Country House's I have worked at: Temple Newsam House

Temple Newsam House, Leeds, West Yorkshire

(photo credit: By Tim Green (Flickr: Temple Newsam) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons)

I began working at Temple Newsam House in August 2012 after I left Renishaw Hall and Gardens in Sheffield. I joined Leeds City Council who own and run the House as the Site Development Officer. It was a bit of a strange title and I described myself as Visitor Services Manager to friends and family as it explained better what I did. 

Basically it was my job to manage 30 members of staff, the house stewards, who worked in the shop, in the entrance hall selling tickets and generally stewarded around the House welcoming visitors and giving information. I ensured that the House was clean, safe and ready for visitors each day as well as helping to organise and run seasonal events, weddings, filming shoots and anything else that happened on a day to day business. 

(photo credit: RichTea [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons)

Now Temple Newsam is the largest country house that I have worked in which isn't still in private family hands. This meant that I could explore the House in it's entirety (not having to worry about stumbling upon a family or anything like that) and I loved being able to explore and wander it's corridors and rooms. 

The earliest parts of the House date back to 1500-1520 when Sir Philip Darcy first built a house by this name on the site. The site itself had existed for centuries before that as a templar settlement and anglo-saxon inhabitants also owned the land. But the house we see today is Tudor-Jacobean in style and period. The House originally was a four-sided courtyard house but the fourth wall was removed by a later owner so that the long drive which you can still walk up in the parkland could provide a more splendid approach to the House. 

The House has had a rocky history, being seized by the crown twice - once during the pilgrimage of grace in 1537 when Lord Darcy was arrested and executed and secondly in 1565 when Lord Darnley who was born at Temple Newsam married Mary Queen of Scots. After a rocky 16th century existence it passed into the hands of the Ingram family in 1622 and there followed 300 years of family history until in 1922 when the last surviving family member Edward Wood sold it to the Leeds Corporation, contents included for a nominal sum asking only that the House be preserved for future generations.

(photo credit: https://countryhousereader.wordpress.com/2011/03/06/temple-newsam-house-leeds/)

Since then the House has been an archive, museum and wartime hospital until it settled into its current role as a museum displaying the collection and engaging children and adults alike. 

The House has a reputation for being haunted and that is certainly something I can attest to - each new person who comes to work at Temple Newsam has what I call an 'initiation' to the House. Mine occurred one day not long after I started and I was walking down a corridor from the public area to my office. It is quite long and as I was walking I heard someone run up to me from behind - I turned expecting to see either a child running toward me from the public end of the corridor or a member of staff coming to get my attention, but as I turned I noticed the corridor was totally empty. It made my physically jump because I knew I had heard someone run to me. Not only that I had felt that feeling of when someone stands really close to you from behind. I checked the only room off the corridor which was totally empty and so I thought 'right, well at least that's answered that question!'

In my 9 months working there I had a few more paranormal experiences, none of which were very scary and whilst I do think it is definitely haunted, I don't think it is as haunted as some people like to say. 

In the end I left Temple Newsam because I wanted a new challenge, something where I could expand my skills and try something new, but I think back on the House itself very fondly and I feel very privileged that I had the opportunity to work there and to explore the House itself.

Research Trip to Dunham Massey, Cheshire

If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook, you may know that I have been recently contracted by Pen and Sword Books to write my first non-fiction book. It is currently titled Strong Despite the Skirts, but that may change. I am planning to write a full post about my book, explaining fully what it is about and why I am writing about this topic, but for now I will just summarise.

So the book is about women who ran country houses alongside their gentry husbands. People often think that female country house owners had it easy – they embroidered, met friends and occasionally did some charity work. Whilst there were some ladies who enjoyed doing just that, there were some women who took more of a hand in managing their vast country estates. They hired and fired staff, managed the financial accounts, designed and managed any architectural changes to the house, hand-raised a family as well as participating in all the social niceties expected by society.

So where does Dunham feature in all of this? Well, one of the women I am writing about is Catharine Cox, second wife of George Harry Grey, 7^th Earl of Stamford and Warrington who, among other estates, owned Dunham Massey in Cheshire. Catharine Cox was a circus performer who was famous in London for her acrobatic skills as well as her beauty. As may be expected, George Harry’s decision to marry Catharine caused huge ripples within ‘polite’ society which ended with the couple retreating to their Staffordshire estate, Enfield. I will be writing about Catharine’s story, her marriage and Dunham Massey and Enfield Estate.

I visited Dunham Massey recently with my Mum to research the story about Catharine and George Harry and was thrilled to see that Dunham’s current exhibition about the couple was still open. I have to say that having studied country house management and worked within country houses I was blown away by the exhibition. It was interactive, it included the collection in a way that made it accessible and it was suitable for all ages. There was a combination of sound, images and artist designed pieces and the interpretation panels introduced characters as actors in a play. Not only did I learn lots about Catharine and George Harry, I really enjoyed the process of learning. Well done National Trust, you’ve done a great job of making a country house enjoyable and exciting again!

Let’s talk more about the house and its collections – I loved how much of the house was open. Obviously because it is a national trust property, none of the house is used as a private residence and so more of it can be opened to the public. My favourite room was the Saloon which had a beautiful writing desk on it which my mum said ‘I bet you’d love to be in this room to write your book wouldn’t you?’ I was like ‘YES!’.

My least favourite room was the Green Silk Room which was Catharine’s room whilst she lived at Dunham. I didn’t feel like the room really told me anything about her and the pictures of her on the wall were slightly hidden so I couldn’t even see the pictures properly. The piece of art in the centre of the room was beautiful, depicting the boned structure of a gown with birds that were trapped inside like a cage, representing Catharine’s feelings whilst she was at Dunham.

But I would have liked to see and hear more about Catharine herself. Could they have done another vocal piece, where words she may have said to herself could be heard, things like ‘have I made the right decision?’, ‘oh how I miss my exciting London life and my sister’ etc.

Overall I loved visiting Dunham Massey and I definitely want to return and spend a whole day there - and after all the research I gathered I really can’t wait to start writing about Catharine and George Harry!

Columns and Country Houses - Telling the Difference

Have you ever noticed that a lot of country houses seem to have columns as some part of their decoration or structure? Well despite it seemingly feeling like all country houses have this architectural detail, it is only those of neo-classical design which use them – that is, houses that have used classical Greek architecture as their inspiration. This was particularly popular in the 18^th century when the manor house of the Elizabethan era fell out of popularity and owners wanted homes that were bigger and featured lighter rooms with large windows and an airy feel, although there was also a revival of the Greek style in the 19^th and 20^th centuries and even today columns may be used for architectural detailing on important or high status buildings.

There are three main types or ‘orders’ of column – doric, ionic and Corinthian . . . 

(photo credit: tribunesandtriumps.org)

. . . don’t worry, these names meant nothing to me too when I first started my masters but I am going to show you the difference so that next time you visit a country house with friends you can wow them with your column knowledge (embrace the inner geek!)

Doric:

It begins as you would expect with the simplest of columns. They will have some simple detailing at the top or ‘capital’ as it’s called where it meets a plinth or roofline but that is it. This detailing consists of plain rings, perhaps two or three which get slightly larger until it meets the plinth. In Greek architecture the main trunk was fluted but in more modern times the trunks have also become plain and round. The bottom can sometimes also have the same detailing as the top or if it is to be in keeping with the classical Greek style, it would be straight to the floor. They also widen as they go down the column, meaning the bottom will be larger than the top. These are often the largest of columns and in a country house setting these may be used for structural as well as aesthetic reasons to hold up the roof of a portico or entrance way.

Here is a really good example of doric columns at Chatsworth House's Entrance Gateway.

Photo Credit: By David Wilmot (daramot) (http///flickr.com/photos/david_wilmot/9578022/) [CC BY 2.0 (http///creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Ionic:

The middle column is as you would expect, somewhere between the simple and the flourished. This column will usually be fluted down the trunk but it is at the capital of the column where the difference can be seen the most. Here you will find scrolling detail, often making the top of the column appear square. The bottom of the column is usually finished with simple round detailing, showing how it straddles both styles. It is also straighter and doesn’t finish at the bottom as wide as a doric column.

At Houghton Hall in Norfolk, ionic columns are one of the main architectural features of this side of the Hall. Here the architect has added a plinth and pediment above in keeping with the neo-classical design.

Photo credit: By Hans A. Rosbach (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Corinthian:

This column is the most detailed and extravagant style and would be the most expensive to have as part of a classical Greek building or for use in a country house setting as a talented stonemason would be required to fashion the detailed stonework. Again, the main trunk of the column may be relatively simple, although it is uncommon to find a smooth trunk, most have the fluted lines; however again it is the capital of the column where the detail sets it apart from the others. There is no set design that one must use for the top of the column but the most popular seem to be leaves and small scroll designs. These are often very large and may be up to a metre high on top of the column. In some country house settings, architects have used Corinthian columns to detail the front exterior of the building. In these cases, the columns are there for an aesthetic reason rather than for structural purposes and so the columns may only be a half column – this is a little difficult to explain in words – imagine cutting an orange in half and then setting the open straight end against a wall; the result is an orange that looks as though it is stuck in the wall – this is the effect some architects used on country houses. The reason? It cuts down on cost (you only need to buy half the total number of columns) and also it means the face of the building can be flatter. Some architects also turned their columns into square’s rather than rounded, again so it could fit in with the design of the rest of the house.

Here at Castle Howard you can see they have used corinthian columns to make the stonework more detailed and impressive. This is also an example of what I mean about using one 'face' of the column for aesthetic reasons rather than requiring the whole thing for structural support. You can also see that the columns have been made square rather than round, again to fit in with the design of the house.

(photo credit: By Andrewburdett (Own work) [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons)

Some buildings even used all three column designs, although because they have a set order in terms of style and level of decoration, they always appear with doric on the bottom, ionic in the middle and Corinthian at the top. The most famous example is on the colesseum in rome:

However for an English contemporary version, this picture of the Banqueting House in London shows the use of ionic and corinthian columns. 

(photo credit: By en/User/ChrisO (Own work) [GFDL (http///www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http///creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons)

In classical Greek architecture these columns would have a series of plinths above and below to create order and symmetry in the design – however this hasn’t always been used in country house architecture and so for the purposes of keeping this post to a reasonable length I haven’t mentioned them, but if you are interested then a simple Google search will enable you to explore more.

So the next time you’re at a country house or stately home, keep an eye out for columns and see if you can work out which they are:

doric – simple

ionic – scrolls at top

Corinthian – detailed and fancy. . .