Notre Dame & St Maries schools occupy the sites of Oakbrook and Oakbrook Farm. Oakbrook was built in 1850 for Mark Firth, steel manufacturer and philanthropist. The house was variously used as a convalescent home during World War 1, a convent and latterly a school. As new buildings have been built the area has been given the character of a school rather than a 'reused villa'. Legibility is partial as the gardens have been reduced in size but much remains of a mid Victorian landscaped garden. Prior to the house the area consisted of fields with regular edges indicative of parliamentary enclosure. The origin of the moorland landscape is uncertain though this area is likely to be moorland by the Roman period (see Bevan 2003 for discussion of environmental evidence).