HOLMESFIELD BYGONES

This month’s image from the lens of W. “Harry” Hewitt of Dronfield is of the 17th Century Fanshawe Gate Hall, one of the great halls of Holmesfield. The addition of human interest, no doubt intrigued at the large glass plate camera that Hewitt would have lugged from his home off Snape Hill in Dronfield, enhances the rustic charm of the image presented here.

After 700 years of being in the Fanshawe family, Basil Fanshawe died in 1944 and the Hall passed out of the hands of the family. After becoming Grade II Listed in October 1951 it was purchased by John & Cynthia Ramsden in 1959 who restored the house and gardens to great acclaim. After John Ramsden died in 2016 the Hall enjoys life under fresh custodianship.