Asket Hill / Asket Hall

Guiseppe · Post by **Guiseppe** » Sun 29 Jun, 2008 9:03 am

Hi,Asket Hill / Hall has been described on these threads already...http://www.secretleeds.com/forum/Messag ... =785...but I've done a bit of research and thought someone might find it interesting! (I'd add it to the Asket Hall thread, but it would end up on page 4 after lots of chat about teachers at Braim Wood, so I've started a new one.)First, I overlayed the 1851 map on top of a Google Maps image, which shows the location of the bridge, the house and the stables...

Guiseppe · Post by **Guiseppe** » Sun 29 Jun, 2008 9:07 am

The gatehouse isn't shown on this map, but it appears on later maps at the North Lane dog-leg (opposite the North Close junction) where it remains today. (Called "Asket Lodge".)You can see the bridge over the beck (the beck is the thick black line which meanders across the map). The main house is the striped building on the left side of Asket Hill (which is the street running north-south across the map).The stables is the black building at the top of the image, also on the left side of Asket Hill. (The stables building is still there today.)If this isn't clear let me know and I'll post an annotated map!

Guiseppe · Post by **Guiseppe** » Sun 29 Jun, 2008 9:15 am

The gatehouse driveway did lead down to the bridge, but it's not possible to access the bridge this way as the drive is blocked with residents' cars, and there's a gate that hasn't been opened in many years! Going down to Easterly Road, you'll find a metal anti-bike gate thing and a path along the beck.After a short distance, you'll find the old Asket bridge! Still in remarkable condition after over 150 years (presuming it hasn't been rebuilt since...). It's such an odd sight - a grand bridge, wide enough to take a car, over a tiny beck, going from an overgrown gate at one end, and into a brick wall at the other!

Guiseppe · Post by **Guiseppe** » Sun 29 Jun, 2008 9:20 am

There's a photo of Asket Hall (AKA Asket Hill) is on Leodis.net hereNow looking at the map and the photo, I reckon the photo was tagen from the edge of the beck near the island (which can be seen on the map, a little light blob in the black beck). The lines between the house and the beck are the multi-level gardens. Which would make the front of the house face the beck, which makes sense from the photo. (Also, Asket Hill at this time was a dirt track, so you would have the back of your grand house facing the road, and the front face the lovely gardens and river, right?)So I took a photo from what I estimate to be the same spot and direction as the one on Leodis. See above, what a difference 50 years or so makes!

Guiseppe · Post by **Guiseppe** » Sun 29 Jun, 2008 9:24 am

Next, the stables. Leodis.net incorrectly says that this building has been knocked down! Which presumably comes as some surprise to the people currently living there...

Guiseppe · Post by **Guiseppe** » Sun 29 Jun, 2008 9:30 am

The main Asket Hall house is long gone, replaced by Ladywood Grange, especially the southern (left-hand) spur. (Here it is on Google Maps.)I forgot to take a photo of the actual lodge/gatehouse, but it's there on North Lane should you care to take a look. Hope this little excursion was of interest to someone!

Guiseppe · Post by **Guiseppe** » Sun 29 Jun, 2008 9:38 am

To finish off, another photo of the bridge from nowhere to nowhere. I like the bridge

sundowner · Post by **sundowner** » Sun 29 Jun, 2008 3:12 pm

Guiseppe wrote: To finish off, another photo of the bridge from nowhere to nowhere. I like the bridge Hi Guiseppe it looks like it is just wide enough for a horse and carrage. It must have a fine sight at the time not a sight we ordinary people would have seen.

Guiseppe · Post by **Guiseppe** » Sun 29 Jun, 2008 10:42 pm

sundowner wrote: Hi Guiseppe it looks like it is just wide enough for a horse and carrage. It must have a fine sight at the time not a sight we ordinary people would have seen. Hi Sundowner, I reckon the bridge is about 7ft wide, it was definitely meant for vehicles. (And as you say, I'm sure it was reserved for rich visitors - the service entrance we'd have used was most likely on the muddy track of Asket Hill!)I'm not sure who owns the bridge today - if I lived in one of the houses next to it I'd love to have my own personal bridge

sundowner · Post by **sundowner** » Mon 30 Jun, 2008 9:01 am

Guiseppe wrote: sundowner wrote: Hi Guiseppe it looks like it is just wide enough for a horse and carrage. It must have a fine sight at the time not a sight we ordinary people would have seen. Hi Sundowner, I reckon the bridge is about 7ft wide, it was definitely meant for vehicles. (And as you say, I'm sure it was reserved for rich visitors - the service entrance we'd have used was most likely on the muddy track of Asket Hill!)I'm not sure who owns the bridge today - if I lived in one of the houses next to it I'd love to have my own personal bridge Hi Guiseppe I know from experience how nature can change a site if left to take its course.Iused to go metal detecting on a bank that was covered in grass at the side of a golf course it was surrounded by trees now it has merged with the rest of the site this is over a period of twenty years its no wonder some of these sites are so hard to define