Work is proceeding on efforts to restore Ryelands House in Ryelands Park to use, thanks to the efforts of North Lancashire Community Land Trust in partnership with the Lancaster City Council, Friends of Ryelands Park and others. Now, the Trust is seeking memories from Lancastrians about how it was used after being bought by the Council in the 1930s, following the death of Lord Ashton.
As we previously reported, the House, once owned by Lord Ashton and a grade 2 listed building, is to reopen, and will slowly be brought back to life by North Lancashire Community Land Trust, aided by Lancaster Civic Vision. An agreement to lease the building has been agreed by the Council’s cabinet
Ryelands House has stood empty and boarded up since the NHS vacated it in 2023. Since then, it has suffered some vandalism and has deteriorated due to lack of heat and ventilation, and requires restoration before it can be reopened.
The Land Trust is committed to bring the building back in to community use, but are appealing for help with information and photographs of the building when it was used by different organisations after the Council bought it and Ryelands following the death of Lord Ashton, “The Lino King”. As
“To help develop our long-term scheme, we have been offered a small grant from the Architectural Heritage Fund, so have appointed a firm of architects to produce sketch options of possible layouts,” they say in a recent statement. “But a good bit of work is needed before they can do that.
“They first want to understand the ‘Significance’ of the building, and we would welcome everyone’s input for this.”
Ryelands House: A Short History
Located in Skerton, Ryelands House, built in 1833 for Mr Jonathan Dunn, twice mayor of Lancaster, and has been cited as the “Ryelands” featured in the novel, Daniel Deronda by George Eliot (the pen name of Mary Ann Evans), first published in eight installments from February to September 1876.
The house was built at a time when Lancashire completely dominated the world market in textiles, employing around five per cent of the English populace. This was a phenomenal accomplishment, and the county was hailed “a model of industrialisation”.
James Williamson bought the Ryelands estate, including the 1833 villa, Ryelands House, in 1874. In a pamphlet published by the Lancaster Archaeological and Historical Society, The Buildings of Sharpe, Paley and Austin in Lancaster by Colin Stansfield and Keith Walton, it’s noted it was probably designed by William Coulthart.
Williamson’s son, also James, later Lord Ashton, lived there with his family. In 1883, after his father’s death, James had Paley and Austin design extensions that doubled the size of the villa. These included a very good Classical extension, built to the north of the villa, stables and a “fine conservatory” (noted the Lancaster Gazette), now demolished. (Drawings survive). This helped make the area a “historic interest” building.
Ryelands became a public park after Ashton’s death in 1930, the City Council buying his property around Lancaster, selling on some areas and buildings, such as Dacrelands, and building the Ryelands Estate, described in an article on Municipal Dreams as “the cheapest to build of any of Lancaster’s interwar developments.”
In 2023, University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Trust withdrew clinical services from Ryelands House, including Children and Young People services and adult iMusculoskeletal (iMSK) and Pulmonary Rehabilitation services to ensure the health and safety of patients and colleagues.
The Lancaster Guardian noted elements of the listed building, such as a leaking roof and ornate plasterwork, no longer meet the Health and Safety and Infection Prevention requirements for clinical services.
Your Memories Wanted
“Can you help us understand more about the history of Ryelands House since 1930?” the team at North Lancashire Community Land Trust ask. “What was Ryelands House used for before the NHS moved in?
“Have you personal memories or photos? What does Ryelands House mean to you?
“Please do share your thoughts and knowledge with us.”
Send your memories and thoughts to this email address: contact@ryelandshouse.org.uk
• Check out the work of North Lancashire Community Land Trust here
• Ryelands House Project website (work in progress): ryelandshouse.org.uk
• Lancaster City Council: Lord Ashton – the Lino King
• Contextual Map for George Eliot’s Daniel Deronda: Ryelands