History
A brief history of St Catherine’s House
Delve into our past, discover our origins
Have you ever wondered about the history of one of Balby’s most iconic buildings, St Catherines House?
It all started back in 1827 with a large house built for George Banks, a wealthy cloth merchant from Hunslet in Leeds, born in 1777. George took a keen interest in Leeds and was elected Mayor in 1818. The house was built of grey stone to a Neo Gothic style, it was surrounded by parklands and well laid out gardens, containing many fine trees including Walnut and Beech trees.
The house featured a courtyard, a stable block and a walled garden, used to grow vegetables for the house. Notable architectural features included a ‘Porte Cochere’, the entrance porch which provided passengers leaving their horse-drawn carriages with protection from the weather, a large entrance hall with vaulted ceiling, tall niches with ornate tracery and a gallery staircase, which at the top of the stairs can still be found the Banks family coat on arms, bearing the motto ‘Suave Raison’ (follow reason).
George Banks never married but he did have an illegitimate daughter by Elizabeth King, Georgiana was born in 1829, shortly after her Baptism George adopted her and she was brought her up jointly with his sister, Elizabeth Goodman Banks, upon George’s death in 1843 the estate passed to his sister Elizabeth Goodman Banks, Elizabeth died in 1853.
In 1848 Georgina married the Vicar of Loversall, the Reverend Robert John Sharpe, who had actually baptised her back in 1832. Jon Sharpe changed his name to Banks so the estate would keep the name of Banks. The family left in 1866 but in 1905 the family returned. The house became difficult to run and in 1928 the house and estate were sold.
In 1930 it was acquired by the South YorkshireJoint Hospital Board and in 1931 the site was chosen as a mental health institution, The formation of the NHS in 1948 saw a reclassification of patients and eventually in 1959, patients were no longer ‘committed’ but ‘admitted’. St Catherines House served as as a hospital until 1998.
Today it has become a centre of community well-being, a positive place to help people flourish and enjoy their lives.