Burntwood Hall

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Burntwood Hall is a house that lies near the village of Great Houghton, South Yorkshire, England and has been known as Boomshack and Burntwood Nook/Lodge over the centuries.

Originally a modest

His Grandson, Captain Francis Marsden – West Yorkshire Militia/

He died at Burntwood on 12 February 1780, aged 27 from wounds received five years before at the Battle of Bunker Hill in 1775. He was buried at Wakefield Cathedral, although his grave has since moved there still stands a wall monument in his memory inside the cathedral. His sister, Hannah Maria who paid for the monument was married to John Carr Esq of Carr Lodge Horbury, who was a nephew to the famous architect, John Carr. Hannah Maria named her son, John Francis Carr in memory of her brother. John Carr of York, John Carr, Hannah Maria and a granddaughter are all buried in the same vault in St Peter and St Leonard's Church, Horbury.

The Marsden family held the

Today Burntwood Hall is a nursing home for the elderly and the kitchen garden is now a centre for disabled people.

The hall is a mixture of classical and Gothic revival architecture and on the south side there is a porch supported by doric columns The grounds originally incorporated both an entrance lodge on the south entrance (though this became neglected and was later demolished) and a stable block (now converted and used as staff accommodation). In 2003 some of the garden ornaments, including the sundial were stolen.

It has the only 'secret' tunnel in the area that can be authenticated, running for thirty yards (27 m) under the road to the kitchen gardens. West Haigh Wood and Howell Wood (now a country park) were landscaped as the grounds of the hall and as a game reserve, as was the open space of the old Burntwood. It is possible that there was once a hunting lodge located within Howell Woods though any visible trace of this is long gone.

Artificial lakes were set in Howell Wood and West Haigh Wood, the one in Howell Wood being the only one surviving today and used as a fishing lake. Next to the lake in Howell Woods remains the 18th century ice house, which is now home to various forms of wildlife.

Howell Wood Country Park is managed by the