After introducing Parlington in the last edition, it seems reasonable to provide some background information about where the Gascogne family lived before moving to Parlington, especially as the location of their earlier home was in the Barwick, Scholes vicinity. Where was it? Follow Parlington Lane where it leaves the Parlington Estate at Long Lane, but continues as Ellis Lane and follows along the south end of Garforth Golf Course, adjacent to the Cock Beck and later it forks where the road used to enter the World War One Munitions site, and former location of Barnbow village. To the right up the hill we are now on Barnbow Lane, this is the location of the photograph accompanying this article.
If you are curious of how the roads used to be, way back in the days before railways changed the face of Britain, this scene would have been typical. It is little wonder travelling was an arduous business. Foot traffic was slow, horse ridden fraught with potential mishap, and horse and carriage a very hit and miss affair.
After the roadway emerges from the avenue of trees it veers off to the right heading for Scholes, and at this bend is where the old Hall stood. The house rooms were described in detail in a highly regarded book about the district of Barwick in Elmet by the Rev F. S. Colman published by the Thoresby Society in 1908. It is worth noting here what was said about the hall from Colman’s own hand;
“The Hall, long since demolished, stood on rising ground above the village of Barnbow facing south with a pleasant prospect, there is nothing left to tell of its appearance or architecture but the lines of the foundations can be traced and an idea formed of its size. Ralph Thoresby visited on 11th August 1709 as he relates, ‘Walked to Barwick to visit Mr Plaxton in his widowhood; walked with Mr Plaxton thence to Barnbow Hall; dined with Sir Thomas Gascoigne, which place was of old the seat of the Greenfields, now of the Gascoignes from the time of King James 1., as I conjecture from the ornaments of lions and unicorns in the great dining room.’”
So there you have it, another long lost historic property in our neighbourhood, and a place where in the late seventeenth century was supposedly sprung the Banbow Plot to to kill the King (Charles II), details of which can be found on the Parlington website.