
Brantwood is a
historic house museum
A historic house museum is a house of historic significance that has been transformed into a museum. Historic furnishings may be displayed in a way that reflects their original placement and usage in a home. Historic house museums are held to a v ...
in
Cumbria
Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. ...
, England, overlooking
Coniston Water
Coniston Water in the English county of Cumbria is the third-largest lake in the Lake District by volume (after Windermere and Ullswater), and the fifth-largest by area. It is five miles long by half a mile wide (8 km by 800 m), ha ...
. It has been the home of a number of prominent people. The house and grounds are administered by a
charitable trust, the house being a museum dedicated to
John Ruskin
John Ruskin (8 February 1819 20 January 1900) was an English writer, philosopher, art critic and polymath of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as geology, architecture, myth, ornithology, literature, education, botany and po ...
, one of its final owners. Brantwood is recorded in the
National Heritage List for England
The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, a ...
as a designated Grade II*
listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...
, and buildings in the grounds are also listed.
History
''Brant'' is an old Norse word meaning "steep" and the house and grounds are situated on a steep wooded area overlooking the lake. Before the house was built the site was regarded as an "essential viewing point" for early visitors to the
Lake District in the 18th century. The original house was built at the end of the 18th century by Thomas Woodville and consisted of between 6 and 8 rooms. After a number of owners, the estate and house were enlarged around 1833. In the middle of the 19th century the resident was Josiah Hudson, father of
Charles Hudson who was an
Anglican priest
A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...
and an early
mountaineer
Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, an ...
.
In 1852 the resident was the
Victorian
Victorian or Victorians may refer to:
19th century
* Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign
** Victorian architecture
** Victorian house
** Victorian decorative arts
** Victorian fashion
** Victorian literature ...
wood engraver,
poet
A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wr ...
,
artist
An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, t ...
, book
illustrator
An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicat ...
and
social reformer
A reform movement or reformism is a type of social movement that aims to bring a social or also a political system closer to the community's ideal. A reform movement is distinguished from more radical social movements such as revolutionary m ...
William James Linton
William James Linton (December 7, 1812December 29, 1897) was an English-born American wood-engraver, landscape painter, political reformer and author of memoirs, novels, poetry and non-fiction.
Birth and early years
Born in Mile End, east Lon ...
who bought the house the following year. Between 1858 and 1864, while Linton was living in London, the house was let to
Gerald Massey
Gerald Massey (; 29 May 1828 – 29 October 1907) was an English poet and writer on Spiritualism and Ancient Egypt.
Early life
Massey was born near Tring, Hertfordshire in England to poor parents. When little more than a child, he was made t ...
,
poet
A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wr ...
and
Egyptologist
Egyptology (from ''Egypt'' and Greek , '' -logia''; ar, علم المصريات) is the study of ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, architecture and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end of its native religious ...
. Linton emigrated with his children to America in 1867. In 1869,
George William Kitchin
George William Kitchin (7 December 1827 – 13 October 1912) was the first Chancellor of the University of Durham, from the institution of the role in 1908 until his death in 1912. He was also the last Dean of Durham to govern the university.
E ...
, later Dean of
Durham Cathedral
The Cathedral Church of Christ, Blessed Mary the Virgin and St Cuthbert of Durham, commonly known as Durham Cathedral and home of the Shrine of St Cuthbert, is a cathedral in the city of Durham, County Durham, England. It is the seat of ...
, took up residence at Brantwood. In 1871 the house was sold to John Ruskin who it is claimed had never previously seen it. However, Kitchin and Ruskin were friends, having met at Oxford, so it is likely he may have had some prior knowledge of the property. Before Ruskin came to Brantwood in the following year, he arranged for repairs to the house, the addition of a
turret, the building of a lodge for his
valet
A valet or varlet is a male servant who serves as personal attendant to his employer. In the Middle Ages and Ancien Régime, valet de chambre was a role for junior courtiers and specialists such as artists in a royal court, but the term "val ...
and his family and for improvements to the garden.
For a short time during his stay at Brantwood, Ruskin held tutorial sessions, what would be called today as teaching seminars. These were held three times each week and each day a different subject was covered, namely Art, Literature and Sociology. His evening assistant when he was absent was a Richard Hosken who had been a former student.
When he was in residence, Ruskin filled the house with art, including paintings by
Gainsborough Gainsborough or Gainsboro may refer to:
Places
* Gainsborough, Ipswich, Suffolk, England
** Gainsborough Ward, Ipswich
* Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, a town in England
** Gainsborough (UK Parliament constituency)
* Gainsborough, New South Wales, ...
,
Turner
Turner may refer to:
People and fictional characters
*Turner (surname), a common surname, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name
*Turner (given name), a list of people with the given name
*One who uses a lathe for turnin ...
and the
Pre-Raphaelites
The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (later known as the Pre-Raphaelites) was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, Jam ...
and a collection of
mineral
In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid chemical compound with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. ...
s,
pottery
Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other ceramic materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. Major types include earthenware, stoneware and po ...
and
sea-shells. Ruskin was joined in the house by Arthur Severn, an artist married to Joan Agnew, his cousin and their growing family. A frequent visitor to the house was
William Gershom Collingwood, painter,
archaeologist and
translator
Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transla ...
of
Nordic saga
is a series of science fantasy role-playing video games by Square Enix. The series originated on the Game Boy in 1989 as the creation of Akitoshi Kawazu at Square. It has since continued across multiple platforms, from the Super NES to the Pl ...
s who lived nearby. In 1878, a new dining room was built at the south end of the house. A second storey was added around 1890 to provide additional rooms for the Severn family and a studio was built at the rear of the house for the use of Arthur Severn. During this time the estate was also extended.
Brantwood Trust
Following the death of Ruskin in 1900, the house and estate were inherited by the Severn family. In Ruskin's
will, the wish was expressed that the house should be open for 30 days a year for visitors to see his house and collection. However, the Severns did not honour this intention and they sold many of the better pictures. After the death of Arthur Severn in 1931, the remaining contents of the house were sold by auction.
Emily Warren
Emily Warren Schwartz (born August 25, 1992) is an American singer and songwriter signed to the label Prescription Songs. She is best known for the songs she has written for several high-profile pop artists, including Backstreet Boys, The Chai ...
, John Ruskin's last pupil, instigated a successful movement to have Brantwood made into a museum. The house was saved for the nation by John Howard Whitehouse, founder of
Bembridge School and of the Birmingham Ruskin Society, who bought the house. He established the Brantwood Trust in 1951 to care for the property for posterity.
House and grounds
The house is listed at Grade II*. The following rooms are open to the public. The
drawing room
A drawing room is a room in a house where visitors may be entertained, and an alternative name for a living room. The name is derived from the 16th-century terms withdrawing room and withdrawing chamber, which remained in use through the 17th cent ...
still includes Ruskin's
secretaire The secretaire en portefeuille is an antique desk form which is usually mounted on rollers at the end of four jutting legs. The legs in turn support what looks like an oversize vertically mounted wooden pizza box. This is a cabinet a few inches th ...
, bookcase and shell-cabinet. The
wallpaper
Wallpaper is a material used in interior decoration to decorate the interior walls of domestic and public buildings. It is usually sold in rolls and is applied onto a wall using wallpaper paste Adhesive flakes that are mixed with water to pro ...
is a copy of Ruskin's design and his drawing of the north porch of
St. Mark's, Venice, hangs above the shell-cabinet. Next door is the
study
Study or studies may refer to:
General
* Education
**Higher education
* Clinical trial
* Experiment
* Observational study
* Research
* Study skills, abilities and approaches applied to learning
Other
* Study (art), a drawing or series of drawin ...
where Ruskin worked which contains a painting by
Samuel Prout
Samuel Prout painted by John Jackson in 1831
Market Day by Samuel Prout
A View in Nuremberg by Samuel Prout
Utrecht Town Hall by Samuel Prout in 1841
Samuel Prout (; 17 September 1783 – 10 February 1852) was a British watercolourist, and ...
. The
dining room
A dining room is a room for consuming food. In modern times it is usually adjacent to the kitchen for convenience in serving, although in medieval times it was often on an entirely different floor level. Historically the dining room is furnish ...
, built in 1878, has views over to the Coniston mountains through its seven
lancet window
A lancet window is a tall, narrow window with a pointed arch at its top. It acquired the "lancet" name from its resemblance to a lance. Instances of this architectural element are typical of Gothic
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and ...
s. It contains a portrait of Ruskin aged 3 painted by
James Northcote
James Northcote (22 October 1746, in Plymouth – 13 July 1831, in London) was a British painter.
Life and work
Northcote was born in Plymouth, and was apprenticed to his father, Samuel Northcote, a watchmaker. In his spare time, he drew and ...
. The old dining room contains some early drawings by Ruskin. Upstairs in the turret is Ruskin's bedroom.
In the grounds are four more listed buildings. The lodge and former stable are listed at Grade II*. Listed at Grade II are the former coach house and stable, another outbuilding, and an
ice house. In the Linton Room in the Linton Building, there is a
lithophone
A lithophone is a musical instrument consisting of a rock or pieces of rock which are struck to produce musical notes. Notes may be sounded in combination (producing harmony) or in succession (melody). It is an idiophone comparable to instrumen ...
, called "The Musical Stones", which visitors may play.
The garden was used by Ruskin to experiment in various forms of cultivation and drainage and it contains a series of steep and winding paths. After his death, more ornamental shrubs and trees were planted. The area then became overgrown until it was rediscovered in the 1980s and it has been much restored since. The
estate
Estate or The Estate may refer to:
Law
* Estate (law), a term in common law for a person's property, entitlements and obligations
* Estates of the realm, a broad social category in the histories of certain countries.
** The Estates, representat ...
covers around and includes lakeshore,
pasture
Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep, or s ...
,
oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...
woods, and
moorland.
See also
*
Grade II* listed buildings in South Lakeland
*
Listed buildings in Coniston, Cumbria
*
Ruskin Museum
The Ruskin Museum is a small local museum in Coniston, Cumbria, northern England.
It was established in 1901 by W. G. Collingwood, an artist and antiquarian who had worked as secretary to art critic John Ruskin. The museum is both a memorial ...
, Coniston
References
;Citations
;Sources
*
*
External links
Official websiteThe Cumbria Directory – Brantwood
{{John Ruskin
1951 establishments in England
Museums established in 1951
Country houses in Cumbria
Historic house museums in Cumbria
Biographical museums in Cumbria
Art museums and galleries in Cumbria
Gardens in Cumbria
Grade II* listed houses in Cumbria
Tourist attractions in Cumbria
John Ruskin