Where did Vermuyden Live whilst the drainage works were going on?
Several places have claimed to be the residence of Cornelius Vermuyden during his work on the draining of the Isle of Axholme & Hatfield Chase.
There do not appear to be any contemporary sources providing details on where Cornelius Vermuyden lived whilst working in the area. Most sources are secondary and written a significant time after the event.
This post attempts to describe the various locations that have been described as being the residence of Cornelius Vermuyden.
Old Hall, Thorne
Old Yorkshire by William Smith printed in 1881 states;
Another noted building- there was known as the Old Hall. This was pulled down in 1860. ‘ It was a gabled, hip-roofed, roomy place, built partly of brick and partly of stone, with a low ornamental porch.” Over this porch were the arms of Edward Stere, a resident of Thorne, with the initials E.S., and date, 1573. Tradition says that Vermuyden resided in this house for some time, when his great drainage scheme was being carried out. This old place saw many vicissitudes before it went finally to decay. First, it was the home of a squire, then it became the lodging-house of enterprising Dutchmen, afterwards it was used as a temporary domicile for the inmates of the old poor house, until the present Union Workhouse was built, then it was transformed into a beer house, with the sign of the ” Blazing-Stump ; ” then it was given up to the poor people who used it as a residence, until it went to decay, and was pulled down.
Old Yorkshire / Edited by William Smith ; with an introduction by the Rev. Robert Collyer.
Smith, William, F.S.A.S.; Collyer, Robert, 1823-1912.
1881-91
In Vernon Cory’s book “Hatfield & Axholme, an historical review”(P57), he states that he is said to have lived at one time in Thorne. The note quotes Tomlinson, J. (1882), quoting Mr Gossip, stating that Old Hall, Thorne was Vermuyden’s ‘temporary home’. Thorne
John Tomlinson’s book “The Level of Hatfield Chase and parts adjacent” states,
“Tradition says that here [Old Hall, Thorne] Vermuyden resided some time, while his great work of drainage was in operation. But we must not forget that his chief residence was on the Levels, a large farm-house which is now standing.”
Sandtoft Hall
Sir Cornelius Vermuyden built a noble house, according to the fashion of those days. It was stud-bound (and I have heard all the woodwork was framed in Holland). It was a great pile of a building, with a square court in the middle of it, with barns, stables, graineries, &c., to the northeast and west, and the south front was the dwelling-house. These buildings are still standing, but the dwelling-house almost new built of brick and tyle by . . . . Harvey, esq., of …. , in Bedfordshire, the present owner.
Sir Matthew Vanvalkenburgh also built a good house upon the banks of the Don, in this Levil, which was lately the estate of Sr John Boynton, then of Boynton Boynton, esq., who left it to two daughters.
Stovin, George. “Extracts from the Stovin Manuscript.” In The Yorkshire Archaeological and Topographical Journal, Vol. VII, edited by Charles Jackson, 145–152. Leeds: Yorkshire Archaeological Society, 1882.
Stovin does not explicitly state that this was at Sandtoft, but that appears to be the assumption. Although he could be referring to Crowtrees Hall, which is near Sandtoft, this is unlikely, as he goes on to describe the house built by the Vanvakenbughs on the banks of the Don in the level that De La Pryme stated was Crowtrees Hall.
Sandtoft Hall appears to have been known as Grove House or Sandtotoft Grove in the past.
From: Hatfield Chase History & Natural History including the Isle of Axholme, Bryan Wainwright, Natural England, 2022-25 https://www.birdingsiteguide.com/index.php/other-items/86-annual-reports-papers/806-hatfield-chase-history-natural-history
The house that Vermuyden had built (early 1600s) and lived in, just off the present High Levels Bank road from Tudworth towards Sandtoft. Now a farmhouse.
Kelfield
There is no solid evidence that Sir Cornelius Vermuyden lived at Kelfield; his work brought Dutch settlers and Dutch‑style buildings to the area, but the surviving Dutch‑style house in Kelfield dates from 1689, after Vermuyden’s death, and standard biographies record him as dying in London in 1677.
Crowtrees Hall
Vernon Cory states in his book that Cornelius Vermuyden built a house in the Dutch Style at Crowtrees Hall, close to Sandtoft, although he is said to have lived at one time in Thorne. The Crowtrees house was at first of timber, but it was later reconstructed in brick & tile.
Cory, Vernon. Hatfield and Axholme: An Historical Review. Ely: Providence Press, 1985.
At least one book on duck decoys by Sir Ralph Payne-Gallwey, published in 1886, stated that Vermuyden had died at Crowtrees Hall.
“Before the drainage of the marsh lands adjacent to Thorne, at Hatfield and Goole Moors, by Sir Cornelius Vermuyden, of drainage fame, who having spent £200,000 in doing so, died in poverty at Crowtrees, near Thorne, the district abounded in wildfowl of every description”
This is extremely unlikely as stated above he died in London and by the mid 1630s he had sold his properties and estates in Hatfield Chase.
Payne‑Gallwey, Ralph, Sir. The Book of Duck Decoys: Their Construction, Management, and History. London: J. Van Voorst, 1886.
In his paper “Sir Cornelius Vermuyden and the Dovegang Lead Mine” F. N. Fisher states;
During the early part of the work there is evidence that Vermuyden lived at Sandtoft and the house, now a farmhouse, “Crowtrees”, is still standing. How long he lived there is not known but a limit of. 1628 may be set, as on June 15th that year his son Thomas was baptised at St. Dionis Backchurch. We also read that John Molanus was agent to the participants in 1628 so it may be that he, Vermuyden, left affairs much in his hands as he later did in the Wirksworth lead mines.
Fisher, F. N. “Sir Cornelius Vermuyden and the Dovegang Lead Mines.” Journal of the Derbyshire Archaeological and Natural History Society 72 (1952): 74–118.
According to Abraham de la Pryme in his diary, his father Mathius moved to Crowtrees Hall in 1680. “In 1680 he removed to Crowtrees Hall, a large house on Hatfield Chase, built by Valkenburg, and died in 1694.”
De la Pryme, Abraham. The Diary of Abraham De la Pryme, the Yorkshire Antiquary. Edited by Charles Jackson. Durham: Published for the Surtees Society by Andrews & Co., 1870.
The latter includes Vermuyden’s own farm at Crowtrees, south east of Thorne.
Miller, Keith. The Isle of Axholme: Historic Landscape Characterisation Project. Report commissioned by the Countryside Commission. November 1997.
Hatfield Manor
In July 1628, Vermuyden bought the Manors of Hatfield, Fishlake, Thorne, Stainforth and Dowsthorpe from the King for the sum of £10,000 at a yearly rent of £195 3s 2d from King Charles in 1628.
