Thorp Green in danger

We read this alarming news on The York Press:

AN INDEPENDENT school's expansion plans have come under attack by
"horrified" local residents.

Harrogate Borough Council has received an application for 15 new buildings at Queen Ethelburga's College, at Thorpe Underwood, between York and Harrogate.
But parish councillors say they are "horrified at the sheer scale and extent" of the development, which they claim follows piecemeal development of the site over the years, including construction of a new equestrian centre. (...)
Parish clerk Zillah Hopps said an old country estate with great historical significance seemed to have been turned into a "major development area." (...)
A leaflet sent out by the group to hundreds of residents in the area claims that developments are continuing at an ever-increasing pace to the detriment of the area.
It said Thorpe Underwood Hall was a grade II star listed building and the Monks House was of historical importance to both the Church and the Bronte Society, some of the Brontes having lived there. (Mike Laycock)

Certainly, because Thorpe Underwood Hall is, as we read in the The Scarborough Connection:

(...) built in the early 1900s as a replacement for Thorp Green Hall which was destroyed by fire; though it does not quite stand on the same location. The original Hall stood adjacent to the left hand side of this building. Many of the beams from the old hall were used in the construction of this one. (...)

'The Monk's Lodge' (in the picture, source) , situated inside the Thorp Green Hall grounds. About 25 yards behind this, and over the boundary wall, is the 'Score Ray Lane/Moss Hill Lane/Thorp Green Lane junction' (which we viewed from a distance earlier). This is the building in which Branwell lodged during his time at Thorp Green. He would have walked along this path many times as he made his way to and from the main hall, where he would tutor the young Edmund Robinson (and, of course, engage in whatever other activities he got up to!). (Mick Armitage)

Categories: Brontëana, In the News