Benjamin Gott. The rise of this pioneering Leeds Industrialist was meteoric. At the age of 30 he built the world's woollen mill. Vast in scale, its 1000 workers made superfine cloth, army cloth and blankets exported worldwide. Using his wealth to buy this estate, he had its grounds landscaped by Humphry Repton. The house whose remodelling in neo-Grecian style is attributed to Sir Robert Smirke, was filled with paintings, sculpture and books. 1762- 1840