Raynham Hall
Raynham Hall is a country house in Norfolk , United Kingdom . It has been the seat of the Townshend family for 300 years. The property was named after the surrounding area known as The Raynhams . The house is reported to be haunted and this is where probably the most famous ghost photo of all time was taken of the Brown Lady descending the stairs of Raynham Hall. The most prominent resident was Charles Townshend, 2nd Viscount Townshend (1674–1738), who directed British foreign policy for a decade. The building has been a Grade I listed building since November 30, 1951 . Raynham Hall is now owned by Charles Townshend, 8th Marquess Townshend.
Architectural style
Raynham Hall is considered one of the finest Norfolk mansions. Construction began in 1619 by Sir Roger Townshend and was the first of its kind in England in style. Perhaps due to the three-year Grand Tour through Europe that Sir Roger had undertaken, Raynham Hall was built in a completely new style at the time, in which the local tradition was abandoned and planned according to the Italian model. Raynham could therefore easily be mistaken for a house that was built almost a century later.
Extensions
Construction on Raynham Hall began in 1619 and there is evidence that it was designed by Inigo Jones . Later extensions and interiors were designed by William Kent . Charles Townshend commissioned him to design the north wing of Raynham and the interior. William Kent was later one of the architects of the nearby Holkham Hall . Many of Kent's works can be seen in Raynham, notably the intricately carved chimneys, mosaic paintings and decorated doors. The beautiful ceiling in the marble hall with the motif of Lord Townshend's coat of arms is impressive.
painting
Many beautiful portraits still adorn Kent's magnificent rooms in Raynham. Next to his black and white marble mantelpiece in the Princess' Room hangs a painting, which is presumably a preliminary drawing for Anthony van Dyck's portrait "Children of Charles I." There were many more paintings in Raynham by 1904, including several family portraits by Kneller and Reynolds . The most valuable was "Belisarius" by Salvator Rosa , which was a gift from Friedrich Wilhelm , King of Prussia to the 2nd Viscount Townshend. Its value was estimated at £ 5,000 in 1804, but a hundred years later it had been sold for £ 273.
The current owner of Raynham Hall is Charles Townshend, 8th Marquess Townshend.
Legend
In 1713, Charles Townshend married Robert Walpole's beautiful sister, Dorothy. She was his second wife and it was rumored that she had previously been the mistress of Lord Wharton, “whose character is so notorious and his compliant subservience to women so notorious that no young woman could spend twenty-four hours under the same roof with him without him certainly to lose their reputation ”. Legend has it that when Townshend discovered that his wife had committed adultery with Lord Wharton, he locked her in her apartment at the Raynham Hall family estate as a punishment and she was never allowed to see their children again.
Lady Townshend was buried in 1726. But according to tradition, she did not die that year and the funeral was a fake. Instead, she was rumored to have been locked in the house by her husband. That is why the ghost of “Dolly” Townshend, the “little brown lady Raynham”, is still at her favorite spot on the oak stairs of the house at dusk.
Web links
- Raynham Hall, Article from Women's Illustrated 1952
- The Brown Lady of Raynham Hall
- The Ghosts of Raynham Hall
Individual evidence
Coordinates: 52 ° 47 ′ 47.6 " N , 0 ° 47 ′ 24.8" E