Horsforth Hall Park
park in Leeds, West Yorkshire
Horsforth Hall Park is a 3.38 hectares (8.4 acres) community park in Horsforth, West Yorkshire, England, approximately six miles from Leeds city centre.
The park takes its name from Horsforth Hall which was built in 1699 and demolished in 1953 because it had become structurally unsafe. Some of the outbuildings remain including the stables which is a grade II listed building.
Features
The park's attractions include large spaces of open parkland, a cricket pitch (home of home of Horsforth Hall Park Cricket Club), a bowling green, an adventure playground and a bandstand. A Japanese Garden was added to the park in 1987.
It also hosts a specially designed playground for under eights that allows disabled and able bodied children to play together, designed in collaboration with Mencap.
Horsforth Hall
John Stanhope (1678–1736) built Horsforth Hall shortly before his 21st birthday. He mentioned in a letter to his brother dated 22 May 1699 that his new house was being built quickly. John was a member of the Stanhope family of Low Hall who had purchased part of Horsforth in 1565. Stanhope's father died in 1693 and as the eldest son he inherited the estate.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Horsforth Hall Park” as park in Leeds, West Yorkshire. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as park in Leeds, West Yorkshire. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 5, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q60743154. Authority coordinates are 53.838, -1.648. 1 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1699, 1953, 1987 and 1678.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Horsforth Hall Park”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Horsforth Hall Park primary sources, Horsforth Hall Park archive and Horsforth research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Horsforth Hall Park”?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Horsforth Hall Park” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.