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The village of Nostell
 The pretty village of Nostell is just a few miles east of the city of Wakefield on the road to Doncaster. Although dominated by the magnificent Nostell Priory and the Nostell Estate, the village also has a fine church, an old established cricket club, a prestigious office development and a private school.
The parish of Nostell and West Hardwick actually comprises of five small hamlets with very little, if anything, to separate them. The picturesque village of Nostell is adjoined by the village of Wragby to the east, Foulby to the west and West Hardwick and Huntwick to the north.
Nostell’s immediate neighbours also have much to commend them as pretty English villages with Wragby boasting the 19th Century pub, the Spread Eagle as well as beautiful old stone cottages and a war memorial on the small green to remember those local people who fell in the First and Second World Wars.
Foulby was the birthplace of clockmaker John Harrison who designed and built the world’s first maritime clock. The house where he lived on the main Wakefield to Doncaster road bears a distinctive blue plaque detailing his achievements. Further along the road is the Windmill Inn, the site of a former windmill designed by John Smeaton in 1886.
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 The hamlet of Foulby is home to the Nostell Priory rose gardens and the peaceful and secluded Nostell Holiday Park. West Hardwick is the site of the Nostell Home Farm, the gamekeeper’s cottage and a small number of residential properties.
Nostell Priory itself was founded in 1114 by Ralph Adlave, chaplain and confessor to Henry 1. During his exploits, he hunted in the woods around Nostell and came across a colony of hermits who had settled by the lake.
The hermits were probably monks of a Saxon foundation and Adlave, impressed by their lives, asked the King’s permission to establish them as a regular Augustinian priory dedicated to St Oswald. The charter of 1121 licensed the building of a church at Nostell which may have contained a relic of the saint.
The Nostell Estate was purchased by the Winn family in 1650 and the same family has lived in the present house since building began in 1733. The family first made their fortune as textile merchants in London and owed its continuing wealth to the rich veins of coal in
the area. Later the family leased land in Lincolnshire for the mining of iron ore during the Industrial Revolution.
 Today Nostell Priory is in the care of The National Trust and sits within 300 acres of parkland. Within the grounds and gardens of the Priory are delightful lakeside walks and the parkland is open to the public all year round. It contains the newly restored Obelisk Lodge set in meadows full of wild flowers and mown paths.
The house was originally built by James Paine for Sir Rowland Winn. Later Robert Adam was commissioned to design several additional wings, only one of which was to be completed. Adam also added a double staircase to the front of the house and designed further buildings on the estate, including the stable block.
The furniture, furnishings and decoration, which were made specifically for the house, are still in situ. Nostell Priory is today home to one of the largest and most diverse collections of Chippendale furniture in the world, all of which was made especially for the house.
Thomas Chippendale was born in Otley in 1718 so it is particularly pleasing that the furniture in this Yorkshire house was produced by a Yorkshireman.
 The Nostell Estate, which is owned by the Lord St Oswald, was originally an agricultural estate but soon expanded to embrace the new industries such as coal at Nostell and steel at the other estate near Scunthorpe. Following the decline of these industries, Nostell reverted to its earlier role of farming and property, but the declining income streams led to the priory being transferred to The National Trust who now maintain and manage the property. The family however still occupy part of the house.
Over the past few years Lord St Oswald and his family, along with the team at Nostell, have been converting and developing the derelict buildings into award-winning prestigious office accommodation.
Many of the office suites are named after world-renowned craftsmen who were involved with the design, construction and finishing of Nostell Priory. These include the Adam Suite, the Paine Suite, the Chippendale Suite and the Harrison Suite.
The remaining two buildings in the estate yard, both of which are Scheduled Ancient Monuments, formed part of the original monastic settlement at the heart of the Nostell Estate. Tree-ring analysis indicates building in 1481.
Both buildings are now reaching completion and the Monks Refectory will provide a further three office suites and the Brewhouse an additional two. This work has been supported by both English Heritage and Yorkshire Forward.
Within the park of Nostell Priory stands Wragby Church, built on the site of the pre-Norman monastery. Perpendicular in style, it is dedicated to St Michael and Our Lady.
With obvious architectural beauty, it has a tower, a nave with aisles and a chancel. It houses many treasures including a collection of antique Swiss glass. The majority of its windows are filled with nearly 500 panels and roundels dating from 1514 to 1745, the largest collection outside Switzerland.
The gravestones of the Winn family lie together in a corner of the churchyard extension with that of Wanda Lady St Oswald, wife of Rowland Denys Guy Winn, telling its own sad story. She was born Jaxa Chamiel Ciecirska in Poland in 1921 and was forced to flee her homeland after her country was invaded in 1939.
She was never able to return and some earth from her beloved homeland was buried with her in 1981.
Today, the Nostell Estate is a thriving business centre and the Estate Yard development is playing a pivotal part in the regeneration of not just the Nostell Estate, but also the South East District of Wakefield that has suffered dramatically from the mine closures of some years ago.
Four jobs have been saved at the Estate and as of April over one hundred new high quality jobs have been created in the award winning Estate Yard development by the 14 businesses that have become tenants. These are young dynamic companies in IT, Education, Design, Training and PR as well as Office Suppliers, Surveyors and an Accountancy Practice. Additionally there are two charities as tenants, one of which specialises in training young entrepreneurs and the other is Dogs for the Disabled.
The final two buildings will bring a further five offices to the market, and despite the current economic situation there is strong interest in these buildings which could accommodate a further 35-50 employment opportunities.
In the coming months a decision to complete the last phase of development will be made, which could add a further 16000 sq ft. of office space which could ultimately provide a total of 200-250 high quality employment opportunities in a rural area that was historically dependent upon agriculture and mining. Lord St Oswald is passionate about supporting the district and it took great courage to undertake such a costly and radically different undertaking. Now it appears that his efforts are being rewarded.
Next time you are passing through this splendid and historical area of Nostell, why not enjoy a wander through the parkland, see the boathouse and bridge on the lower lake or listen to the sound of leather on willow at the Nostell cricket ground and enjoy a bite to eat and a drink at one of the two inns.
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