Marnock in Nether Edge
John Baxendale of the Nether Edge History Society tells us about Marnock’s extensive work in this Sheffield suburb.
Although Marnock was only in Sheffield for a few years as designer and curator of the Botanical Gardens, his influence continued and he remained in much demand for designing private gardens and public spaces in the growing city long after he departed for London in 1839. While in Sheffield he became friends with the cutlery manufacturer George Wostenholm and when, in 1844, having grown wealthy from the American trade, Wostenholm built himself a country house at Sharrow which he called Kenwood, he brought in his friend Marnock to design the grounds. Although parts of his design have been lost to encroaching development, much of it is still intact as part of the Mercure Hotel.
The Kenwood Hotel, 2008. Copyright shown on image.
Marnock went on to design other gardens in the area for wealthy manufacturers, including Spring Leigh in Rundle Road, Oak Lodge on Kenwood Bank for the Tyzack family, and Kenwood Glen on Meadowbank Road. ‘Gardens designed by Mr Marnock’ became a recurring feature of estate agents’ adverts at the top end of the market.
Private gardens become changed, overgrown or built on, or just remain private. But Wostenholm didn’t just build himself a house, he also bought up much of the surrounding farmland for development as ‘gentlemen’s residences’ – with the aim of making a profit, but also to prevent undesirable development on his own doorstep. The Kenwood Park estate was launched in 1853 and Marnock advised on the layout of the new streets - spacious, winding and tree-lined, like the Boston suburbs Wostenholm had visited.
The original 1853 plan of Kenwood Park which shows the grounds of the house and the new streets. Supplied by the Nether Edge History Society.
Kenwood Park was much admired. In 1891 the Sheffield Independent praised the ‘delicately beautiful perspective’ of the roads and the ‘delicate perfume’ of the lime trees, and declared that if Wostenholm ’had done no other good work than that of laying out the roads in Kenwood Park he would still have deserved well of posterity’; Marnock deserves to share that credit. Unsurprisingly when Sheffield’s street trees came under threat in 2015, Kenwood Park was a main focus of resistance.
A postcard of Kenwood Park Road. Image supplied by the Nether Edge History Society.
When George Wostenholm died in 1876 he left Marnock, who came up from London for the funeral, the substantial sum of £3,000. Both men had done well out of Sheffield’s suburban development, but equally the legacy they left in Nether Edge did much to shape the character of the growing suburb.
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