Owston Hall

The oldest part of the Hall is said to date back to 1604 when the manor belonged to the Duchy of Lancaster.  This would have part of the house lived in by the Adams family when they were tenants in the 16th Century; they purchased the estate from the Duchy during the 17th Century.  In 1698, John Adams sold the estate to henry Cooke of South Bramwith, third son of Sir Henry Cooke,, 2nf Baronet of Wheatley Hall.

In 1785, Bryan Cooke succeeded to the estate and proceeded to improve the house and grounds. Designs were prepared by William Porden but apparently weren't used and William Lindley, a prominent Doncaster architect, carried out the alterations. The two wings of the house are cornered to the South so taking maximum advantage of the sun. The style is neo-classical, the frontage having two Ionic pilaster framing each side of the main entrance. In 1793, Humphrey Repton was commissioned to draw up plans for landscaping the grounds and presented them in a 'Red Book', but these do not seem to have been carried out. A conservatory was added to the South-West side in 1840.

The Cooke family inherited through marriage and estate in Gwysaney in Wales and eventually this became their main residence. from about the 1880's, Owston Hall was let to tenants, including Mr. Ripley, (a dyer from Bradford), Mr. Charlesworth, (colliery owner) and Mr. Pawson, Registrar of the County Court.

In the 1920's part of the ground floor became headquarters to the Robin Hood Gold Club. The Hall was requisitioned by the Army during WWII and afterwards was converted into flats, the Cooke family retaining one for their own use. In 1976, the estate was purchased by Mr. P. Edwards and has now been converted into a hotel with 15 en-suite bedrooms.