Whirlow Brook Hall was built in 1906 (119 years ago) (1906) by Percy Fawcett, a director of Thomas Firth & Sons,[2] with an elevated terrace giving fine views over Ecclesall Woods to Abbeydale. A stone in the rockery inscribed 1867–1897 names their six children.[3] In 1920 the house was sold to his sister, Lily Marguerite 'Madge', who was married to Sir Walter Benton Jones, the son of a baronet and chairman/managing director of the United Steel Companies.[4] They were keen gardeners and working with the Royal Horticultural Society along with six staff developed the grounds to include a Japanese rock garden, rose garden, rockery, shrubberies, two ponds and a lake.[5]
Lady Jones died in 1938 and was buried in the grounds.[6] Sir Walter moved to the family seat at Irnham Hall, Lincolnshire. In 1946 the house along with 39 acres of grounds was sold to a consortium, which included the Town Trustees, the J.G. Graves Charitable Trust and Sheffield Corporation, for £15,000; the grave of Lady Jones was moved.[7] The grounds were opened to the public in 1951 as Whirlow Brook Park.
The house is now a venue for weddings, conferences and events.[8]
Whirlow Brook Hall
Whirlow Brook Park
The Shelter
The Shelter Cafe
A Friends of Whirlow Brook Park was set up in 2021 to help fund the restoration of the gardens[9] and a new shelter erected in the Commemorative Garden.[10] In the summer concerts are held in the park. A Tree Trail was opened in 2023.[11] The Shelter café and toilets opened in summer 2023.
