In 1920 the hall and estate were bought by Lord Michelham of Hellingby and, in 1940 by an industrialist, Gustav Sonderman of Sheffield. From September 1940 to May 1946 it was used by the Red Cross as a convalescent home for wounded servicemen. In 1954 it passed to a daughter, married to Fritz Eske, who demolished it and built the present smaller hall which now belongs to the Wilkinson family.
- Walled Kitchen Garden
The original date of the WKG is unclear. The brickwork matches that of the gardener’s cottage that English Heritage suggests is early C19.
The WKG is c. 2 acres shaped as an irregular hexagon designed to get the maximum benefit from the sun. It slopes down from North to South.
The walled garden is unevenly divided into 2 sections by a cross wall running SW-NE. At either end, there is a gap between the cross wall and the periphery wall of the WKG which today allows free access between the two halves of the garden.
The much larger NW section of the WKG is itself subdivided by a sudden drop in level (partially supported by a low retaining wall) parallel to the cross wall.
It is currently used as a kitchen and pleasure garden and includes a tennis court and swimming pool.
Northwest wall showing buttresses and espalier fruit tree. In front is a modern low retaining wall where the land suddenly drops to a lower level. The pleasure garden parterre with central fountain and giant planters The Grade II Listed Head Gardener’s Cottage early 19th century Bothy 1 and Bothy2 with raised roof and rebuilt rear Broad herbaceous borders on both sides of the central path in the smaller section of the WKG See our full research report on the Walled Kitchen Garden here:
Rolleston Hall, Rolleston
- Photos