Lanhydrock House
Lanhydrock House ( Cornish Lannhydrek ) is a manor house near the English town of Bodmin in Cornwall . It is nearly 13 kilometers from the south coast of Cornwall away in the wooded valley of the River Fowey , in the midst of a 367-hectare estate, which up to 130 meters height increases.
Lanhydrock House is surrounded by an attractive formal garden and landscaped park . The adjacent hill is planted with selected trees and shrubs. Many parts of the current house are of Victorian origin, but some are more than 200 years older, dating from around 1620.
history
Lanhydrock was a monastic farm owned by the Priory of St Petroc in Bodmin until 1539 . After the monasteries were dissolved under Henry VIII , the neighboring Glynn family acquired the estate in 1543. By marriage it later passed to the Lyttelton family, also by marriage in 1577 to the Trenance family.
In 1621 Richard Robartes, a merchant and moneylender from Truro, bought the estate and began building Lanhydrock House. Under him, today's north wing of the mansion was built from gray granite . Richard Robartes, who had risen to Baronet of Truro in 1621 and Baron Robartes in 1625 , lived on Lanhydrock as early as 1626 . His son, John Robartes, 2nd Baron Robartes , inherited from his father in 1634. John Robartes, 2nd Baron Robartes, who later became 1st Earl of Radnor , was chairman of the Cornish Parliamentary Party (" Cornish Parliamentary Party ") in the British House of Lords at that time . For representation purposes, he had Lanhydrock House extended by three more wings to form a square around an inner courtyard and the gatehouse was built. The architectural style of the house corresponded to other country estates in the area such as Penheale House in Egloskerry or Trewan near St Columb Major .
In detail, John Robartes had an entrance added to his father's house from 1634, which today leads to the shop area and above which the inscription "1636: ILR: L" (for "1636: John Lord Robartes: Lanhydrock") is attached. The construction work on the west wing lasted from 1636 to 1640; the south wing dates from 1642. The expansion measures ended in 1651 with the construction of the gatehouse, which was originally intended as a hunting lodge. John Robartes had retired to Cornwall in the 1650s, the reign of Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell , where in 1664 he received permission to fence a 340 hectare game park . There have been deer in Lanhydrock Park since 1657 . After reestablishment of royal rule in 1660, John Robartes was elevated to the Privy Council ( Privy Council ) under Charles II , in 1661 Lord Seal Keeper , an office he held until 1673, and in 1679 Earl of Radnor and Lord President of the Council. In 1684 he resigned from all offices.
John Robartes' heirs, Charles Robartes, 2nd Earl of Radnor (1660–1723), and Henry Robartes, 3rd Earl of Radnor (1695–1741), preferred other places of residence to Lanhydrock, so that the traveler John Loveday the Elder ( 1711–1789), philologist and antiquarian , in 1736 found an “extremely dilapidated and absolutely unfurnished” house. Both Robartes, like John Robartes, were buried in the family crypt on Lanhydrock. The antique collector and naturalist William Borlase wrote about Lanhydrock in 1758 that "everything in the house is neglected and dilapidated". The great-granddaughter of John Robartes and heiress of Lanhydrock, Mary Vere Robartes († 1758), had previously considered demolishing the house. But her eldest son George Hunt (around 1720–1798) had only parts of the building such as the house chapel and the east wing demolished until 1788, which resulted in the current U-shaped building scheme of Lanhydrock House. He had the facade painted red in order to match the house with the fashionable brickwork and redesigned the interior with Chippendale tables and Axminster carpets, among other things .
George Hunt bequeathed Lanhydrock to his niece Anna Maria Hunt (1771–1861) in 1798. As early as 1788 she had taken over the manor house and the scattered lands. She was supported by her administrators William and Alfred Jenkins. Anna Maria Hunt married the London lawyer Charles Bagenal-Agar (1769-1811), whose marriage resulted in three sons, only Thomas James (1808-1882) did not die in childhood. During the time of Anna Maria Hunt, who was often at Lanhydrock, roller blinds and stoves were installed in the gallery to protect the pictures .
On the advice of his mother, Thomas James Agar took over the appointment and the coat of arms of Robartes in 1822 and was ennobled as 1st Baron Robartes in 1869 . After he came of age in 1829, he took on part of the responsibility for Lanhydrock. In 1858 the architect George Gilbert Scott (1811–1878) was commissioned to restore Lanhydrock House. Scott assigned this task to his first assistant Richard Coad (1825-1900). The repairs to the house, which lasted from 1857 to 1864, were expected to cost £ 1,407, 4 shillings and 6 pence. In addition to the repairs, the brewery was converted into a billiard room, glass panes were inserted in the windows, a new coach house was built and new gardens were laid out according to plans by George Truefitt (1824–1902).
On April 4, 1881, a major fire destroyed the south wing and part of the west wing of Lanhydrock House. At around 1 p.m., an exposed wooden beam in the kitchen chimney caught fire. The collapse of the west wing roof led to the loss of the historic stucco ceiling. Only the north wing with its 29 meter long long gallery from the 17th century and the front portal remained intact. Lord and Lady Robartes, Juliana Pole-Carew (1812-1881), who had been married to Thomas James since 1839, were unharmed. Her son Thomas Charles Agar-Robartes (1844–1930), who arrived from London on April 5th, telegraphed his wife Mary, née Dickinson (1853–1921), on the same day: “Gallery saved. Not quite as bad as feared. "
After his mother died just a few days after the major fire, Thomas Charles had the Lanhydrock manor house rebuilt. The outer and inner walls of the destroyed parts of the building had withstood the fire. The now independent architect Richard Coad was commissioned to renovate the house, who enlisted the Scottish architect James MacLaren (1853–1890) from Glasgow as his assistant for the reconstruction of the interior . The tender for the construction work was won by Thomas Lang & Sons from Liskeard , and the estimate was £ 19,406. While Coad took care of the exterior work and technical matters, MacLaren designed the aestheticism- style dining room , the Elizabethan teak staircase and the rococo fireplace in the prayer room.
With the cost of the repairs far exceeding the budget, which eventually came to £ 73,000, tension arose between the client and the chief architect. Thomas Charles, 2nd Baron Robartes after the death of his father Thomas James in 1882, questioned Richard Coad's payments of £ 10,000 for hot water, stained glass and fireproof ceilings. There were also differences between Coad and MacLaren in 1884. As a result, Lady Robartes commissioned the renovation of the small church next to the house in 1886 to be awarded to George Vialls , not Richard Coad.
In 1885 the Agar-Robartes family moved back into the house. Together with his wife Mary, the 2nd Baron Robartes had ten children between 1879 and 1895, only one of whom died in infancy in 1884. Due to the lack of male offspring in the Agar family, Thomas Charles inherited the title Viscount Clifden in 1899 from Leopold Agar-Ellis (1829-1899), the 5th Viscount Clifden. The nine remaining children of Agar-Robartes grew up on Lanhydrock. The eldest son, Thomas Charles Reginald Agar-Robartes (1880-1915), called Tommy, was active in politics, where he was supported by the Liberal Party . He died of a gunshot wound in the First World War in 1915 in the Battle of Loos and Hulluch (part of the autumn battle of La Bassée and Arras ), in which he participated as captain of the 1st Battalion Coldstream Guards ( infantry ). As the second eldest son of Thomas Charles, Francis Gerald Agar-Robartes (1883-1966) inherited the titles Lord Robartes and Viscount Clifden and the Lanhydrock estate in 1930.
Francis Gerald, the 7th Viscount Clifden, remained childless, as did six of his siblings. The only granddaughter of Thomas Charles Agar-Robartes, the 6th Viscount Clifden, was Rachel, daughter of Arthur Victor Agar-Robartes (1887–1974), who lived in Africa after the Second World War . With the death of Arthur Victor in 1974, from 1966 the 8th Viscount Clifden, this title expired. As early as the 1920s, the uncertain future of agriculture led the family to sell large tracts of land. In 1953, Francis Gerald Agar-Robartes decided to transfer Lanhydrock House and 160 hectares of land to the National Trust . Oliver Sylvain Baliol Brett (1881-1963), 3rd Viscount Esher and chairman of the National Trust Historic Building Committee, described the house in 1953 as "incidental" compared to the surrounding landscape.
Francis Gerald Agar-Robartes lived with his two unmarried sisters Everilda (1880-1969) and Violet (1888-1965) until their respective deaths on Lanhydrock. The first six rooms of the house were opened to the public as early as 1954. The number of visitors has now increased from 85,000 annually in the mid-1980s to more than 200,000 visitors twenty years later.
St Hydroc's Church
To the northwest of the mansion is a small church, Lanhydrock Parish Church, the parish church of Lanhydrock. It dates from the middle of the 15th century and is dedicated to Saint Hydroc (Sanctus Ydroc), who has been the patron saint of the church since 1478. The structure may contain parts of an older church or chapel in the same location. Until 1539 the church of Lanhydrock belonged to the priory of Bodmin.
St Hydroc's Church consists of a main nave , two side aisles added around 1620 and a three-tiered tower. Under the pew at the eastern end of the south side is the crypt of the Robartes family. It was used from 1626 to 1741 for the burial of the Robartes family, the Carminow family, the clergyman Walter Snell, and two loyal servants.
After 1808 the oak benches in the interior were replaced with pine benches. A pulpit was installed on the north side . Between 1886 and 1888 was extended for the purpose of relocation of services from the pulpit of the sanctuary and the sacristy . A floor mosaic of marble was moved and a white alabaster carved altarpiece inserted.
Lanhydrock Gardens
Fifty years after the construction of Lanhydrock House, the first geometric garden was laid out next to the house in 1690 and is first mentioned in the Lanhydrock Atlas from 1694 to 1697. The garden consisted of a lawn for bowling or ball games, the bowling green , a flower garden, which was bordered by a path along the tree line, a pheasantry , a kitchen garden, a pear and orchard and a natural garden adjoining the north side of the house. or wild garden. With the demolition of the east wing of the house by George Hunt in 1780, this garden was also removed, so that the park area extended to the building.
Around 1860, a perennial garden was created above the house, the "upper garden" or "high garden". After 1858, Richard Coad created a new geometric garden on the east and north side of Lanhydrock House, which can still be visited today, based on plans by the architect George Truefitt, which he had designed from 1854. It is surrounded by low crenellated parapets and obelisks in the style of the house. Truefitt provided water features, terraces, gravel paths and a promenade to the gatehouse for Lanhydrock, which Coad added to his own ideas, such as the granite steps leading to the church and seating. Around 1933, the Victorian bedding was simplified and the first magnolias were planted .
Lanhydrock Gardens today consists of several areas that are separated from each other to different degrees. In the inner courtyard or forecourt of Lanhydrock House there is a circular lawn area delimited by a gravel path. Evergreen magnolias (Magnolia grandiflora) and, in July and August, blooming hydrangea plants of the Schizophragma integrifolium variety are on the walls of the house next to the path . To the east in the direction of the gatehouse is the "Geometric Garden", which is dominated by 23 trimmed pillars (Taxus baccata 'Fastigiata') . Rose beds have been laid out between them and are mainly planted with the varieties 'Octavia Hill', 'Bright Smile', 'Escapade', 'Wheelhorse Classic' and 'Margaret Merril'.
In the north of the geometric garden, and behind the low north wall outside the actual garden, there is a planted open area that was previously used as a croquet and tennis court . The tennis court took up the eastern side of the open space. In addition to some bushes, such as Gwillimia (Magnolia delavayi) , there are two copper beeches and a younger cork oak . The copper beeches were planted by prominent figures, the larger in 1889 by former British Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone , and the smaller in 1905 by Archibald Philip Primrose , 5th Earl of Rosebery . On the former croquet lawn adjoining to the west are rhododendrons of the varieties 'Mother of Pearl', 'Hugh Koster' and 'Pink Pearl'.
To the north-west of the geometric garden, north of the Lanhydrock House building, the garden area merges into the “ground floor”. Here, in spring and summer, various flowers are planted within box hedges , which are laid out in a complicated pattern on a flat surface. To the south and east of it, there are six pillar panes with the same section as the trees in the geometric garden. One step up on the terrace in the direction of the small church, the flower borders are set as a pattern directly into the lawn.
Both areas, the difference in height of which is not a meter, each have a bronze urn as a center. These urns, some of which also adorn the geometric garden, are acquisitions by Francis Gerald Agar-Robartes, the 7th Viscount Clifden, from the collection of Lord Hertford in the Parisian Château de Bagatelle . They were created by Louis XIV's goldsmith Louis Ballin. The “Parterre” is limited to the west by the surrounding wall, in which two passages are left open. Next to the manor house you can reach the church of St Hydroc via a staircase. Below the wall is a raised bed with ornamental lilies - hybrids of the 'Headbourne' variety, fuchsias and clematis .
The path to the Hochgarten crosses the church path, which runs in north-south direction, next to the Japanese maple (variety 'Sango-kaku') and deciduous hybrids of the western azalea . Various camellia varieties, rhododendrons ( Rhododendron arboreum var. Roseum ) and star magnolia hybrids ( Magnolia kobus × loebneri 'Leonard Messel' ) are planted directly in front of the church, and a tree-like Magnolia hypoleuca (obovata) in the corner of the churchyard . The northern section of the church path is flanked by a few hydrangeas , behind them Magnolia campbellii 'Charles Raffill' , Rhododendron fictolacteum and Rhododendron rex .
The entrance to the high garden is marked by an arched gate covered by a Magnolia kobus × loebneri 'Leonard Messel' . The garden area behind the gate was planted from 1933 by the 7th Viscount Clifden with various types of magnolias, which today reach a height of up to 25 meters. The Borlase stream (“Bach von Borlase”) flows through the high garden and ensures the water supply for Lanhydrock House. Candelabra primroses , astelia , arum , record sheet and kirengeshoma thrive in and on it .
In the north of the high garden you get to the “Staudenkreis” via the “magnolia clearing”. This has only formed a full circle since 1972, after the ruins of a greenhouse and a shed on the northern half were demolished. Lady Clifden had designed the southern semicircle before 1914. The perennials planted here bloom from the end of summer until autumn. After the destructive storm of 1979, oaks and sweet chestnuts were planted on the northwest corner of the high garden to protect the garden .
Others
Lanhydrock was the main location for the 1996 film Twelfth Night, or What You Will . Directed by Trevor Nunn , the main actress was Helena Bonham Carter as Olivia. The house and garden also served as the location for the Rosamunde Pilcher film adaptations Cliffs of Love (1999) and In Doubt for Love (2009).
Individual evidence
- ↑ The Lanhydrock Garden. A short introduction , p. 2.
- ↑ Lanhydrock House and Gardens , accessed September 7, 2012.
- ↑ Lanhydrock , National Trust, pp. 46/47.
- ↑ Lanhydrock , National Trust, pp. 5/47.
- ↑ Lanhydrock , National Trust, pp. 48/49.
- ↑ Lanhydrock , National Trust, pp. 50/51.
- ↑ Lanhydrock , National Trust, pp. 51/52.
- ↑ Lanhydrock , National Trust, pp. 52/53.
- ↑ Lanhydrock , National Trust, p. 55.
- ↑ Lanhydrock , National Trust, pp. 38/39.
- ↑ a b The garden of Lanhydrock. A short introduction , p. 3.
- ↑ Lanhydrock , National Trust, p. 40.
- ↑ a b Lanhydrock , National Trust, p. 41.
- ↑ The Lanhydrock Garden. A short introduction , p. 5.
- ↑ The Lanhydrock Garden. A short introduction , p. 4.
- ↑ The Lanhydrock Garden. A Brief Introduction , pp. 5–8.
- ↑ The Lanhydrock Garden. A short introduction , p. 8.
- ↑ The Lanhydrock Garden. A short introduction , p. 10.
- ↑ Pilcher filming locations: Lanhydrock House. Retrieved February 23, 2013 .
literature
- Paul Holden: Lanhydrock, Cornwall . The History Press, 2007, ISBN 978-1843593232 .
- Lanhydrock National Trust, Heelis, ISBN 978-1-84359-368-3 .
- Lanhydrock's garden. A little introduction . The National Trust, 2007, ISBN 978-1-84359-330-0 .
Web links
Coordinates: 50 ° 26 '27.4 " N , 4 ° 41' 50.9" W.