Rydal Hall is a large detached house on the outskirts of the village of
Rydal,
Cumbria
Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...
, in the English
Lake District
The Lake District, also known as ''the Lakes'' or ''Lakeland'', is a mountainous region and National parks of the United Kingdom, national park in Cumbria, North West England. It is famous for its landscape, including its lakes, coast, and mou ...
. It has an early nineteenth-century front facade, but includes some earlier fabric.
The hall is
Grade II* listed
In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...
on 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, ...
and its gardens are listed Grade II* on the
Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.
The terraces to the south of the hall and the barns and stables to the north and east are listed Grade II*.
The
summerhouse, game larder, and
ice house in the grounds of the hall are all individually Grade II* listed.
The bridge over Rydal Beck is listed Grade II*.
History
The house was built as the country seat of the
Le Fleming baronets, and was sold with its gardens to the
Diocese of Carlisle
In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop.
History
In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...
in 1970. The estate remained in the ownership of the Le Fleming family as of 1997. The house plays host to retreats, conferences and courses, and holiday accommodation. There is also the Old School Room Tea Shop, located on the "
Coffin Route" footpath, which leads to
Grasmere.
Gardens
The gardens are open to the public. In the mid-17th century, Sir Daniel Fleming (1633–1701) developed the landscape as an early
Picturesque garden incorporating Rydal Beck and its natural waterfalls. 'The Grot' (a summerhouse designed for viewing a waterfall) became a major attraction for a succession of visiting artists and writers in the 18th and 19th century.
The
formal garden
A formal garden is a garden with a clear structure, geometric shapes and in most cases a symmetrical layout. Its origin goes back to the gardens which are located in the desert areas of Western Asia and are protected by walls. The style of a form ...
s in front of the house were designed in 1909 by the garden designer and landscape architect
Thomas Hayton Mawson
Thomas Hayton Mawson (5 May 1861 – 14 November 1933), known as T. H. Mawson, was a British garden designer, landscape architect, and town planner.
Personal life
Mawson was born in Nether Wyresdale, Lancashire, and left school at age 12. ...
(1861–1933).
Rydal Hall Gardens
/ref> Mawson's Italianate terraces are listed Grade II*.[ These formal gardens were restored in 2005-7 by Tom Attwood. A community vegetable garden was created at the same time.][Mawson Gardens Rydal HallHeritage and History](_blank)
The gardens and Wordsworth
"The Grot" at Rydal Falls is described in William Wordsworth
William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poetry, Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romanticism, Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication ''Lyrical Balla ...
's early poem, "An Evening Walk", published in 1793.
The poet moved to Rydal Mount
Rydal Mount is a house in the small village of Rydal, Cumbria, Rydal, near Ambleside in the English Lake District. It is best known as the home of the poet William Wordsworth from 1813 to his death in 1850. It is currently operated as a writer' ...
, near Rydal Hall, in 1813 and it remained his home to his death in 1850. Towards the end of the poet's life his nephew Christopher Wordsworth
Christopher Wordsworth (30 October 180720 March 1885) was an English intellectual and a bishop of the Church of England.
Life
Wordsworth was born in London, the youngest son of Christopher Wordsworth (divine), Christopher Wordsworth, Master ...
went with him to "The Grot". The following is a description of their walk together from Rydal Mount.
Rydal Hall participates annually in "Wordsworth's Daffodil Legacy", an initiative of the National Gardens Scheme
The National Garden Scheme opens privately owned gardens in England, Northern Ireland, Wales, and the Channel Islands on selected dates for charity. It was founded in 1927 with the aim of "opening gardens of quality, character and interest to th ...
, as does the National Trust property Dora's Field.
See also
* Grade II* listed buildings in Westmorland and Furness
There are over 20,000 Grade II* listed buildings in England. This page is a list of these buildings in the district of Westmorland and Furness in Cumbria.
It is split by the three former districts which make up the unitary authority area, the B ...
* Listed buildings in Lakes, Cumbria
* Sir George Fleming, 2nd Baronet
Sir George Fleming, 2nd Baronet (1667 – 2 July 1747) was a British churchman.
A member of the old Westmorland family, Fleming was the fifth son of Sir Daniel Le Fleming of Rydal Hall. Along with his three brothers, he was educated at Sedberg ...
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Country houses in Cumbria
Diocese of Carlisle
Gardens by Thomas Hayton Mawson
Grade II* listed buildings in Cumbria
Grade II* listed houses
Grade II* listed parks and gardens in Cumbria
Westmorland and Furness
Tourist attractions in Cumbria