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The Arts Society Kennet & Swindon `TASKS’ – January 2023 Meeting – The Lecture: Wentworth Woodhouse – The Story of a Great Patrician House
16 January 2023 @ 11:00 am
The dramatic rescue of Wentworth Woodhouse, Britain’s largest country house captured newspaper headlinesThis lecture looks at the house’s extraordinary history and shows how the story of the house is inextricably linked with the colourful lives of the three aristocratic families that lived there; the Wentworths, Watsons and Fitzwilliams.
In the 18th century rivalry between two branches of the family led to each trying to outdo the other by building the larger house. By the 1750s Wentworth Woodhouse was 600 feet long and the interiors were enriched with fine paintings, sculptures and other diverse works of art. By the 19th century the Fitzwilliams were one of the richest landowning families in Britain with vast estates in England and Ireland. Furthermore they had the good fortune of discovering that rich coal seams lay beneath their Yorkshire estates near Rotherham; a resource which they exploited very profitably. However it was the coal mines which led to the near destruction of the house, when in 1946 their coal mines were nationalised and the parkland became one vast opencast mine, destroying gardens of great beauty and causing serious damage to the foundations of the house. The death of successive Earls in quick succession and leaving no male issue the house and its contents were sold. It was used as a teacher training College for a while and its future was in serious jeopardy. The lecture will also show how this desperate situation was eventually resolved and will finish with a more optimistic view of what the future will hold for this great house and estate.
The January meeting of TASKS will take place at the Ellendune Centre, Wroughton SN4 9LW
The meeting will begin at 11.00am promptly. Coffee will be served beforehand
Guests are always very welcome (for which there is a fee of £7 00)
