Denison Family Seats
The history of Ossington can be traced back to the middle ages, when it belonged to the Knights Hospitaller of St. John of Jerusalem. The estate passed to the Duke of Suffolk, Richard Andrews and then to Edmund Cartwright. A Tudor house was built by the Cartwright family in around 1580.
Engraving of Ossington House, Nottinghamshire, 1676
It was damaged in the Civil War, and in 1729 George Cartwright rebuilt Ossington Hall in the Palladian style, possibly using the architect James Gibbs (1687-1754). The Hall and its estate was sold by the four daughters and co-heiresses of George Cartwright to William Denison of Leeds in 1768.
A new church and mausoleum at Ossington, designed by John Carr (1723-1787), were completed in 1786.
Work on Ossington Hall by William Lindley (c.1739-1818) was mainly undertaken from 1788 to 1790, and 1805 to 1806, during which time the house was extended, the kitchen facilities improved, and plans drawn up for stables and a coachhouse.
Further work was carried out in 1839, when the entrance was moved to the east front and a new drawing room erected to designs by John Evelyn Denison. Interior decoration was completed in 1842, and plate glass windows installed in 1856.
No further alterations were made after this time. The Hall was used by the R.A.F. during the Second World War, and was demolished in 1963.
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