Nostell Priory

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Nostell Priory in 1880.

Nostell Priory is a Palladian house located in Nostell, not far from Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, approached by the Doncaster road from Wakefield. Built on the site of a medieval priory for the Winn family from 1733 onwards, Nostell Priory is today a National Trust property.

1 History
2 Grounds
3 Monastic history
4 Notes
5 External links

[edit] History

The Nostell Estate was purchased by the Winn family after the previous owner was declared bankrupt in 1650. The present house has been lived in by the same family since building began in 1733, and therefore we have the opportunity to see furniture, furnishings and decorations which were made and completed for this specific house, still in situ. The family first made their fortune as textile merchants in London, George Wynne of Gwydir was appointed Draper to Elizabeth I, his grandson, Sir George Winn was created 1st Baronet of Nostell in 1660 and the family subsequently owed its continuing wealth to the rich veins of coal in the area, and later from leasing land in Lincolnshire for the mining of iron ore during the Industrial Revolution.

The house was originally built by James Paine for Sir Rowland Winn 4th Bart. on the site of a 12th-century priory dedicated to Saint Oswald. Later, Robert Adam was commissioned to design several additional wings, only one of which was to be completed, and complete the state rooms. Adam also added a double staircase to the front of the house, and designed further buildings on the estate, including the stable block.

Nostell Priory is home to one of the largest and most diverse collections of Chippendale furniture in the world, all of which was made especially for the house. Although the Chippendale workshops were in St Martins Lane, London, Thomas Chippendale was born in Otley in 1718, and it is a nice touch that the beautiful furniture in this Yorkshire house was produced by a Yorkshireman. Nostell Priory also holds an extensive art collection including The Procession to Calvary by Pieter Brueghel the Younger, William Hogarth's Scene from Shakespeare's The Tempest - the first depiction in a painting of any scene from the Bard - and a self portrait by Angelica Kauffmann, as well as Rowland Lockey's copy of the painting by Hans Holbein (c1527 but now lost) of Sir Thomas More and his family; this copy was commissioned in 1592 by the More family and came to Nostell in the 18th century.

Amongst the many treasures of Nostell is a longcase clock (with an almost completely wooden internal mechanism) made by John Harrison in 1717 that is housed in the Billiard room. Harrison, whose father Henry is thought to have been an estate carpenter at Nostell, was born within half a mile of the estate. He went on to be popularly referred to as John "Longitude" Harrison, after devoting his life to successfully solving the problem of finding longitude at sea by creating an accurate marine timekeeper. Known as H4, and one of the most important machines ever built, this can now be seen at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, London.

In May 2007, a set of Gillows (since 1897 known as Waring & Gillow) furniture returned to the house after radical refurbishment. These pieces now grace the Tapestry Room on the first floor, as do a pair of large Venetian vases, previously thought to have been of eastern origin. The vases are constructed of wood and inlaid with ivory and semi-precious stones.

[edit] Grounds

Nostell Priory sits within 121 hectares (300 acres) of parkland. Within the grounds and gardens of Nostell Priory are delightful lakeside walks with a stunning collection of rhododendrons and azaleas in late spring. The main frontage of the house is east facing towards a long grass vista. Leading down to the lake on the west side of the house is the West Lawn which is host to a number of small 'bring a picnic' style open-air concerts and theatre throughout the summer. The extensive parkland is also now open to the public and contains the newly restored Obelisk Lodge set in meadows which are full of wildflowers and mown paths in spring and summer. There are several routes of varying length meandering through and around the woods, lakes and park, including a new orienteering course. The park, which is now open every day all year round, was purchased from Lord St Oswald by the National Trust with funding from the Heritage Lottery fund. This grant also enabled the trust to acquire pictures, books, and furniture from the family.

[edit] Monastic history

The Priory was a twelfth-century Augustinian foundation, dedicated to St Oswald. It was supported initially by Robert de Lacy of Pontefract, and Thurstan of York.^[1]. By about 1114 Aldulf, confessor to Henry I of England, was prior of a group of regular canons at Nostell^[2]. As part of the dissolution of the monasteries, the priory was shut down in 1540^[3]. At the dissolution the lands of the priory were bestowed on Sir Thomas Gargrave, a High Sheriff of Yorkshire, Speaker of the House of Commons and president of the Council of the North.^[4]