This Grade II listed building was built between 1770 and 1775 for John Bayldon and was called originally Sunroyd House or possibly Little Thornes House, because the design is similar to Thornes House in Wakefield. In 1790, the house was conveyed to John Carr, lawyer, the nephew of John Carr the architect, who was born in Horbury in 1723. Carr bought Sunroyd House in 1789 and renamed it “Carr Lodge”. The mansion was originally a private house within landscaped gardens including a historic walled garden.
Horbury Urban District Council (HUDC) bought the property and its lands from Colonel John William Robinson Parker C.B. of Browsholme Hall, Clitheroe for £5,500 in 1936 with a condition that the house be left intact during Col. Parker’s lifetime and the 28-acre grounds were turned into a public park. Some of the old farm buildings were demolished and a Development Committee was formed to raise money to provide amenities for the new park. These included park benches, which then only cost £1.90 each and a children’s paddling pool. Donors of park shelters included Mr. Alfred R. Briggs, of Grange Villa, Horbury; Mr. Edwin Poppleton, of Jenkin House, Horbury and the Horbury Industrial Co-operative Society. Mr. H. Andrassy promised a hand gate and stone pillars to be erected at the Stannard Well Lane corner.