Laurel Mount 

Woodville Road, Keighley, BD20 6JB

Ira Ickeringill (1836-1911) had Laurel Mount built in 1888, just after Cliffe Castle was built in Keighley. Ira became Mayor of Keighley from 1890-1893 but he had started life with very little.

Ira Ickeringill had started work aged 8 in the mills in Keighley. In 1860, with his brother James, he set up a worsted spinning business in Legrams Mill in Bradford. In the early 20th century, Legrams Mill was the largest worsted spinner in the world with over 2,000 workers and 80,000 spindles that produced thousands of miles of yarn!

Ira, and his second wife Annie, lived at Laurel Mount with their seven children and two servants. When their daughter, Ada, married in 1905, the wedding reception was held at the house. They also hosted lots of garden parties to raise funds for local charities and organisations.

The house also had two lodges which provided homes for a gardener, a coach driver and their families while the Ickeringill owned Laurel Mount and, after 1921, when it was owned by local politician and lathe manufacturer, Arthur Smith, who was also Mayor of Keighley in 1925-1926.

In the 1891 census, Fred Rothera lived in Laurel Mount Lodge with his wife and children. He was the gardener at Laurel Mount for over 30 years.

Frederick Preston lived in Laurel Mount Lodge Cottage for over 20 years. He was the driver for the Ickeringill family and in 1921 was a chauffeur for another Keighley mill owner. His son, Harold Preston, served in the RAF during World War One and in 1923 married Margaret Watkins, a nurse who worked at the war hospital in Victoria Park, Keighley.

Martha Conyers Smith, the only daughter of Arthur and Annie Smith, was invited to a garden party at Buckingham Palace in 1927. Garden parties were regularly held at the Laurel Mount by the Ickeringill family and the new owners Arthur and Annie Smith throughout the 1920s and early 1930s.

In 1926, Princess Mary who lived at Harewood House (King Charles III’s great aunt) came to lunch at Laurel Mount when she visited Keighley. During her visit she spoke to disabled children from the town, and was said to have “thoroughly enjoyed” her visit. Sadly Annie Smith died suddenly in 1933. Arthur Smith remained at Laurel Mount where he died in 1943.

In 1944, Laurel Mount and both of the lodges were put up for sale. Laurel Mount was purchased by Ellis Wharton, a local master builder. His wife Maude and her unmarried sister Bertha Cooke also lived at the house. Sadly Bertha died in 1946 and Maude and Ellis died in 1953.

Laurel Mount then had a number of owners before it opened as a nursing home in 1983. Different companies have run Laurel Mount and it closed suddenly in 2022 as inspectors rated it as “inadequate”.

In 1986 Laurel Mount became a Grade II listed building. So whatever the future may hold for Laurel Mount the house will remain part of Keighley’s heritage.

Thornton Hall

Thornton, BD13 3AA

Thornton Hall was built in 1598 and for generations was owned by farmers. It has been suggested that Charlotte Bronte used it as the inspiration for Thornfield Hall, the home of Mr Rochester, in Jane Eyre. The Brontes lived in Thornton before they moved to Haworth.

Thornton Hall was purchased in 1858 by John Foster, who owned Black Dyke Mills and lived at Prospect House, Queensbury. The hall had been converted into three cottages for farm workers and John Foster turned it back into one house. He demolished the west wing, rebuilt the east wing, and restored the outbuildings.

John Foster employed the designer William Morris to work on parts of the house. The changes to the building made by John Foster can be seen in the plans made by his architects in 1882 which still survive. These can be seen in the Bradford office of the West Yorkshire Archive Service.

In the 1870s, John Foster also bought and renovated Hornby Castle, Lancashire, This was used by him and his brothers as a sporting estate. When John Foster retired he moved to Hornby Castle. John Foster died in 1884 so did not live to see all the work finished at Thornton Hall.

George Frederick Dawson, a Bradford worsted spinner, lived at Thornton Hall until his death in 1910. His son George Harold Dawson, did not inherit Thornton Hall as his private life was scandalous. In the 1920s Bradford solicitor, Thomas Edward Sugden and his family lived at the Hall.

Thornton Hall was sold again in 1937 to Dr John Rennie, who was a consultant physician at Bradford Royal Infirmary. He and his wife, Isabella Brownlee Wiese, also a doctor, were married in Cambridge in 1933. They lived in the house for 41 years before selling it in 1978 to Dr Colin Douglas. In 1980, Thornton Hall became a Grade II listed building

In 1982 Barry Whitaker, was a Textiles director in Allerton and, in 1986, attempted to reclaim the title of Lord of the Manor after 350 years. When Barry Whitaker died in 2022 it was noted that he had “…cared deeply about the past, present and future of our city’s textile industry.”

Cottingley Hall and Manor

Bradford Rd, Bingley BD16 1TX

The original Manor house was built in the 16th century but was demolished by 1887. In 1913 Arthur Henry Briggs, of the Briggs family who owned Brigella Mills, purchased the site of the old hall and adjoining land at Cottingley. His father, Edward Briggs, had married a silk winder from Brigella Mills. Although the marriage was opposed, it was a long and happy one and Arthur Henry was the only child.

In 1913, Cottingley Manor was built as the family home of Arthur Henry Briggs and, in 1915, Cottingley Hall was built next door as a wedding present for his son, Arthur Edward Briggs. They were now close neighbours and business partners.

Arthur Henry Briggs died in 1920 and iIn the 1921 census, his widow Emma, her sister and other family members were at The Manor and the family of her son at Cottingley Hall. Just seven years later, her son died. His widow remained at the Hall until she remarried in 1930 and by 1937 Emma Briggs had left the manor.

Francis W Rhodes, a woollen and worsted manufacturer, and his family became the new occupants of Cottingley Hall in the 1930s. They employed Fred Wood as a chauffeur who lived, with his family, at Cottingley Lodge for over a decade. In 1948, jewellery was stolen from their bedroom while they were in the dining room. A few months later Francis Rhodes died.

In 1939, Cottingley Manor took in evacuee children from Lister Lane school and in 1944 Bradford Education Authority took over the manor as a school for children with learning difficulties. The building is now the Nuffield Health Fitness and Wellbeing Centre. Cottingley Hall has become, like so many other mill mansions, a care home.