century grange and houses, and an important private 18th century plunge bath (requires outdoor footwear to visit)

Admission is free, as always in The Heritage Open Day Scheme, however you must register online for a place in advance.

The house is open only on Sunday 15th Sept, from 10.00am to the last tour at 3:30pm. Refreshments will be available.

The house will be available to wheelchairs, as will the grounds unless the weather is poor.

How to find us

For further information, contact Jeremy Blundell: [email protected]