Wyresdale Park

A picturesque if roguish Gothic Revival house of stone with castellated tower and gables designed by E G Paley for Peter Ormrod of Bolton at a cost of £50,000. Enlarged 1863 (datestone) and outbuildings added.  Peter Ormrod (1796–1875) built Wyresdale Hall in 1856-1858 on a 6,000-acres estate purchased from the Duke of Hamilton. He was a banker and cotton manufacturer, the son of James Ormrod who was one of the founders of the Bank of Bolton. On his father’s death in 1825 Peter Ormrod inherited his share in the bank and in 1838 married Eliza Hardcastle, the daughter of one of his partners but the marriage proved childless. On his death in 1875 Wyresdale Park was left to his nephew James Cross Ormrod When in turn died in 1895 his son Captain Peter Ormrod (1869–1923) inherited the Estate, and made a number of major improvements. A lake was added to the grounds in 1897 and a trout fishery established, said to be the largest in Europe; he also added a deer park. In 1922 Wyresdale Park was sold. The Estate was split with the house and surrounding grounds being sold to Dr Hugh Riddell and a large portion of the remaining farms and fell land to Shepherd Whewell.