Last Of The Summer Pies: Exploring Oakworth - Part 18

One of the series of artificial caves and grottoes in the park constructed by Sir Isaac Holden over 100 years ago that still remain today

Distance: 2.6 miles

Ascent: 190 ft

Walking: Andrew

Weather: Sunny

OS Map: OL21 - South Pennines

Starting point: Station Road, Oakworth

Photography: Andrew using Nikon D750 / Nikon 24-70 mm f2.8

A proper exploration of Holden Park, rather than just passing through.

As I've mentioned before, the park was originally the gardens of Oakworth House, a large Italianate mansion built by Sir Isaac Holden in the 1870s. The house was designed by Bradford architect George Smith, who also designed our house (although ours was originally part of a stable block for another mansion).

Sir Isaac Holden was a wealth local mill owner but he was also an inventor and was the first MP for Keighley. When he died at the grand old age of 91 in 1897, the house stood empty for several years when the family were unable to sell it. In 1907, it was partly destroyed by fire and subsequently demolished. The Holden family gave the grounds to the people of Oakworth in 1927 and it has been a unique public park ever since.

This excellent article by Kate Lycett explains more about Oakworth House.

Chapel Lane, now known as Colne Road, cut the gardens of Oakworth House in two. The gateway on the right was the main entrance, while on the left, the gates that now lead into the primary school, originally led to a large ornamental lake.

The gate pillars are topped by two statues, which originally held lanterns. Just inside the entrance is a bust of Sir Isaac Holden.

The majority of the park is pretty overgrown. The Friends of Holden Park do a valiant job of trying to keep on top of it but it is a huge area and resources are, needless to say, scarce.

The grottoes, such as this one near the entrance, were constructed from a substance known as hypertufa, which was moulded into shapes resembling rocks and trees around a steel framework. They were built by a Frenchman, Jean Michel Aucante, who subsequently married an Oakworth girl.

There is surprisingly little colour in the park at the moment apart from a few daffodils and primulas, although presumably this is due in part to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Second World War memorial is in the form of a small garden with this head stone and the names of the dead inscribed on the stone border edging.

The First World War memorial, commemorating 41 local men who fell in the war, was unveiled in 1937 and stands in front of the original front entrance to the house, the portico, one of the few parts of the house that still remain.

Some of the stonework on the portico is beginning to show its age, unfortunately

The house stood where the bowling green is now and the front door was at the top of these steps.

The summerhouse, also known as the Bear House, stands next to the entrance to one of the many grottoes

The path continues around with this set of steps up to an elevated walkway. There are a number of features in the rock that look as if there were originally waterfalls too.

Looking back towards the main entrance, where the patch of sunlight is coming through the wall is the entrance to the children's playground. This is where the turkish bath and billiard room stood.

The network of grottoes at what would have been the back of the house contain several hidden sets of steps. The whole of this area and part of what is now an open area beyond was housed in a huge glass house, known as the Winter Garden, which was full of exotic plants.

Presumably this recess, visible from outside, was originally designed to display something. Apparently the grottoes were illuminated by electric light at night.

An unusual feature is the mosaic floor in a couple of the grottoes.

This drinking fountain, as the inscription says, was bought by public subscription after Sir Isaac died in 1897. It was unveiled in 1907 (I've seen photos of crowds at the dedication ceremony appear on Ebay from time to time) and originally stood in the middle of Victoria Road at the junction with Station Road, outside what is now the Co-op. As motor cars became more common after the First World War, it was deemed to be a dangerous obstacle so it was moved to its present location in the park. It originally had a domed top piece supported by six columns and the two grey water dispensers had small metal cups attached to them by chains.

Tempting as it was to Photoshop the bin out, I decided that in 50 years time people will look at this picture and reminisce, dewey-eyed, about those beautiful vintage 1990's public litter bins, before searching on their late 21st century iPad equivalent and buying one for £25,000 to use as a garden feature.

Above the grottoes is an overgrown man-made rocky landscape with some more interesting features, if you look hard amongst the vegetation. The rock formation in the centre is clearly designed to be a water feature.

The view over the bowling green from the elevated walkway gives an idea of where the house stood. The stone-built part occupied almost half the length and the entire width of the green (the bowling clubhouse on the opposite side of the green is the only part of the main structure that survived, apart from the portico). The Winter Garden covered the remainder of the green, including where I was standing, plus the raised area above the grottoes out of shot to my right. It's difficult to visualise the scale of the place now but just enough features survive to get an idea of the outline.

Another feature from the Winter Garden above the grottoes.

The woods beyond the grottoes are vast, although now considerably less than when the house was here. Part of the land at the western end of the estate was sold off and a couple of large houses built on it.

Long before the time of Sir Isaac, the area along Clough Lane housed a number of stone quarries, from which the stone for the house came. They were later incorporated as features in the gardens. I must have waked past this one loads of times without realising it was there.

The ornamental ponds and their surrounding rhododendrons are very overgrown. I'm not sure if this part of the former gardens is part of the park or privately owned now but it is popular with walkers.