Gopsall (or Gopsall Park) is a former
civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of Parish (administrative division), administrative parish used for Local government in England, local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below district ...
, now in the parish of
Twycross
Twycross is a small village and civil parish in the Hinckley and Bosworth district, in Leicestershire, England, on the A444 road.OS Explorer Map 232 : Nuneaton & Tamworth: (1:25 000) : The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was ...
, in the
Hinckley and Bosworth
Hinckley and Bosworth is a local government district with borough status in south-western Leicestershire, England, administered by Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council. Its only towns are Hinckley, Earl Shilton and Market Bosworth. Villages ...
district, in the county of
Leicestershire, England. It is located between the villages of
Appleby Magna
Appleby Magna is a village and civil parish in Leicestershire, England. It includes the small hamlets of Appleby Parva and Little Wigston.
The parish has a total collective population of 1,084 (2011) spread across 500 properties (2020), wit ...
,
Shackerstone
Shackerstone is a village and civil parish in the Hinckley and Bosworth district of Leicestershire, England. It is situated on the Ashby-de-la-Zouch Canal and the River Sence. According to the 2001 census the parish, which also includes the ...
, Twycross and
Snarestone
Snarestone is a small rural village in North West Leicestershire, England.OS Explorer Map 245: The National Forest :(1:25 000) : . In 1931 the parish had a population of 13. Gopsall was formerly an
extra-parochial tract
In England and Wales, an extra-parochial area, extra-parochial place or extra-parochial district was a geographically defined area considered to be outside any ecclesiastical or civil parish. Anomalies in the parochial system meant they had no chu ...
, from 1858 Gopsall was a civil parish in its own right, on 1 April 1935 the parish was abolished and merged with Twycross.
The name 'Gopsall' means 'hill of the servants'.
Gopsall is the site of a former
Georgian country house
An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a Townhouse (Great Britain), town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the cit ...
that was known as Gopsall Hall. The northern edge of the estate is dissected by the
Ashby-de-la-Zouch Canal
The Ashby-de-la-Zouch Canal is a long canal in England which connected the mining district around Moira, just outside the town of Ashby-de-la-Zouch in Leicestershire, with the Coventry Canal at Bedworth in Warwickshire. It was opened in 1804, ...
and a
long distance trail
A long-distance trail (or long-distance footpath, track, way, greenway) is a longer recreational trail mainly through rural areas used for hiking, backpacking, cycling, horse riding or cross-country skiing. They exist on all continents ex ...
known as the
Ivanhoe Way.
The area is mostly agricultural and is dotted with privately rented farms. A permissive footpath allows limited access to the public between
Little Twycross
Little is a synonym for small size and may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Little'' (album), 1990 debut album of Vic Chesnutt
* ''Little'' (film), 2019 American comedy film
* The Littles, a series of children's novels by American author John ...
and Shackerstone. The
A444 Ashby Ashby may refer to:
People
* Ashby (surname)
* Alan la Zouche, 1st Baron la Zouche of Ashby (1267–1314), governor of Rockingham Castle and steward of Rockingham Forest, England
* Walter Ashby Plecker (1861–1947), American physician and publ ...
to
Nuneaton road also leads to a canal wharf on the western edge of the estate.
Gopsall Hall
Gopsall Hall was erected for
Charles Jennens
Charles Jennens (1700 – 20 November 1773) was an English landowner and patron of the arts. As a friend of Handel, he helped author the libretti of several of his oratorios, most notably ''Messiah''.
Life
Jennens was brought up at Gopsall ...
around 1750 at a cost of £100,000 (£8,516,000 today). It was long believed to have been designed by
John Westley
Rev. John Wesley (1636–78) was an English nonconformist minister. He was the grandfather of John Wesley (founder of Methodism).
Life
John Wesly (his own spelling), Westley, or Wesley was probably born at Bridport, Dorset, although some aut ...
and built by the
Hiorns of
Warwick
Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined with Leamington Spa and W ...
, who later added service wings and
Rococo
Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...
interiors. However, later research by
John Harris, curator of the
RIBA
The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three suppl ...
drawings collection suggests that it was designed as well as built by William or David Hiorns.
The Hall was set in several hundred acres of land and included two lakes, a walled garden, a Chinese boathouse, a Gothic seat and various garden buildings. In 1818 a grand entrance (modelled on the
Arch of Constantine
The Arch of Constantine ( it, Arco di Costantino) is a triumphal arch in Rome dedicated to the emperor Constantine the Great. The arch was commissioned by the Roman Senate to commemorate Constantine's victory over Maxentius at the Battle of Milvi ...
) was added.
Queen Adelaide
, house = Saxe-Meiningen
, father = Georg I, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen
, mother = Princess Louise Eleonore of Hohenlohe-Langenburg
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Meiningen, Saxe-Meiningen, Holy Rom ...
was a frequent visitor to the Hall during her long widowhood. She was popular with the locals, being remembered in many of the surrounding villages. (E.g. The former Queen Adelaide Pub in
Appleby Magna
Appleby Magna is a village and civil parish in Leicestershire, England. It includes the small hamlets of Appleby Parva and Little Wigston.
The parish has a total collective population of 1,084 (2011) spread across 500 properties (2020), wit ...
, Queen Street,
Measham
Measham is a large village in the North West Leicestershire district in Leicestershire, England, near the Derbyshire, Staffordshire and Warwickshire boundaries. It lies off the A42, 4½ miles (7.25 km) south of Ashby de la Zouch, in the Nati ...
and the Queen Adelaide Oak Tree in
Bradgate Park
Bradgate Park () is a public park in Charnwood Forest, in Leicestershire, England, northwest of Leicester. It covers . The park lies between the villages of Newtown Linford, Anstey, Cropston, Woodhouse Eaves and Swithland. The River Lin ...
)
In 1848 Gopsall Hall was described as follows:
Said to be the finest country house in Leicestershire, its last use was as an army headquarters during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, and was in such bad repair that it was demolished in 1951. Gopsall Park Farm was built over most of the original site and is not accessible without invitation.
The remains include parts of the walled garden, the electricity generating building, an underground reservoir, the tree-lined avenue, the gatehouse and the temple ruins associated with Handel.
During the 1920s and 1930s Gopsall hosted a motor racing circuit and part of the woodland is still named "The Race Course".
Notable guests who stayed at the estate included
Queen Adelaide
, house = Saxe-Meiningen
, father = Georg I, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen
, mother = Princess Louise Eleonore of Hohenlohe-Langenburg
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Meiningen, Saxe-Meiningen, Holy Rom ...
,
King Edward VII
Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until Death and state funeral of Edward VII, his death in 1910.
The second chil ...
,
Queen Alexandra
Alexandra of Denmark (Alexandra Caroline Marie Charlotte Louise Julia; 1 December 1844 – 20 November 1925) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, from 22 January 1901 to 6 May 1910 as the wife of Kin ...
, and
Winston Churchill.
Land around Gopsall was considered as a possible site for
East Midlands Airport
East Midlands Airport is an international airport in the East Midlands of England, close to Castle Donington in northwestern Leicestershire, between Loughborough (), Derby () and Nottingham (); Leicester is () to the south and Lincoln () north ...
.
Between 1873 and the 1930s Gopsall was served via the Ashby to
Nuneaton railway line. The
station at Shackerstone is part of a preserved railway and visitor attraction (
Battlefield Line Railway
The Battlefield Line Railway is a heritage railway in Leicestershire, England.OS Explorer Map 232 : Nuneaton & Tamworth: (1:25 000) : It runs from Shackerstone (Grid ref ) to Shenton (), via Market Bosworth, a total of . Shenton is near Bo ...
).
There was a
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 mill ...
steam locomotive by the name of "Gopsal Hall". Note the misspelling of the name.
File:CS p2.288 - Gopsal Hall, Leicestershire - Morris's County Seats, 1868.jpg, 1868 view
File:Gopsall North Front.jpg, North Front of Gopsall Hall
File:Gopsall-deer.jpg, Deer in Gopsall Park
File:Gopsall-gatehouse.jpg, The Gate House at Gopsall Park
File:Gopsall Hall and Park.jpg
File:Gopsall-chapel.jpg, Chapel at Gopsall Hall
Image:Gopsall Temple.jpg, Remains of Gopsall Temple
Chronology of owners
* pre 1750: Humphrey Jennens
* circa 1750 - 1773:
Charles Jennens
Charles Jennens (1700 – 20 November 1773) was an English landowner and patron of the arts. As a friend of Handel, he helped author the libretti of several of his oratorios, most notably ''Messiah''.
Life
Jennens was brought up at Gopsall ...
, grandson of Humphrey Jennens
* circa 1773 - 1797: Penn Assheton Curzon, son of
Assheton Curzon, 1st Viscount Curzon
Assheton Curzon, 1st Viscount Curzon (2 February 1730 – 21 March 1820), styled Lord Curzon between 1794 and 1802, was a British Tory politician.
Background and education
Curzon was the second son of Sir Nathaniel Curzon, 4th Baronet of Kedle ...
, and also a cousin of Charles Jennens
* 1797 - 1870:
Richard Curzon-Howe (Earl Howe), son of Penn Assheton Curzon and Sophia Howe (Baroness Howe)
[Sophia was Baroness Howe in her own right, as daughter of Admiral Richard Howe (1726-1799), Baron Howe, 1st Earl Howe of the 1st creation. In 1821, Sophia's son Richard Curzon-Howe was created 1st Earl Howe of the second creation.]
* 1870 - 1919: the Curzon-Howe family
* 1919 – 1927:
Sir Samuel James Waring (Lord Waring), of
Waring & Gillow
Waring & Gillow (also written as Waring and Gillow) was a noted firm of English furniture manufacturers and antique dealers formed in 1897 by the merger of Gillows of Lancaster and London and Waring of Liverpool.
Background Gillow & Co.
The fi ...
.
* 1927 – 1932:
Crown Estate
The Crown Estate is a collection of lands and holdings in the United Kingdom belonging to the British monarch as a corporation sole, making it "the sovereign's public estate", which is neither government property nor part of the monarch's priv ...
(Gopsall estate only)
* 1932 – present:
Crown Estate
The Crown Estate is a collection of lands and holdings in the United Kingdom belonging to the British monarch as a corporation sole, making it "the sovereign's public estate", which is neither government property nor part of the monarch's priv ...
(Gopsall estate and Hall) (NOTE: Hall demolished circa 1952)
* 1942 – 1945: the
Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) made use of the Hall as an experimental radar base during the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
.
Gopsall Temple
In 2002 the temple was part of a restoration project and it is also a 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 ...
.
It is possible to visit the monument via the public footpath near the old Gopsall Hall Gatehouse entrance in the village of Shackerstone. It is a good 15 minute walk to the site.
A statue of Religion by
Louis Francois Roubiliac Louis may refer to:
* Louis (coin)
* Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name
* Louis (surname)
* Louis (singer), Serbian singer
* HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy
See also
Derived or associated terms
* Lewis ( ...
stood on the roof of the temple and was erected as a memorial to the classical scholar (and Jennens’s friend)
Edward Holdsworth. The figure was donated by Lord Howe to the
City of Leicester
Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands.
The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the Nation ...
and is housed in the gardens of
Belgrave Hall Museum Belgrave may refer to:
Places
* Belgrave, Cheshire, an English village
*Belgrave, Leicester an English district
*Belgrave, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia
** Belgrave railway line
**Belgrave railway station, Melbourne
**Belgrave (Puffing ...
.
Handel’s ''Messiah''
During the second half of the eighteenth century the estate was owned by
Charles Jennens
Charles Jennens (1700 – 20 November 1773) was an English landowner and patron of the arts. As a friend of Handel, he helped author the libretti of several of his oratorios, most notably ''Messiah''.
Life
Jennens was brought up at Gopsall ...
(a
librettist
A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major ...
and friend of
George Frideric Handel). It is reputed that in 1741 Handel composed part of
''Messiah'', his famous
oratorio
An oratorio () is a large musical composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists. Like most operas, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias. However, opera is mus ...
, inside a garden temple at Gopsall. Some texts however challenge this theory and posit there is no evidence to confirm Handel stayed on the estate in 1741, although he was a frequent visitor. The temple was built after ''Messiah'' had already been completed.
The organ that Handel specified for Charles Jennens in 1749 is now to be found in
St James' Church, Great Packington.
Notes
References
# Census output area 31UEGL0005 covers most of the area around Gopsall Park. For further details visi
Neighbourhood Statistics website
# The Musical Times and Singing Class Circular, Vol. 43, No. 717 (November 1, 1902), pp. 713–71
website link# Lewis, Samuel (Eds), A Topographical Dictionary of England., (7th Edition, 1848)
British History website# Details of Crown Estate ownership can be found o
#{{note, money Details of old money conversion can be found a
The National Archives - Currency converter: 1270–2017
Further reading
* Oakley, Glynis. A History of Gopsall. (Bancroft printing, 1997)
* Smith, Ruth 'The Achievements of Charles Jennens (1700–1773)', Music & Letters, Vol. 70, No. 2 (May, 1989), pp. 161–190
* Lewis, Samuel (Eds), A Topographical Dictionary of England, 1848 (7th Edition), 'Goodneston - Gosforth', pp. 315–19.
External links
Handel House Museum websiteLetter from Handel to Charles Jennens regarding the organ for Gopsall*
ttp://www.nortonjuxtatwycross.org.uk/gopsal_gallery.htm Pictures of Gopsallbr>
Gopsall Fishing Club
Former civil parishes in Leicestershire
Ruins in Leicestershire
Geography of Leicestershire
Tourist attractions in Leicestershire
Grade II listed buildings in Leicestershire
Crown Estate
Twycross