Lotherton Hall
Lotherton Hall is a country house near Aberford, West Yorkshire, England. It lies a short distance from the A1(M) motorway, 200 miles (320 km) equidistant between London and Edinburgh. It is one of nine sites in the Leeds Museums & Galleries group.
There has been a manor house on the site of the current Hall from at least 1775, where it appears on Thomas Jeffery's map of Yorkshire[1]. The house at this time was owned by Thomas Maude, who had brought it from George Rhodes in 1753 for £4,115. Ownership then passed to Wollen and then to John Raper.[2] In 1824 John Raper died and his son and heir, John Lamplugh Raper, sold the property to Richard Oliver Gascoigne in 1825. Following Richard Oliver Gascoigne's death in 1842, Lotherton was inherited by his then unmarried daughters, Elizabeth and Mary Isabella.[1] Richard Trench Gascoigne took up ownership of the house following the death of his aunt Elizabeth, wife of Lord Ashtown, in 1893. It became the main residence of the Gascoigne family after the death of Richard's father Frederick at Parlington Hall in 1905. Between 1914 and 1918, the Hall was used as a V.A.D. hospital.[3] There is a twelfth century Norman chapel in the grounds which was in use until 1830 and renovated between 1913 and 1917 and was also used as part of the V.A.D. hospital.[4]
The Hall is sited on part of the Gascoigne estate, and was presented for public access to the City of Leeds in 1968 by Sir Alvary Gascoigne and his wife, last of the Gascoigne family, whose roots were at Parlington Hall.[5] The estate is home to an extensive collection of endangered bird species and a herd of red deer. There is a large expanse of grassland in front of the bird garden, typically used during the summer months for ball games and picnics. Behind the Hall itself a further field is often used to host shows, such as an annual motorcycle show.
The Hall, which was extensively rebuilt during the Victorian and Edwardian eras, holds an impressive collection of objets d'art which has been built up since the 18th century and are now on public display.
The Hall is licensed to hold wedding and civil partnership ceremonies.[6]
The Gascoignes and Lotherton Hall
Lotherton Hall first came into the possetion of the Gascoigne family by purchance, Richard Oliver Gascoigne had bought Lotherton in 1825. Originally the Gascoigne estate was meant to be passed down to the male heirs of the family, his two sons Richard Silver Oliver[7] and Thomas Gascoigne[8]. However in 1842 both of the brothers passed away leaving the Gascoigne estate to be inherited by Richard Oliver Gascoigne's daughters Mary Isabella Gascoigne (1810-1891)[9] and Elizabeth Gascoigne (1812-1893)[10]. When, both sisters married they divided the Gascoigne estate between them, Mary-Isabella being older inherited the family their family home of Parlington Hall, whilst Elizabeth inherited Lotherton Hall. However Elizabeth Gascoigne and her husband Fredrick Mason Trench, the 2nd Baron of Ashtown, didn't live in Lotherton but prefered Castle Oliver in Ireland. They both died and left no heir to Lotherton. Instead Lotherton was inherited by Mary Isabella Gascoignes son, Colonel Fredrick Richard Thomas Trench Gascoigne who was a noted soldier and traveller[11]
Colonel Gascoigne and his wife Gwendolen Gascoigne, who was the daughter to famous engineer Sir Douglas Galton, was also the second cousin and god daughter to Florence Nightingale.Colonel Gascoigne prefered Lotherton Hall over his family home of Parlington, moving a lot of the furnishing in to Lotherton. This left Parlington abandoned and was later demolished in 1950's. A lot of the alterations and remodelling that Colonel Gascoigne and Lady Gascoigne made to the Lotherton, to accomodate their growing family; are still visable today. Between 1897 to 1931 large amounts of remodelling was done to the house, a new dining room, entrance hall, drawing room and servants wing were added. In addition to this Mrs Gascoigne designed and built Edwardian style gardens along the south front. Colonel and Lady Gascoigne had three children together, Sir Alvery, Oliver (who dided as an infant) and Cynthia.
Sir Alvery Gascoigne was a British ambassador to Japan and Moscow, he inherited Lotherton on 1937 and lived there with his wife Lorna Priscilla Gascoigne. Whilst at Lotherton he made several alterations to house, mostly enrichig the house with oriental works he had aquired whilst as an ambassordor. He and his wife Lorna has a son together, Douglas Wilder Gascoigne, who was killed in action during the second world war. With no heir left to inherit Lotherton Sir Alvery presented Lotherton Hall to Leeds city council in 1968 as a gift to be open to the public. In collaboration with the endowment fund to buy works of art to further the collection. He died in 1970[12]
Lotherton Hall Hospital and WW1
The Gascoignes were a very patriotic family and felt as though it was their duty to help the war effort during WW1. In November of 1914, Lotherton hall had been transformed into a Voluntary Aid Detachment (V.A.D) hospital for wounded soliders. The hospital was maily ran by Mrs Gascoigne (Laura Gwendolyn Galton- Gascoigne), with help of VAD volunteer nurses and her daughter Cynthia Gascoigne. Initially the hospital started off with only eighteen beds at the start of the war but would increase to thirty five by the end of the war. Between the 21st of November 1914 to the 28th of March 1919, 655 soldiers were treated at the hospital. The Gascoignes funded the hospital using their own money and refused government grants or aid.Due to this their effort in the war was greatly appriciated by the local community and by St Johns Ambulance Service that in 1918 Mrs Gascoigne was awarded a CBE.[13]
The Medieval Chapel
The chapel was originally built in 1100's to serve as a place of worship for the former villiage of Lotherton.[13] [12] Before the
During the First World War Colone and Mrs Gascoigne had it restored, to house wounded soldiers and as a place of worship[13][14]. Inside the Chapel there is a memorial piece dedicated to the soldiers who fought and were treated at Lotherton. Inside the pulpit there is a prayer desk that was carved by soldiers housed at the hospital as a form of occupational therapy[13]
Lotherton Hall Gardens
Wildlife
Important Collections and Exhibitions
References
- ^ a b Adam, White (2007). Lotherton Hall. Leeds: Leeds Museums and Galleries. p. 4. ISBN 0 901981 74 5.
- ^ Lotherton Hall Archive, uncatalogued document, produced by Thomas Herbert Prater, Agent for Colonel FRTT Gascoigne, 04/01/1992
- ^ Leodis.net
- ^ "Lotherton Hall, interior of the Norman Chapel". Leodis. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
- ^ "History of Lotherton Hall". Leeds City Council. Archived from the original on 10 June 2011. Retrieved 9 October 2009.
- ^ "Weddings at Lotherton" at leeds.gov.uk Archived 22 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Richard Silver Oliver (1808-1842) | WikiTree FREE Family Tree". www.wikitree.com. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
- ^ "Thomas Oliver (1806-1842) | WikiTree FREE Family Tree". www.wikitree.com. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
- ^ "Mary Isabella Oliver (1810-1891) | WikiTree FREE Family Tree". www.wikitree.com. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
- ^ "Elizabeth (Oliver-Gascoigne) Trench (1812-1893) | WikiTree FREE Family Tree". www.wikitree.com. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
- ^ unknown. "Parlington Hall in decay". www.leodis.net. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
- ^ a b Lotherton Hall. Leeds Leisure Services., Leeds (England). City Art Gallery. Leeds: Leeds Leisure Services. 1992. ISBN 0-901981-50-8. OCLC 31708021.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link) - ^ a b c d "Lotherton Hall: A Country House Hospital • Life in WW1 Country House Hospitals • MyLearning". www.mylearning.org. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
- ^ Lotherton Hall. Leeds Leisure Services., Leeds (England). City Art Gallery. Leeds: Leeds Leisure Services. 1992. ISBN 0-901981-50-8. OCLC 31708021.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
External links
