Council tax liability case against owner of Grade II-listed Yorkshire mansion Hickleton Hall is dropped

Grace Newton
By Grace Newton
Published 13th Jul 2023, 11:43 BST
Updated 13th Jul 2023, 11:43 BST
Doncaster Council has dropped a prosecution against the owner of a Grade II-listed stately home.

Paul Stroud, the sole director of Hickleton Hall Heritage Centre Ltd, was set to appear at Doncaster Magistrates Court over council tax liability allegations.

He bought Hickleton Hall, a former seat of the Earls of Halifax, in 2020, after it had been empty and derelict for several years.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

However, in a short case management hearing on Wednesday, the council’s legal team agreed to withdraw the prosecution.

Hickleton HallHickleton Hall
Hickleton Hall

In 2022, Mr Stroud, a Buckinghamshire-based property developer, was granted planning permission by Doncaster Council to convert the main house into apartments. His sister Claire told the Doncaster Free Press in 2021 that he would restore the 17 acres of grounds and gardens and hold events there, and that he was considering keeping the east wing of the hall as a function suite.

The Wood family, aristocratic Yorkshire landowners, sold the Georgian house to a girls’ convent school in the 1940s, and from the 1960s until 2012 it was a Sue Ryder care home. Under Sue Ryder management, the grounds regularly opened to the public for village fetes, classic car shows and garden parties.

The house, stable block and other estate buildings fell into considerable disrepair after the care home closed, and suffered from vandalism and materials theft. The hall and neighbouring St Wilfrid’s Church have also experienced subsidence from the nearby Hickleton Main Colliery.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The apartments are now being advertised on the luxury holiday accommodation site Fine Retreats for guest bookings.

Hickleton Hall has now been converted into apartmentsHickleton Hall has now been converted into apartments
Hickleton Hall has now been converted into apartments

The Wood family, then baronets, bought the 18th-century house from banker Godfrey Wentworth in 1828. Later granted the title Viscount Halifax, they held high offices, including as Chancellor of the Exchequer and Viceroy of India. After World War Two – during which Hickleton was requisitioned by the Army – they disposed of a number of assets, including the hall and the Temple Newsam estate in Leeds. Their main seat is now at Garrowby Hall in the East Riding, though they retained ownership of the estate farms and parkland around Hickleton. The present Lord and Lady Halifax are friends of King Charles and Queen Camilla.