Elvaston Castle

Elvaston Castle late 19th century

Elvaston Castle is a country house in the village of Elvaston in the English county of Derbyshire . The neo-Gothic house is surrounded by a landscaped park. The property is owned by Derbyshire County Council , which operates it as part of a landscaped park called Elvaston Castle Country Park . The landscape park with 81 hectares contains light forest, parkland and formal gardens.

The most important building on the property is Elvaston Castle, the English Heritage as historical building II *. Degree. The country house has been neglected and is in ruins; Due to its condition, the house is not open to the public and has been listed in the Heritage-at-Risk register since 2008 . Derbyshire County Council estimates that the labor and materials needed to make essential repairs to the country house and landscaped park will be at least £ 6.1 million and a 7% increase if the building is to be opened to the public or sold in repair.

history

Elvaston Castle today

Until the 16th century the property belonged to the Shelford Priory . After the dissolution of the English monasteries , the Crown sold the priory and its lands to Sir Michael Stanhope of Rampton in Nottinghamshire in 1538 . Sir John Stanhope († 1611) bequeathed the estate to his second son, Sir John Stanhope († 1638), the High Sheriff of Derbyshire in 1629.

The latter had the country house built in 1633. This Elizabethan house was rebuilt and expanded in the Gothic Revival style by James Wyatt in the early 19th century for Charles Stanhope, 3rd Earl of Harrington . Wyatt designed a new wing, great hall, and most of the home's interior fittings, but died before the work was finished. His plans were implemented by the architect Robert Walker between 1815 and 1829.

Further changes were made in 1836 by architect Lewis Nockalls Cottingham . This work included redesigning the south facade in the Elizabethan style so that it was in harmony with the neo-Gothic style of the rest of the house.

This was the final remodeling and created the country house we can see today.

In World War II Elvaston Castle served as a Teacher Training College after it from its original home in Derby had been evacuated.

The teachers' college left the house in 1947 and after that it remained empty for the next two decades. It continued to deteriorate, a condition that continues to this day.

The gardens

Detail of a painting by William Barron in the Derby Museum

The 3rd Earl turned to Humphry Repton to redesign the manor's park, but Repton turned it down because the property seemed too flat and he found it daunting.

In 1830, Charles Stanhope, 4th Earl of Harrington , commissioned the hitherto inexperienced landscaper William Barron to redesign the gardens. The fourth earl caused a scandal by marrying an actress 17 years his junior: Maria Foote . Maria and Charles were described as "inseparable and infatuated". The Earl wanted the gardens as a “private and closed oasis of great beauty” for himself and the love of his life. Barron spent the next 20 years working on the gardens. He even had full-grown trees planted in an attempt to give the earl instant gratification.

The 4th Earl and his wife valued their garden for the romantic seclusion it afforded them, but after the death of their only son at the age of 4, the couple locked themselves in the country house, never left it and forbade anyone to do so To enter property. Some sources even claim that the earl kept the seclusion and forbade his wife to leave.

After the 4th Earl's death in 1851, his brother, Leicester Stanhope, 5th Earl of Harrington , opened the gardens to the public. They became known as "a Gothic paradise" and are listed as a historical park of the 2nd degree.

The property contains over 50 buildings including stables, dog houses, an enclosed garden, a working farm, various small farmhouses, torloggias, an ice house, and a boathouse.

Landscape park

Under the Countryside Act 1968 , William Stanhope, 11th Earl of Harrington , sold the property to Derbyshire County Council . The Countryside Act 1968 proposed the creation of a landscape park so "the public could enjoy the landscape". The council opened the property to the public in 1970 and has since operated it as Elvaston Castle Country Park .

1969 Elvaston Castle served as a filming location for the film Women in Love by Ken Russell based on the novel by DH Lawrence .

today

The country house today

There is a risk that the landscape park will be closed.

The decline of the cottage and estate that began after World War II continued under the aegis of Derbyshire County Council . In 1990 the country house was deemed unsafe and it was closed to the public. The Derbyshire County Council indicates that it could not afford to restore the building and the landscape park and preserve. For the year 2000 the council put the maintenance costs of the landscape park at £ 500,000 per year, and also that clearing the renovation backlog for gardens and houses would cost £ 3 million.

The council has been offering the property for sale to private companies since 2000. The latest proposal aims to convert the country house into a hotel and the landscaped park into a golf course. This meets tough opposition at The Friends of Elvaston Castle for the commune.

The £ 3m repairs that would have been needed in 2000 were not carried out. The continued lack of funding from Derbyshire County Council has resulted in the decline of the cottage and landscaped park. The country house is in need of extensive restoration work and is not open to the public. The property has been listed in the Heritage-at-Risk register since 2008 .

The Derbyshire County Council announces Finding that there "an ever-advancing backlog of maintenance work and outstanding repair work". The repair costs have increased even further. The Council estimated in November 2010 that the property would now require £ 6.422 million in labor and materials to carry out the most necessary repairs. (This estimate includes 7.5% for other and unforeseen things, but nothing for work, design and furnishings that are not absolutely necessary).

Ghosts

Some people think that the country house is haunted by ghosts: a lot of professional research has been carried out there, revealing phenomena such as inexplicable noises, inexplicable appearances, people being pushed and objects being moved. The spirits are said to be a girl and "a strong woman".

Two ghosts named The Gray Woman and The White Woman are said to be up to mischief in the country house . The white woman is said to be the ghost of Mary, the wife of the 4th Earl. She has been seen sitting in the windows of the country house and walking around the property with a white dog.