THE 300 year occupancy of the stately home Cannon Hall by the Spencer-Stanhope family came to an abrupt halt in 1951 when it was sold along with the 150-acre parkland to Barnsley Council.

Mrs Fraser Spencer-Stanhope made the sale for £15,750 - equivalent to around £450,000 today - because of death duties and taxation. Before the sale, all the house's splendid contents had already been sold.

The hall, which had 50 rooms, was intended to provide 28 flats for the local authority. Its park, sloping down from the hall to the stream known as the Lesser Dearne, measured 150 acres. The council had received the formal consent of the Ministry of Local Government and Planning to borrow £3,200 repayable in 30 years to purchase the hall, and £7,550 repayable in 60 years for the purchase of the park lands.

At a subsequent meeting of Barnsley Town Council, the acquisition of this important property brought no comment from members on either side of the chamber. Barnsley Corporation acquired Cannon Hall, in the face of stiff competition from several influential sources. Sheffield Regional Hospital Board wanted the hall to serve as a hospital.

But the plans to convert the historic building into flats never came to fruition - because they were turned down by the Ministry of Housing. In 1954, art lovers and conservationists probably breathed a sigh of relief when Mayor of Barnsley Alderman A. E. McVie, speaking at the annual exhibition of the Barnsley and District Art Society, proudly announced Barnsley Corporation had decided to convert Cannon Hall into an Art Gallery and Museum.

The Mayor said that the council were encouraged to buy Cannon Hall as the result of the successful scheme of converting Wentworth Castle, Stainborough, another local mansion, into a teacher training college Cannon Hall, with its gardens and acres of unspoilt, well-wooded parkland was opened to the public in 1957.

Today, Cannon Hall houses an astounding mix of paintings, metalwork, ceramics, glassware and furniture collections. The museum's collections are displayed in exhibition galleries and its historic rooms and touring exhibitions are regularly featured.

These are just a few of the many fascinating details about the hall and its history featured in The Yorkshire Country House, a tour through the county's grandest homes by Peter Tuffrey and just published by Great Northern Books.