Welcome To Bierley Woods - Bradford, UK - UK Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

Welcome to Bierley Woods

Welcome to Blerley Hall Woods
Our woodlands are for the benefit of the whole community. Woods, and the trees that make up a vital component of them, are essential to life. They have a multitude of different benefits for both wildlife and people. Trees have many environmental benefits: they stabilise the soil, generate oxygen, store carbon, play host to a spectacular variety of wildlife, and they provide us with raw materials and shelter. The almost magical, mystical quality of woods makes them a great place for relaxation and recreation. A walk in the woods can give a feeling of peace and tranquility, and thereby helping to reduce stress and anxiety. Its a great place to exercise and learn A world without trees and woods would be barren and bare. Please tread lightly - leave only footprints and take only memories.

Blerley Hall and the Richardsons
Bierley Hall stood about a mile south of the A6036, the Bradford ring road from its junction with Blerley Lane. Since the 16th century Blerley had been the seat of a gentry family, the Richardsons when Nicholas Richardson came to Yorkshire from Durham in 1561 and bought the Manor and Estates of Bierley. Whilst a house had occupied that site early in the 17th century, the original timber and plaster house had been rebuilt by perhaps 1690 using stone, in a Dutch Renaissance style by Richard Richardson. His son, also named Richard, had in turn remodelled the house around the middle of the 18th century. Richardson the younger left no heir so the estate was inherited by his great niece, Frances Mary Richardson Currer. During the 19th century the house was tenanted, after which it was bought by the Borough of Bradford in 1895 and became an isolation hospital. Ownership was transferred to the Ministry of Health in 1948 and was finally replaced by a modern hospital building in 1968. Shortly after this, the vacant Bierley Hall was demolished.

Both Dr Richard Richardson the elder and younger developed the house and grounds during their tenure of the property. It was under Richard Richardson the younger that the house was altered (1690) and a chapel built at the top of Bierley Lane in 1766. Whilst the majority of the plantation we see around the fish ponds was undertaken by the first Dr Richardson, Richardson the younger is credited with creating the tiered ponds and it is the layout he created that we still see today.

Richardson the elder was educated at Bradford Grammar school and went on to study at both the University of Oxford and Leyden (Holland). He returned to Bierley to practice as a doctor of medicine and to pursue his interests as a natural historian, antiquarian and botanist. He travelled throughout England, Scotland and Wales to collect botanical specimens and greatly increased the state of knowledge on native plants and their habitats. He became and authority on mosses and became the leading botanist working in the north. In 1712 he was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society and in 1718 constructed one of the first glasshouses to be built in England. His son followed in his fathers footsteps and studied at Bradford Grammar, became a doctor and returned to practice medicine. Whilst his father was very much involved in botany, Richardson the younger seemed to focus more on developing the house and grounds further to evolve into basically the landscape we have today.

Bierley Hall Grounds and Woods
These grounds were once the ornamental gardens of Bierley Hall. Richardson the elder laid out a formal garden to the front of the house and created a large botanical garden which held almost 2000 species, an immense number for that time. But exactly how it was laid out and its position on the estate is not known. To the west of the house was a steep sided valley with a stream, and it is likely that father and son worked together on the plan for this part of the grounds. Richardson the elder had begun planting the woods before 1740, but the landscaping that we can still see today was done by Richardson the younger and completed by 1751.

He dammed the stream and created four artificial ponds. Next to the first pond he built a grotto or underground cave, and a 'Druid circle' using stones bought from Wibsey which were specially chosen for their size and rustic appearance. the grotto was later blocked off but the remains of the circle of standing stones can still be seen. More rustic stones were used to build a cascade through which water could gush into 'the canal'. from the southern end of the canal, water tumbles over a flight of moulded steps and into the second pond, the overflow from which falls over a wriggle-worked cascade and into the third pond. The different levels of the canal and ponds give the effect of changes of scene within a short distance.

For over two centuries, since the death of Richardson the younger, the gardens and woods appear to have been virtually neglected. At least, they appear not to have been redesigned or altered by successive gardeners, except in the case of the "Cedars of Lebanon". Richardson the elder was the probably first person to grow these magnificent trees in the country or even the British Isles after being given some seeds in 1721 by Sir Hans Sloane, an eminent botanist. He tried unsuccessfully to raise them in the warmth of his new glasshouse but they did not thrive, so he replanted them in various parts of the grounds. Here they grew well and in 1850 several of the trees had to be felled because it was said that they were overshadowing the house. One tree survived and grew to a height of nearly 17 metres (54 feet) and measured 4.6 metres (15 feet) in circumference. Unfortunately, this tree was felled at Christmas 1907, although the stump (now over 280 years old) remains in the grounds.

More recently, planting has been carried out in the field alongside Rockhill Lane, and the area adjacent to the bottom pond has concentrated on those trees and shrubs that occur naturally in this part of the country to support the biodiveristy of the area.