The grounds of a villa, developed mainly in the 1870s/80s, but modified in the mid C20.
HISTORIC DEVELOPMENT
Thwaite House was built 1803-7 for John Hentig, a wealthy merchant who had purchased the land in 1801, and his formal arrangement of gardens north of the house is shown on the Tithe map of Cottingham dated 1839. The map shows that by this date the basic outline of the site had been established, with shelter belts planted along the northern and eastern boundaries and the west half of the southern boundary.
The estate was bought in 1872 by David Wilson, who in 1875 sold on to his brother Charles, later Lord Nunburnholme. Charles enlarged the house and developed the grounds. Around 1880, the house was sold to Albert Rollitt, then again in 1901 to Col Goddard. It was bought by the University College of Hull in 1928, and during the Second World War was occupied by the army who erected a number of temporary buildings in the grounds. An additional University building, Thwaite Hall, accompanied by new landscaping, was constructed in 1948-50 to the north of the House and the surroundings partly developed as a Botanic Garden.
DESCRIPTION
LOCATION, AREA, BOUNDARIES, LANDFORM, SETTING Thwaite Hall lies on the north-west outskirts of Hull in Cottingham, once a separate village popular with wealthy Hull residents, now a suburb of the city. The site extends north from Thwaite Street, with New Village Road forming the east boundary, the northern half of the landscape extending as a rectangular area westwards almost to the railway line and being bounded on the north side by housing.
ENTRANCES AND APPROACHES The entrance to the site is the short drive off Thwaite Street, the eastern part of which forms the southern boundary of the site.
PRINCIPAL BUILDING Thwaite House stands set back from Thwaite Street and was a modest early C19 country residence until it was purchased in 1875 by Charles Wilson who greatly extended and updated it to become a two-storey brick and tile mansion with large servants quarters to the north. Following its purchase by the University of Hull in 1928, the name of the house was changed to Thwaite Hall and it became a university hall of residence. Despite adding an extension in 1935, the buildings required further substantial extensions during the late 1940s which were located on the site of the C19 kitchen garden, immediately to the north-east and attached to the north wing of the old Thwaite House.
GARDENS AND PLEASURE GROUNDS The main feature within the grounds is a long narrow fishpond, running from west to east through the centre of the northern half of the site. This was formed as part of Charles Wilson¿s improvements, from an earlier drainage ditch which followed a similar line. Paths lead from the House north to the lake and along its southern shore. The open paddocks to the north of the water were planted up as woodland in 1965. The extensions to the House, and the incorporation by the university of the gardens of `Southlands¿ (formerly `Southfield'), the property adjoining the original Thwaite House to the west, have meant that the areas immediately round the House have been reworked (mid and late C20). This applies particularly to the ground to the north of Thwaite Hall, built on the site of the kitchen garden to the north-east, and the area of glass to the north-west, the greenhouses having been demolished. Other features of the mid C19 landscaping which have also gone include a fountain, summerhouse, boathouse and footbridges. In the mid C20, a rockery was constructed near to the lake, and tennis courts were added on the paddock south-west of the water in 1949¿50. This area is also now used by the University Botanic Garden.
KITCHEN GARDEN Now the site of Thwaite Hall.
REFERENCES Thwaite Hall Gardens, Cottingham: their history and status, report for the University of Hull (Atkins Sheppard Fidler and Associates 1988) Cottingham Local History Society Journal 10 pt 2, (1989) Arboricultural Journal 16, (1992), pp 133-40
Maps Tithe map of Cottingham, 1839 (East Yorkshire Record Office)
OS 6" to 1 mile: 1st edition published 1888 3rd edition published 1928
Description written: January 2000 Register Inspector: EMP Edited: April 2000