Middleton Woods #4: Hentzen's Hideaway
This is the 4th of a short series of 5 caches hidden in these beautiful ancient indigenous 45.8 hectare broadleaf woodlands just north of Ilkley. They join several existing caches providing additional incentive (if needed!) to visit this special place.
To Reach the Cache:
Park @ or near N 53 55.955 W 1 48.881 adjacent to Ilkley Suspension bridge and make your way into the woods where you will find myriad trails enabling you to make your way around easily.
See Gallery for a map of the woods with trails, parking spots, and caches.
Arthur Hentzen was born in Hattingen, Germany on 20-2-1875, the younger son of a wealthy family, who like many younger sons had to make their own way in the world, as the eldest son would inherit the family business.
Mr Hentzen came to England and made his fortune in Bradford’s burgeoning wool industry, founding Arthur Hentzen and Company Limited, wool top makers.
He lived in Ilkley and had a ‘Shrine of Rest’ built in the southwest corner of Coppy wood which he once owned. He presented a a total of 28 acres of Ilkley woodland, including Coppy Wood and Stubham Wood, to the local community, to commemorate the coronation of King George VI in 1937. He died suddenly at the Kuhrhotel, Bad Neuenahr, Germany on 28-12-1949. The newspaper announcement of his death states that he was of 'Gilstead', Myddleton, Ilkley.
The shrine, located @ N 53 56.054 W1 49.694 may be approached by a short detour from the location of this cache or by following a public path from the top of Gill Bank Road @ N 53 56.148 W 1 49.771 (there is a stile to the left of a locked gate which leads to a public footpath in Jack Clay’s field) which leads into Middleton Woods from the corner of the field @ N 53 56.135 W 1 49.733. It is located near to Santos L Helper's cache GC5610V Rip van Winkle II some 185m SW of this cache.
The mausoleum is partly obscured by trees and undergrowth and is approached via a steep path up to a plateau. It is impressive and well constructed in an art-deco style. There is a substantial, locked, wooden entrance door which is ornately carved and complemented by black hardware. There are a number of obscured glass windows in reasonable condition, except some seem to have had attempts to seal them with expanding foam.
It is not being looked after and is overrun by brambles and other woody weeds, which would not take too 
much effort to clear.
On the black, iron entrance gates are two sets of initials: AH is Arthur Hentzen and EA is Ellen Adams, Hentzen’s housekeeper at ‘Gilstead' (House) his residence in Middleton (see also below). Ellen died on the 24-12-36 with effects valued at £16,625 18s 7d which were left to Arthur Hentzen. Ellen Adams was the owner of ‘Gilstead’ and its associated cottages at the time of her death, therefore she was a woman of quite some means and probably more than a ‘housekeeper’.
The mausoleum was dedicated to the glory of God by the Rev J Gunn Sutherland of Belgrave, Leeds on July the 10th 1937.
In a 10/1/2010 Ilkley Gazette article relating to house prices in Gilstead Way, a local resident recalls being evacuated to Gilstead when Bradford was threatened with bombing raids during the World War II, having the elegant home and beautiful grounds largely to herself. Hentzen was godfather to her father Norman Gutbrod.
She didn't know the origins of Gilstead House, but experienced the grandeur of Hentzen’s Ilkley home . . . 'I remember the oak panelling. It was beautifully furnished, and I remember Mrs Vollas, the housekeeper, was a wonderful cook . . . and the lake in the grounds, with a beautiful pergola. The lake had a figure of a bronze crane, and I was fascinated, as a child, with the lift in the house'.
As well as the housekeeper, there was a butler and a head gardener who had 8 gardeners working under him, helping to maintain the substantial grounds. There was also a chauffeur, who drove the luxury Studebaker and Buick. Another memorable feature was the stately looking Alsatian guard dog.
During the war itself, says she recalls Hentzen went to Switzerland, where he lived in a hotel.
After he died, his ashes were placed in a remote small chapel in Wharfedale. Norman [the 'Shrine of Rest]. Gutbrod was one of the executors of his estate.
The house itself was later converted into apartments, and its grounds were sold and the houses of today's Gilstead Way were built there.