The wall of silence around the Groucho Club's Yorkshire move

Surrounded by sprawling acres of green land and offbeat pieces of modern art, a grand 18th Century country house stands isolated, fenced off and empty.

Grade II-listed Bretton Hall, located within the vast grounds of the Yorkshire Sculpture Park in Wakefield, was a teacher training college specialising in arts, music and drama for more than five decades until the turn of the millennium.

After a brief spell under the stewardship of the University of Leeds, Bretton Hall closed in 2007. The building, which was initially built in 1720 by the Wentworth family, who owned the estate, has been mothballed for the last 19 years.

Two years ago this month, the site looked like it would finally be granted a new lease of life when the Groucho Club - the world-famous private members' club - announced it would be converted into the brand's first premises outside London.

The Soho-based celebrity haunt boasts Sir Stephen Fry, Rachel Weisz and Noel Gallagher among its thousands of members.

Metal fencing currently surrounds Bretton Hall and there is no sign of any work to convert it into the 40-bed hotel and luxury venue that was originally said to be opening before the end of this year.

The BBC and Local Democracy Reporting Service have spent several months repeatedly requesting interviews from the major players involved, including the Groucho Club and developers Rushbond, without success.

In a brief statement, the Groucho Club said its "priority" was "making sure Groucho Bretton brings to life our vision for this amazing site", adding: "We will be sure to share any key updates when we are able."

Rushbond said it was continuing to work on "bringing the opportunity forward" with ArtFarm, which runs the Groucho Club after buying it in 2022.

However, planning permission to convert Bretton Hall into a hotel is thought to have expired, having been granted in 2022 - two years before the Groucho Club was announced as the operator.

Both parties were asked to confirm if this was the case, whether they intended to reapply for planning permission and whether the development was still on track to be completed this year.

The Groucho Club said it "could not confirm further detail on timelines or planning matters at this stage". Rushbond did not respond.

Wakefield Council, which took over ownership of the building after the University of Leeds ceased running it, said it wanted to see Rushbond and ArtFarm move forward with the plans "as soon as possible".

The issue was raised at a full council meeting this week by opposition Conservative councillor Nadeem Ahmed, who asked if the scheme was still happening or if the promise had been "empty words".

Deputy council leader Jack Hemingway replied that the project was not part of his portfolio, but added: "I'm very happy to seek an update for you on where things stand with that."

The wall of silence is in stark contrast to the fanfare generated by those responsible when the move was first announced in 2024.

"Why wouldn't we want to go to the north of England?" then-ArtFarm CEO Ewan Venters told The Guardian the same week.

Venters stepped down from the firm six months later and the Groucho Club's brief statement given to the BBC are the first public words it has uttered about the plan since.

Wakefield Civic Society treasurer Alison Sykes, who attended Bretton Hall as a student between 1967 and 1970, said the situation was "very sad".

"From time to time I go along to the Sculpture Park with my grandchildren and you can't get very close to Bretton Hall," she said.

"It's all cordoned off with fences. What you can see looks very derelict.

"It's a magnificent hall and there are so many things it could be. The longer it's left the worse it will become."

Sykes spent the first two of her three years at the college living on campus and said its quaint surroundings and close-knit community made it an enjoyable place to learn.

The artworks would not be installed on the site until the late 1970s, when the Yorkshire Sculpture Park opened to the public, although Sykes believed those plans were "on the drawing board" at the time she went.

She said: "It was an excellent experience. It was a beautiful place to be and it was a good college.

"You could spend ages wandering around the grounds. There was a lovely atmosphere and it was very friendly."

Sykes said the Civic Society had initially been pleased when Rushbond became involved with the site just over a decade ago, because of its reputation as a developer of luxury hotels.

The concept of a top-tier hotel at Bretton Hall was first given the go-ahead in 2014 and three years later some of the old campus buildings around the hall itself were demolished.

Renewed plans were then given the green light in 2020, but a year later, the developer blamed the Covid pandemic for its failure to develop the scheme.

Sykes acknowledged the venture was a "gamble" and a "huge undertaking" from a developer's point of view.

But the more time passes without a substantial update, the greater the frustration and the cynicism among those wanting to see Bretton Hall given a much-needed facelift.

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