Garendon Hall was a country home near
Shepshed
Shepshed (often known until 1888 as ''Sheepshed'', also ''Sheepshead'' – a name derived from the village being heavily involved in the wool industry) is a market town and civil parish in the Charnwood Borough of Leicestershire, England with ...
,
Leicestershire
Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...
, England. It was demolished in 1964.
History
The site of Garendon Hall was formerly occupied by a
Cistercian
The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contri ...
abbey, known as
Garendon Abbey. The abbey was founded in 1133 and
dissolved by
King Henry VIII
Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disagreement w ...
in 1536.
Henry sold the abbey to
Thomas Manners, 1st Earl of Rutland
Thomas Manners, 1st Earl of Rutland, 12th Baron de Ros of Helmsley, Order of the Garter, KG (c. 1497{{snd20 September 1543), of Belvoir Castle in Leicestershire (adjacent to the small county of Rutland), was created Earl of Rutland by King Henry ...
, for £2,356 5s 10d. The earl then constructed a house on the abbey site, known as Garendon House. The house was owned by the Earls of Rutland until 1632, when it was given as part of a
dowry
A dowry is a payment such as land, property, money, livestock, or a commercial asset that is paid by the bride's (woman's) family to the groom (man) or his family at the time of marriage.
Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price ...
for the marriage of
Lady Katherine Manners (daughter of the
6th Earl of Rutland) and
George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham
George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham ( ; 20 August 1592 – 23 August 1628), was an English courtier, statesman, and patron of the arts. He was a favourite and self-described "lover" of King James VI and I. Buckingham remained at the heigh ...
. In 1640, the estate was valued at £5,648 and was reported to contain 13,350 trees.
In 1684 the
2nd Duke of Buckingham sold the house to Sir Ambrose Phillipps (a successful lawyer) for £28,000. Sir Ambrose and his son William did little to the house; his grandson, another
Ambrose Phillipps (c.1707–1737), an accomplished gentleman architect inspired by his
Grand Tour of France and Italy, started to change the house and the former abbey estate. Beginning in 1734, Ambrose landscaped the surrounding parkland and built to his own designs several
Palladian
Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...
follies
''Follies'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by James Goldman.
The plot centers on a crumbling Broadway theater, now scheduled for demolition, previously home to a musical revue (based on the ''Ziegfeld Follies ...
, which still exist. Ambrose later began to redesign, extend and rebuild Garendon House in the Palladian style, developing it into what would be known as Garendon Hall. However, the work remained unfinished in 1737 when Ambrose died childless; it was completed by his brother Samuel, who inherited the estate (but who also died childless).
[
Following Samuel Phillipp's death, the hall was inherited by a cousin; eventually passing to Ambrose Charles Lisle March Phillipps De Lisle (1809–1878).][ Ambrose was an enthusiast for the ]Gothic Revival
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...
and planned to demolish the hall; commissioning Augustus Pugin
Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin ( ; 1 March 1812 – 14 September 1852) was an English architect, designer, artist and critic with French and Swiss origins. He is principally remembered for his pioneering role in the Gothic Revival architecture ...
(famous for his work on the Houses of Parliament
The Palace of Westminster is the meeting place of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is located in London, England. It is commonly called the Houses of Parliament after the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two legislative ch ...
) to design a replacement. Ambrose's finances were in decline, however, and the work could not be undertaken. Following Ambrose's death, the family were left with a difficult financial situation and needed to retrench.[ In 1885 they moved out of Garendon and into Grace Dieu Manor. A revival in their fortunes in the early 20th century permitted a return to Garendon in 1907.][
The family were again forced out of the house during the Second World War, when it was used, and heavily damaged, by the army. On their return, the ever-increasing cost of running and maintaining the building, their own failing finances and crippling inheritance taxes, and threats to the house's parkland from the urban sprawl of ]Loughborough
Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood (borough), Charnwood Borough of Leicestershire, England; it is the administrative centre of Charnwood Borough Council. At the United Kingdom 2021 census, the town's built-up area had a popula ...
and the construction of the M1 motorway
The M1 motorway connects London to Leeds, where it joins the A1(M) motorway, A1(M) near Aberford, to connect to Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle. It was the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the UK; the first motorway in the count ...
which would cut directly through the park, all contributed to the decision to demolish Garendon. In June 1964 the house was deliberately set on fire to provide practice and training for the local fire brigade. It was then reduced to rubble which was used in the construction of the M1 motorway
The M1 motorway connects London to Leeds, where it joins the A1(M) motorway, A1(M) near Aberford, to connect to Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle. It was the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the UK; the first motorway in the count ...
.[
The park setting of the demolished hall has been severely compromised by the construction of the M1 and by subsequent housing development. Both the Arch and the Temple are on the ]Heritage at Risk Register
An annual ''Heritage at Risk Register'' is published by Historic England. The survey is used by national and local government, a wide range of individuals and heritage groups to establish the extent of risk and to help assess priorities for acti ...
. As at 2020, plans for the development of some 3,200 homes in the north of the park have been submitted to the council for approval. As part of the works, the developer, Persimmon plc
Persimmon plc is a British housebuilding company, headquartered in York, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
History
Persimmon was founded by Duncan Davidson in 1972. The company is ...
intends to develop some of the remainder of the park as a public amenity and undertake restoration of the main structures.
Architecture and description
The new Garendon Hall planned by Ambrose Phillipps (1707–1737) was to be built in the Palladian style, eleven bays wide with a central portico topped with a triangular pediment.[ Ultimately, only the south front was built, and that by Phillipps' brother, rather than himself. A century later Ambrose Lisle March Phillipps De Lisle planned a complete Tudorbethan replacement. The architectural historian ]Mark Girouard
Mark Girouard (7 October 1931 – 16 August 2022) was a British architectural historian. He was an authority on the country house, and Elizabethan and Victorian architecture.
Life and career
Girouard was born on 7 October 1931. He was educ ...
, in his study ''The Victorian Country House'', reproduces an illustration of Pugin's plan, entitled "Merry England Revived". Funds did not permit the planned rebuilding, and Phillipps instead decided to adapt the existing hall, adding a large Gothic mansard roof
A mansard or mansard roof (also called French roof or curb roof) is a multi-sided gambrel-style hip roof characterised by two slopes on each of its sides, with the lower slope at a steeper angle than the upper, and often punctured by dormer wi ...
to the top of the classical styled hall. Pugin's son, Edward Pugin
Edward Welby Pugin (11 March 1834 – 5 June 1875) was an English architect, the eldest son of architect Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin and Louisa Barton. His father was an architect in the Gothic Revival style, and after his early death in 1 ...
was the contracting architect, working between 1864 and 1866. The attempt to mix Gothic and Palladian styles was stylistically unsuccessful, and Nikolaus Pevsner
Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (195 ...
, in his 1960 ''Leicestershire and Rutland'' volume of the Buildings of England series, described the hall as looking “really rather horrible”.[ Elizabeth Williamson, in her 2003 revision of the same volume, was no more complimentary; "Pugin's huge mansard roof with Franco-Flemish dormers hideously upset the whole composition".
]
Triumphal Arch
Ambrose Phillipps (1707–1737) had been on the Grand Tour and would have seen the examples of Roman architecture
Ancient Roman architecture adopted the external language of classical ancient Greek architecture for the purposes of the ancient Romans, but was different from Greek buildings, becoming a new architectural style. The two styles are often con ...
extant in Rome during the 18th century. His Triumphal Arch at Garendon is modelled on the Arch of Titus
The Arch of Titus (; ) is a 1st-century AD honorific arch, located on the Via Sacra, Rome, just to the south-east of the Roman Forum. It was constructed in 81 AD by Emperor Domitian shortly after the death of his older brother Titus to comm ...
, located on the Via Sacra
The Via Sacra (, "''Sacred Street''") was the main street of ancient Rome, leading from the top of the Capitoline Hill, through some of the most important religious sites of the Forum (where it is the widest street), to the Colosseum.
The road ...
and dating from the 1st century. Historic England
Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked with prot ...
suggest it is "perhaps the earliest example of an English building inspired directly from an Ancient Roman source." Pevsner and Williamson are confident that it is "the earliest known interpretation of a triumphal arch in England". The arch has a central opening, with Cornithian columns supporting an entablature
An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and ...
which is carved with scenes from the Metamorphosis
Metamorphosis is a biological process by which an animal physically develops including birth transformation or hatching, involving a conspicuous and relatively abrupt change in the animal's body structure through cell growth and different ...
of Actaeon
In Greek mythology, Actaeon (; ''Aktaiōn'') was the son of the priestly herdsman Aristaeus and Autonoe in Boeotia, and a famous Thebes, Greece, Theban Greek hero cult, hero. Through his mother he was a member of the ruling House of Cadmus. Like ...
.
Temple of Venus
The Temple of Venus, like the arch, is based on a Roman example, in this case the Temple of Vesta
The Temple of Vesta, or the aedes (Latin ''Glossary of ancient Roman religion#aedes, Aedes Vestae''; Italian language, Italian: ''Tempio di Vesta''), was an ancient edifice in Rome, Italy. It is located in the Roman Forum near the Regia and the H ...
at Tivoli. The building, constructed in ashlar, is circular with a peristyle
In ancient Ancient Greek architecture, Greek and Ancient Roman architecture, Roman architecture, a peristyle (; ) is a continuous porch formed by a row of columns surrounding the perimeter of a building or a courtyard. ''Tetrastoön'' () is a rare ...
of Ionic columns supported a domed roof. The roof is now of copper, the original lead covering having been stolen. The temple contained a statue of Venus
Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is often called Earth's "twin" or "sister" planet for having almost the same size and mass, and the closest orbit to Earth's. While both are rocky planets, Venus has an atmosphere much thicker ...
but this is no longer in situ.
Obelisk
The obelisk is of brick, covered in stucco
Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and ...
, and stands 24m high. It is positioned on a moulded pedestal
A pedestal or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In civil engineering, it is also called ''basement''. The minimum height o ...
.
Listing designations
The Triumphal Arch is listed Grade I. The Temple of Venus is Grade II*, while the Obelisk is Grade II. The three lodges at the entrance drives into the estate, the White Lodge, Snell's Nook Lodge, and the Bavarian Gate are all listed at Grade II. Remnants of the Palladian House also have Grade II listings and include the wrought-iron screens and gates, a gateway and its associated railings, and an entrance arch. The estate boundary wall is also listed Grade II, as are various agricultural buildings including a barn, outbuildings, and a dovecote
A dovecote or dovecot , doocot (Scots Language, Scots) or columbarium is a structure intended to house Domestic pigeon, pigeons or doves. Dovecotes may be free-standing structures in a variety of shapes, or built into the end of a house or b ...
.
Gallery
Augustus Pugin's design for Garendon Hall.jpg, Augustus Pugin's unexecuted design for Garendon Hall
Temple of Venus Garendon Park.jpg, Temple of Venus
Garendon Park Obelisk Leicestershire - 07.jpg, The Obelisk
The Bavarian Gate, Garendon Park - geograph.org.uk - 2890925.jpg, The Bavarian Gate
Snell's Nook Lodge - geograph.org.uk - 2366785.jpg, Snell's Nook Lodge
See also
* Garendon Abbey
Notes
References
Sources
*
*
*
*
* {{cite book
, last=Schulz, first=Marjorie
, title=Gracedieu and Garendon Revisited
, year=2009
, publisher=Panda Eyes Publishers
, isbn=
External links
Video of the burning and demolition of Garendon Hall
Gallery of images of Garendon
from the Loughborough Echo
Historical information
including many historic images of the hall, compiled as appendices to planning applications for the park
18th-century establishments in England
1964 disestablishments in England
Country houses in Leicestershire
Former country houses in England
Grade I listed buildings in Leicestershire
Grade II* listed buildings in Leicestershire
Grade II listed buildings in Leicestershire
Buildings and structures demolished in 1964
Houses completed in the 18th century
Loughborough
George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham