LOCATION, AREA, BOUNDARIES, LANDFORM, SETTING The Retreat occupies a site on the south-east side of York between the city and the village of Heslington. The approximately 11.7 hectare site is enclosed on the north, west and south sides by a high brick wall and partially by a brick wall topped by iron railings on the west side. The site is bounded to the north and north-east sides by Heslington Road. To the west and south it is bounded by Walmgate Stray. On the east side it is bounded by a linear strip of field, latterly owned by the Retreat, with a north-south footpath from the Stray on its east side. The University of York (west campus) is located close by on its south-east side.
The northern part of the site forms one of the highest points on the east side of the city. The land slopes down to the south, enabling views over the grounds and south boundary wall to Walmgate Stray and wider landscape beyond. An open, semi-rural character is maintained by York Cemetery to the west (a Grade II* registered park and garden), Walmgate Stray to the south (common land on which hereditary Freemen of the City have the right to graze cattle), and the landscaped campus of the University to the east. Samuel Tuke, William Tuke’s grandson, described the prospect as ‘extending, on the south, as far as the eye can reach, over a wooded, fertile plain; and terminating on the north and east, by the Hambleton Hills and the Wolds; which are seen, in some places, at the distance of about twenty-five miles’ (William Tuke, 1813). This remains the case.
ENTRANCES AND APPROACHES The Retreat is entered from a single original entrance (shown on the 1827 and 1828 plans) off Heslington Road on the north side. The drive enters at the east end of the principal building and splits to curve round and terminate in a carriage sweep in front of the main, north elevation of the building, and to lead round the east side of the building and head in a southerly direction down to the small farm complex and burial ground in the south-east corner. A later-C20 or early-C21 drive has been constructed off the original front drive to the former medical superintendent’s house (Lamel Beeches). It is flanked by tall, square brick piers with stone ball finials, as is the adjacent modern path running towards the main building.
A drive running north-south along the eastern boundary to the burial ground remains only as a green track flanked by mature trees.
PRINCIPAL BUILDINGS The Retreat (Grade II*) is built of orange-cream brick with Westmoreland slate roofs and has a symmetrical front elevation with a central, three-storey, five-bay block with a pyramidal roof, flanked by recessed, three-storey wings with double-pitched roofs. The original building (1793 to 1797) has many later extensions. On the north side there are two projecting two-storey corner wings. The north east wing has a recreation hall attached on the east side and modern, single-storey, flat-roofed extension projecting northwards towards the site entrance. Attached to the west side of the north-west wing is a three-storey nurses’ home designed in a Jacobethan style with its front elevation facing west. On the south side of the building a large, two-storey, L-shaped wing is attached to each corner. A long central passageway connects the main building to the single-storey lodge standing on the south side of a grassed area, originally the airing courts. Attached to the south-west corner of the south-west wing is a single-storey building which has been modernised. On the south side of the south-east wing is a large boiler house and a male nurses’ hostel of two storeys and an attic. Together these extensions almost fully enclose the area originally used as airing courts.
GARDENS AND PLEASURE GROUNDS The grounds directly in front of the principal building are lawned with a row of mature beeches and sweet chestnut, with other smaller trees, adjacent to the high brick boundary wall. A modern drive to Lamel Beeches (early C20) crosses the lawn. It is joined by a narrower curved drive off the carriage sweep in front of the main building, with a short strip of car parking on its north-eastern side. Between the two drives is a mature copper beech. A drive at the west end of the carriage sweep curves round the north end of the nurses’ home. It has a low wall of herringbone brickwork on its northern side, topped by a high beech hedge. The hedge then continues in a westerly direction to the brick boundary wall, separating the Retreat grounds from Lamel Beeches.
The grounds to the west of the principal buildings are laid to lawn with several mature deciduous and coniferous specimen trees and a rectangular summer house (Grade II) with bench seats to each side and a hipped spocketed roof on the north side. There is rougher grass around Lamel Hill, which is enclosed by a denser group of mature deciduous and coniferous trees. It retains two paths with stone steps running spirally to the top. On top is the concrete base for an octagonal summerhouse, now removed. Immediately south of Lamel Hill is a flat, rectangular lawned area enclosed on its west and south sides by the high brick boundary wall. On its east side is a smaller rectangular lawn enclosed by laurel hedges with a group of mature hawthorn trees on its south side. An asphalt path runs between it and the curved terrace on which the West Villa (1889) stands, which is also planted with a laurel hedge.
The triangular grounds east of the principal buildings are bounded on the eastern side by a high brick wall following the original route of Heslington Road, which curves towards the south-east here (this section of Heslington Road has been replaced for vehicular use by Thief Lane which continues in an easterly direction, although it remains a public right of way). At the south-east corner is the two-storey East Villa (1881), fronted by a triangular lawned area with mature deciduous and coniferous trees. An asphalted drive curves round between the villa and the lawned area to a wider, rectangular car park on the south side which opens onto the farm drive.
The airing courts are mostly lawned and sub-divided into smaller enclosed gardens by wooden fencing. There is a mature sycamore and sweet chestnut to the rear of the south-west wing. The lawn to the rear of the south-east wing is sub-divided by an east-west coniferous hedge with a ramp (originally steps) at the west end with low, brick retaining walls with stone coping and moulded end stones. There is a mature specimen tree in the lower garden.
The grounds immediately south of the principal buildings comprise a terrace, with a shaped, grassed retaining bank, which is lawned with an asphalt drive and circular area in front of the central doorway. A central flight of brick steps with low side walls lead down the bank, with a half-landing and a curved asphalt strip to each side for benches. Lower down the flight splits into two curved flights terminating either side of a small timber shelter (modern). The ground at the bottom of the steps is a large, lawned area, bounded on the west side by the original, tall brick boundary wall, on the south side by a beech hedge and the asphalted east-west walk off the farm drive, and on the west side by the asphalted farm drive and a band of mature deciduous trees, and the north-south range of farm buildings. Cut into the turf in front of the steps is a modern, circular grass maze.
South of the east-west walk are a number of sports facilities laid out in 1894 to 1895. Immediately south is a bowling green with a modern pavilion on its east side, a beech hedge and grass walk on its west side, the farm drive on its east side, and a grassed east-west walk on its south side. Beyond is the rectangular, croquet lawn with ramped edges on the north, east and west sides. To the south is a wider grassed area with a cricket pitch and a diagonally-set cricket pavilion on the north-west side with an adjacent mature copper beech tree. The cricket pavilion is timber with a half-hipped, tiled roof, with two changing rooms and an open-fronted central area with a bench to the rear. The cricket pitch is bounded on the south and west by the tall, brick boundary walls and a perimeter walk amongst a variety of species of mature deciduous and coniferous trees. West of the croquet lawn is a similarly sized rectangular area, bounded by the perimeter walk on its west side, a copper beech hedge on its south side, and a beech hedge and continuation of the grassed east-west walk on its north side. It is grassed with two asphalted tennis courts.
The farm drive runs north-south down to the burial ground in the south-east corner of the site. Approximately a third of the way down is the small brick-built farm complex. On the west side of the drive is a single-storey linear range of cow houses, a manure store, pigsties and a slaughter house, now converted for patient and staff use. At the south end is a two-storey cottage with a hipped slate roof and two ground-floor, timber, canted bay windows on the east side flanking the doorway. On the east side of the drive is a rectangular stables and coach house building (Grade II) aligned east-west with the front elevation facing south. It has full-height blind arcading to the walls. Attached to the south-east corner is a smaller coach house facing west. Adjoining the east gable wall of the arcaded stables and coach house is a small mortuary (Grade II). The front elevation faces east with paired doors and timber half-framing to the gable apex. To the south is single-storey, U-shaped shed range with a hipped slate roof and an open-sided lean-to with cast-iron columns along the length of the rear, north elevation. The west side has been converted for staff use.
Situated on the east side of the farm drive, opposite the bowling green, is a rectangular early C20 summer house with bench seats to each side and both ends and a hipped spocketed roof, similar in character to that near Lamel Hill. To its rear is a band of mature deciduous and coniferous trees of various species separating the recreational facilities from the field to the east. The north-south drive to the burial ground which runs along the original east boundary of the grounds remains as a green track in the field with a line of mature deciduous trees marking it out. At the south end is the rectangular burial ground (laid out in 1855) screened by a variety of mature deciduous and coniferous trees. The plain, round-headed grave stones are arranged in a grid with a small clump of mature trees in the centre of the burial ground. On the north side of the burial ground is a large, approximately oval, rockery of 1912 comprising large, unshaped rocks and sunken serpentine paths, now very overgrown and partially obscured by trees.
KITCHEN GARDEN The kitchen gardens lie on the west side of the grounds and date from 1882 when they replaced the original kitchen gardens to the direct south of the principal buildings. A large, approximately rectangular garden has the original west brick boundary wall on its east side and a hedge running parallel to the present west boundary wall on its west side. To the south is a beech hedge and the Bedford Pierce Memorial Rose Walk. Beyond the walk is a smaller rectangular garden enclosed by a beech hedge on its north, east and south sides. An asphalt path bisects the gardens north-south, with an avenue of cherry trees in the larger garden and an avenue of mature coniferous trees (and the stumps of four felled trees) in the smaller garden. In the south-east corner of the larger garden is a narrow row of lean-to brick garden sheds built against the original boundary wall. Built close to the north end of the sheds is a brick shed and boiler house with a mono-pitch roof and the brick base of a large glass house on its south side. The ground between the summer house and the terrace of West Villa is grassed with a number of mature trees, including copper beeches, particularly next to the original boundary wall. The ground on the west side of the bisecting path is grassed and planted with young fruit trees to form an orchard.
The Bedford Pierce Rose Walk has lawn and beech hedges on either side of the path with angled brick entrance gateways at each end.