fire

Caldwell House – a nearly-lost Adam classic

Matthew Beckett - The Country Seat1 Comment
Caldwell House, Scotland (Image: intriguing_rly@livejournal)

Sometimes houses suffer in so many ways and yet, despite their eventual condition, it’s still possible to imagine them being restored to something approaching their former glory.  Caldwell House near Paisley in Scotland is definitely one that would require a purchaser with deep pockets and a slightly cavalier approach to budgeting – but they would be rescuing a classic house by the famous Scottish architect Robert Adam.

In 1773, Baron Mure of Caldwell commissioned Adam to design a grand home for him. For Adam it was to be the last of the ‘castle’ houses he designed, a style he’d started with at Ugbrooke House in Devon (1760s) and Mellerstain House in Berwickshire (1770).

It remained the family home of the Mures until 1909.  In the 1920s the House was sold to Glasgow Corporation and became a hospital for mentally handicapped children. The institutional changes were severe and included the removal of the main staircase to accomodate a lift shaft and the addition of numerous poor-quality outbuildings.  After the hospital closed in 1985 the usual pattern of neglect and vandalism set in, with a major fire in 1995 resulting in serious damage to the interiors and the loss of the roof.  In spite of being a Grade A listed building, it is now empty and has sadly been neglected and allowed to decay and has been on the Scottish Civic Trust’s Buildings at Risk register for some years.

As this shocking set of photos show, the house is now in a terrible condition.  However, the shell still evocative and it’s rural location would ensure privacy and so ought not to be written off yet.  Perhaps the family motto of the Mures – “Duris Non Frangar”, which means, “not to be broken by adversity” – would be an appropriate one to bear in mind when taking on this monumental restoration.

Ranton Abbey to be resurrected – or replaced?

Matthew Beckett - The Country Seat9 Comments
Ranton Abbey, Staffordshire (Image: Knight Frank)

When the historic Ranton Abbey was accidentally set alight and gutted in 1942 by the Dutch troops stationed there, it was likely that it would go the way of many other houses and simply be demolished. Yet the Earls of Lichfield, who owned the 300-acre estate, simply left it and focused on turning the land into a first-class shoot, allowing the house to slowly collapse, leaving just the ivy-clad walls visible today.

The death of the 5th Earl, the famous photographer Patrick Lichfield, in 2005, prompted the family to look again at the estate.  However, rather than simply sell it they decided to obtain planning permission for the building of a new house and have now put both for sale at £3.5m.  Although an obvious course of action, the choices made seem a bit odd.  The new house is strongly Palladian in design but the projections produced so far have it sited so close to the red-brick shell of the old house, and the grey stone of the church, that it seems to have almost landed there by accident.  It certainly does not seem to appear at home in this location and appears almost arbitrary, resulting in three large architectural elements fighting for prominence in a small area.

As the respected architectural writer Marcus Binney says in the ‘Bricks and Mortar’ supplement of Friday’s Times newspaper, surely the better option would be to restore the original house.  This would bring back the balance which existed before and remove at once the obvious difficulties of leaving the old house as a giant garden ornament to compete with the new house.  Whoever buys the estate and planning permission will hopefully think again about this scheme and look seriously at restoration.

Full story: ‘Historic homes: restoration dilemma‘ [The Times]

Property details: ‘Ranton Abbey, Staffordshire‘ [Knight Frank]

Nocton Hall ‘amongst 10 most endangered’

Matthew Beckett - The Country SeatLeave a comment
Nocton Hall (Image from Wikipedia)
Nocton Hall (Image from Wikipedia)

Nocton Hall suffered a devastating fire in 2004 and since then has remained a roof-less, though restorable, shell with no sign that the new owners have any inclination to rescue this interesting and attractive house.

The original Nocton Hall burnt down in 1834 and the new house was built by William Shearburn for the Earl of Ripon in 1841.  It was then taken over by the Air Ministry in 1940 for use as a hospital for RAF Nocton.  The RAF left in 1983 following which it became a residential home.  However, in the mid-1990s the business failed and it was bought by a local developer, Leda Properties.  A then sadly familiar story played out with the house ravaged by vandalism and theft before the ‘suspicious’ fire in 2004. 

The Victorian Society have now declared that the Grade-II listed Nocton Hall is one of their ‘Top 10 Most Endangered Buildings’ in the country.  Hopefully this will again focus some attention and, along with the concerns of locals, will perhaps prompt Leda Properties to declare their intentions.  One hopes that this is not another case of a developer hoping that further vandalism or fire will give them the opportunity to apply for permission to demolish.  Lincolnshire has lost far too many of it’s country houses already over the last 100 years – there is no reason beyond stubborn greed why Nocton Hall should be added to the list.

Full story: ‘Nocton Hall a ‘top 10’ endangered building‘ [Lincolnshire Echo]

Could Viewhill House rise from the ashes?

Matthew Beckett - The Country Seat1 Comment

Viewhill House, near Inverness, suffered a devasting fire two years ago which left it a ruined shell.  Since then it has been the subject of debate as to whether it can be saved or demolished and replaced a new development.  Unsurprisingly, a report by the developer has concluded that it should be demolished (what a surprise!) and has unfortunately been backed up by the local conservation officer.  What is interesting is that neither party has actually examined the building fully, claiming it’s too dangerous.  So on the basis of a fairly shallow investigation another part of Scotland’s heritage is imperilled.

The 170-year old  former home of Caledonian Canal engineer Joseph Mitchell, which was Category-B listed, had been empty for some time before the mysterious fire ripped through the house in 2007.  The developer had previously expressed his frustration that he wasn’t allowed to do as he wanted and level the site following the fire but luckily the council had taken a stronger line, demanding stabilisation works.

However, a recent assessment by independent historic buildings expert Scott Handley has concluded that the house can be saved. Mr Handley and the Inverness Civic Trust hope to present their report to the council in the hope of persuading them to preserve this interesting part of Inverness’ heritage before it becomes just yet another half-empty development of city flats.

Full story: ‘Mansion can be saved, says expert‘ [The Inverness Courier]

Times Blog ponders ‘Who invented the “stately home”?’

Matthew Beckett - The Country SeatLeave a comment

A Twitter post from @Archispeak asking “Who coined the term “stately home” and when?” prompts the Times to delves into it’s archives to try and find an answer.

The earliest mention in their archives is from February 1847 in a story relating the terrible destruction by fire of Easton Lodge in Essex.  A gallery of images of the house can also be found on the ‘Lost Heritage’ website: Easton Lodge

As to whether 1847 is really the earliest use of the term it seems unlikely – I’m sure with a bit of research something earlier can be found.

Blog post: ”Who invented the “stately home”?’‘ [The Times]