A manor house at Wortley was rebuilt by Sir Richard Wortley in 1586. During the
English Civil War his son
Sir Francis Wortley, 1st Baronet, like his powerful ally
Sir Thomas Wentworth of
Wentworth Woodhouse, was a
Royalist and fought for
the King, allowing Wortley Hall to be used as a garrison for 150
dragoons. However, in 1644 Sir Francis was captured and imprisoned in the
Tower of London and on his release in 1649 obliged to
pay a heavy fine to recover his property. Wortley then eventually descended to an illegitimate daughter who married
Sidney Montagu, second son of
Edward Montagu, 1st Earl of Sandwich, . The Hall was significantly remodelled by
Giacomo Leoni in 1742–46 and the East Wing added in 1757–61 for
Sir Edward Wortley Montagu, MP and Ambassador to the
Ottoman Empire who died in 1761. The builder of this section was
John Platt of
Rotherham. Montagu left the Wortley Hall estate to his daughter
Mary. In 1735 she had eloped with
John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute, who later became prime minister. From her it passed in 1794 to their son, Colonel
James Archibald Stuart (1747–1818), who added the surname Wortley to his own and later also added Mackenzie. He left the estate to his son Colonel
James Archibald Stuart-Wortley-Mackenzie (1776–1845) who was one of the two MPs for
Yorkshire from 1818 to 1826, when he was created Baron Wharncliffe.
Edward Montagu-Stuart-Wortley-Mackenzie, 3rd Baron Wharncliffe, was created
Earl of Wharncliffe in 1876. The Hall was the seat of the Earls of Wharncliffe until the
Second World War, when it was used by the
British Army, after which its structural condition deteriorated. In 1950, a group of local trade union activists identified the hall as a possible educational and holiday centre, and established a
co-operative which succeeded in purchasing the hall for those purposes. It was formally opened on 5 May 1951. ==In popular culture==