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Sudbury Hall

Sudbury Hall is a country house in Sudbury, Derbyshire, England. One of the country's finest Restoration mansions, it has Grade I listed building status,[1] and the garden is Grade II listed in Historic England's Register of Parks and Gardens.[2]

Sudbury Hall
The north-east facade of Sudbury Hall
Location of Sudbury Hall in Derbyshire
Location of Sudbury Hall in Derbyshire
Location of Sudbury Hall in Derbyshire
General information
Statusopen
TypeEnglish country house
Architectural styleRestoration-era English Baroque, Jacobean
Town or citySudbury, Derbyshire
CountryUnited Kingdom
Coordinates52°53′11″N 1°45′55″W / 52.886338°N 1.765233°W / 52.886338; -1.765233
Construction started1660
Completed1680
Renovated1969-1971
Renovating team
Architect(s)John Beresford Fowler
Website
nationaltrust.org.uk

The National Trust Museum of Childhood is housed in the 19th-century servants' wing of Sudbury Hall.

History

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In 1086, following the Norman Conquest, the manor of Sudbury was listed in the Domesday Book.

The Vernon family came to Sudbury as a result of the 16th-century marriage of the Sudbury heiress Ellen Montgomery to Sir John Vernon (d.1545), a son of Sir Henry Vernon of Haddon Hall in Derbyshire.[3]

The present house at Sudbury was built shortly after the restoration of King Charles II, between 1660 and 1680 by George Vernon, grandfather of George Venables-Vernon the 1st Baron Vernon.[3] George Vernon used his new-found wealth from marrying Northamptonshire heiress Margaret Onley to build a grand new mansion on the site of a smaller house. He kept meticulous accounts of the building project, and because there is no record of any payment to an architect, historians surmise that George designed Sudbury Hall himself.[4] George Vernon also established the Estate village close to the Hall to provide housing for his servants, labourers and tradesmen. The buildings in the village still survive intact today.[3]

Sudbury Hall was leased for three years from 1840 by Queen Adelaide, the widow of William IV of the United Kingdom. The east wing was added by George Devey in 1876–83.[1] By the late 19th century, the extent of the Sudbury Estate stretched from Cubley down to Marchington in Staffordshire.[3]

In 1916, the 8th Lord Vernon, George Francis Augustus Venables-Vernon, died aged 26 in Malta from an illness contracted while in service as an officer in World War I. As a result, the Sudbury estate was subject to Death duties, the taxation which had been introduced in 1894 by the Liberal Government.[5] As with many other large estates across Britain, this increased financial burden compelled the 9th Lord Vernon, Francis Venables-Vernon, to sell off tracts of land and some of the contents of Sudbury Hall. In the 1930s and 1940s, the 9th Lord was able to buy back some of this land to provide social housing in Sudbury village.[3]

During World War II, a US Air Force hospital was based in Sudbury Park, close to RAF Sudbury. The land was purchased by the government in 1948 and converted into HM Prison Sudbury, with a housing estate for prison officers.[3]

National Trust

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Death duties continued to burden the Vernon family, and in 1967, Sudbury Hall and its principal contents along with part of the gardens and parkland, was transferred by the 10th Baron Vernon [John Lawrence Venables-Vernon] via the Land Fund to the National Trust, in part payment of death duties. The remainder of the Sudbury Estate is still held by Vernon descendants.[4][3]

In 2020 Sudbury Hall closed to the public for renovations, during which the National Trust consulted 100 child "ambassadors" to redesign the visitor experience for children. It reopened in October 2022, rebranded as The Children’s Country House at Sudbury, equipped with a dressing up and dancing area, a mirror ball, a neon sign with the words "Party like it’s 1699", an escape room experience and humorous speech bubbles hung next to portraits.[6] The revised visitor experience has been criticised by the Vernon Family; Joanna Fitzalan Howard, daughter of John Lawrance Venables-Vernon, 10th Baron Vernon accused the National Trust of "dumbing down" by turning her ancestral home into "a child-centred theme park".[7] The National Trust have stated that the new experience offers "new ways for children to learn about the history of Sudbury Hall" and that the speech bubbles inform children about "hidden symbolism in historic portraits".[8][9] The changes have also been criticised by the pressure group Restore Trust for discouraging adult visitors unaccompanied by children, and for removing the house contents to make way for "fun active games and activities".[10] In May 2023 the Children’s Country House at Sudbury was awarded Permanent Exhibition of the Year at the Museum and Heritage Awards 2023. Judges expressed the view that the redesign of Sudbury Hall offered a "participatory and imaginative new bold approach to interpreting historic houses and heritage".[11][12]

Architecture

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Sudbury Hall dates from the Restoration era, but George Vernon's building is based on a Jacobean design, with its ornate Great Staircase and Long Gallery. Notably, the state rooms are located on the west side of the building and the servants' quarters on the east side, a traditional layout preferred by Tudor architects.[1] Architectural historian Cherry Ann Knott has suggested that the design of the hall was based on Crewe Hall in Cheshire, which stands around 1.5 miles from Haslington Hall, where George Vernon was born.[13]

The house is a two-storey red brick building fronted with a Baroque main entrance porch, with two levels of paired columns, each surmounted with a pediment. The carvings above the porch were sculpted by William Wilson.[1]

Interior

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The interior of the house was completed in 1691. There have been a number of small alterations in the 18th and 19th centuries, and the interior was restored 1969-1971 by John Beresford Fowler. The Great Staircase, designed by Edward Pierce, dates from c.1676 and is considered to be one of the finest Restoration staircases in Britain. It is noted for its white-painted balustrade with luxuriant, carved foliage. The landing ceiling is adorned with ornate plasterwork by Robert Bradbury and James Pettifer (1675) and ceiling paintings of mythological scenes by Louis Laguerre. Other plasterwork within the house was designed by Pettifer, Bradbury and Samuel Mansfield of Derby. Of particular note in the drawing room is an ornately carved overmantel by Grinling Gibbons.[1][14]

Between c.1872 and 1880, architect George Devey significantly modified and extended an early 19th-century servants' east wing to Sudbury Hall; this now houses the National Trust Museum of Childhood.[1]

  • Architecture of Sudbury Hall
  •  
    Rear of Sudbury Hall
  •  
    Plaster ceiling by James Pettifer (1675)
  •  
    The Great Staircase by Edward Pierce (c.1676)
  •  
    The Great Staircase balustrade (detail)
  •  
    The Long Gallery
  •  
    The Saloon
  •  
    The bedroom

Art collection

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Sudbury holds a large collection of portraits of Vernon family members, as well as other paintings and works of fine art. Of particular note are a portrait of George Vernon (1635/6-1702), the builder of Sudbury Hall, by John Michael Wright, (oil on canvas, 1660).[15] Other portraits in the collection include:

Filming location

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The house was used for the internal Pemberley scenes in the BBC dramatisation (1995) of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. The house's centrally-positioned domed cap-house featured in the title shot of Yorkshire Television's children's programme The Book Tower.

See also

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References

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Citations

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  1. ^ a b c d e f Historic England. "The Hall and attached stable block (1273995)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
  2. ^ Historic England. "Sudbury Hall (1000684)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g "The History of The Sudbury Estate | The Home Of Sudbury Hall and The Courtyard". sudburyestate.com. Archived from the original on 28 May 2022. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
  4. ^ a b "History of Sudbury Hall, Derbyshire". National Trust. Archived from the original on 26 August 2023. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
  5. ^ Robinson 2014, p. 28.
  6. ^ Murray, Jessica (21 October 2022). "Ropes come down as National Trust lets children roam free at Sudbury Hall". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 3 February 2023. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
  7. ^ Beal, James (27 August 2023). "Sudbury Hall turned into 'theme park' for children". The Times. Archived from the original on 27 August 2023. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
  8. ^ "Family's fury as Sudbury Hall turned into children's 'theme park'". DerbyshireLive. 30 October 2022. Archived from the original on 31 October 2022. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
  9. ^ Beale, James; Toms, Adam; Hodgkiss, Samuel (2 November 2022). "Ancestors [sic] accuse National Trust of turning hall into children's 'theme park'". StaffordshireLive. Archived from the original on 3 November 2022. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
  10. ^ "The new 'mansion experience' is coming to Sudbury Hall". Restore Trust. Archived from the original on 25 November 2022. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
  11. ^ Castle, Richard; Butterfield, Gareth (17 May 2023). "Revamped National Trust museum that came under fire wins major award". burtonmail. Archived from the original on 21 May 2023. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
  12. ^ "Permanent Exhibition of the Year – Museums + Heritage Awards". Archived from the original on 3 June 2023. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
  13. ^ Knott CA (2001), "Sudbury Hall: Crewe Hall: A close connexion", Architectural History, 44: 322–331, doi:10.2307/1568761, JSTOR 1568761
  14. ^ Gomme, Gomme & Maguire 2008, pp. 235–236.
  15. ^ "George Vernon (1635/6-1702), the Builder of Sudbury Hall 653152". www.nationaltrustcollections.org.uk. National Trust. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
  16. ^ Trust, National. "Catherine Vernon, Mrs George Vernon (1663-1710) 653156". www.nationaltrustcollections.org.uk.
  17. ^ "Edward Venables Vernon Harcourt (1757-1847) as Archbishop of York 653141". www.nationaltrustcollections.org.uk. National Trust. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
  18. ^ "'Nell' Eleanor Gwyn (Gwynne) (1651–1687) 653191". www.nationaltrustcollections.org.uk. National Trust.
  19. ^ "Louise Renée de Penencoët de Kéroualle, Duchess of Portsmouth (1649 – 1734) 653188". www.nationaltrustcollections.org.uk. National Trust Collections. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
  20. ^ "Queen Charlotte (of Mecklenburg-Strelitz) (1744-1818) 653139". www.nationaltrustcollections.org.uk. National Trust. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
  21. ^ "King George III (1738–1820) 653138". www.nationaltrustcollections.org.uk. National Trust. Retrieved 26 August 2023.

Bibliography

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