History of The Homestead Estate

Some one hundred odd years ago the land that The Homestead Estate Limited now occupies was farmland being either pasture or arable with a stream running through it.  The site that The Homestead now occupies was divided into five parcels of land.

In 1906 Jonathan Peate of Guiseley purchased three parcels of land for £425 within the now-boundary of The Homestead Estate.  These three parcels of land were owned by the Exley family.  On an 1847 map, referred to as “Tithes in the Township of Menstone in the parish of Otley in the West Riding of the County of York”, the names of these parcels of land are Little Ings (1 acre 3 roods and 27 perches), Near White Lands (3a 3r 1p)  and Far White Lands (1a 3r 17p).  These three parcels of land are situated to the west and south of the stream running through the Estate with Little Ings being closest to where the railway track is now.  Far White Lands is immediately south of the stream where it has turned on a right angle course from Bridgland Avenue to exit the Estate on Carl Rayne Lane.  Near White Lands is between these two parcels.

An auction took place on Monday 16th March 1914 at The Hare & Hounds Hotel which, as at the date of writing, still exists but is no longer trading as planning permission is awaited on this land to develop it as retirement homes.  One of the auction’s aims was to sell off the parcels of land named Great Ings (known in the original Rule Book as Large Ings) and Rainy Croft, known together as Burley Road Field.  Today that is the area to the north and east of the stream that runs through the Estate.  These fields in the auction catalogue are stated as being an area of 10.681 acres.  The auction catalogue describes this area as a “plot of land situated close to the Railway Station and The Fox and Hounds Hotel. It adjoins an estate which at the present time is being laid out on the Garden City lines, and therefore has a particularly good prospective building value”.  The Fox and Hounds Hotel still exists today but is known as The Fox and is frequented by many of the Members of The Homestead. This land was sold for £760 to Jonathan Peate of Nunroyd House, Guiseley.

The original auction brochure is still held by the Society in its documents at the bank.

auction cover 1914

On 25th March 1920 Charles Walter Bridgland purchased from Jonathan Peate five parcels of land. Those parcels of land are called The Little Ings, the Near White Lands, Far Hall Stead, Rainy Croft and Great Ings. At some point in time between 1906 and 1920 the name of one parcel of land must have changed from Far White Lands to Far Hall Stead as the land measurement for both is exactly the same.  Charles Bridgland paid £3,000 for the land that the Estate now sits on.

The Homestead Estate, Menston in 1922

Photo courtesy of www.highroydshospital.com

In the original Rule Book of 1923 there is only mention of “closes of land known as Large Ings, Rainy Croft, Little Ings and Near Whitelands”, however it goes on to state “containing 17 Acres or thereabouts”.

By calculating the sum of the areas of the original five parcels of land it would appear that all are within the current boundaries of the Estate.

The original Rule Book consisted of 33 pages, each page measuring 10.5cm (just over four inches) by 6.5cm (just over two and a half inches) and is dated 12th March 1923.  A few Members do have this original Rule Book in their procession.  This was not updated until 1964 with the same description of the land being used.

There is also reference in older deeds/indentures to the inclusion of “the moiety of an occupation road dividing the said close on the north-west”.  A blue print map held by the Society at its bank shows “OCUPATION ROAD”.  This is today’s Carl Rayne Lane.  The length of the roadway which is part of the parcel of land called Great Ings is immediately in front of Carl Rayne House.

In 1920 a meeting was held in Menston village where the decision was taken to purchase land to develop a housing estate.  It would appear that this consortium was lead by Charles Walter Bridgland and was composed of building tradesmen.  Some of the names mentioned are Fred Atkinson, William Christain (plumber) and Albert Watson (joiner), Harry Riding (surveyor) who apparently built the first five or six houses.  These gentlemen were all also early Members at the first AGM of The Homestead Estate Limited on 10th May 1923.  The aim was to sell off plots of land which had been divided up into building plots in order that the purchaser may individually design their own dwelling.  A Committee was formed to carry this task out.

Land Tax Map 1922

Charles Bridgland, who lived in the village, granted The Homestead Estate Limited a mortgage on the five parcels of land that he had purchased which were within the boundaries of today’s Estate. The Society made its final payment to Charles Walter Bridgland to pay off the mortgage on 6th December 1929.  That payment amounted to £51.15s.1d.

The original plot layout for The Homestead Estate was approved by the then local planning department on 24th March 1921.  That plot layout on the Estate is the same as today.

At the end of 1922 it was realised by the Committee that the Society should be registered under the Industrial & Provident Societies Act 1893 due to it handling monies.  The Society was formally registered on 12th March 1923.

Vintage photo of Chevin Avenue, The Homestead

Updated: January 2019

This short history has been compiled using the documents of The Homestead Estate Limited held at their bank for safe keeping.  We would like to thank Fiona, Sarah and Richard of the West Yorkshire Archive Service, Bradford for their assistance and guidance, and for producing interesting documents pertaining to the Estate.

Regrettably, it is the case that many documents have been lost/discarded over the years, although the Society does still possess its AGM Minutes from its inception. If you have any interesting information, be that factual, social history or photos regarding The Homestead Estate we would very much like to hear from you. Please contact the Secretary.

Hopefully, as time goes by, we will be able to add to the history page of this website as and when more information is acquired.