Lamport Hall

Last updated

Lamport Hall
Lamport - geograph.org.uk - 325493.jpg
TypeCountry House
LocationLamport
Coordinates 52°21′48″N0°53′14″W / 52.3632°N 0.8872°W / 52.3632; -0.8872
OS grid reference SP 75883 74504
AreaWest Northamptonshire
Built1655–1741
Rebuilt1842
Listed Building – Grade I
Official nameLamport Hall
Designated2 November 1954
Reference no. 1054842
Northamptonshire UK location map (2021).svg
Red pog.svg
Location of Lamport Hall in Northamptonshire

Lamport Hall in Lamport, Northamptonshire is a fine example of a Grade I listed building. It was developed from a Tudor manor but is now notable for its classical frontage. The Hall contains an outstanding collection of books, paintings and furniture. The building includes The High Room with a magnificent ceiling by William Smith. It also has a library with 16th-century volumes and an early 19th-century cabinet room with Neapolitan cabinets which depict mythological paintings on glass. It is open to the public.

Contents

Lamport Hall was the home of the Isham family from 1560 to 1976. Sir Charles Isham, 10th Baronet is credited with beginning the tradition of garden gnomes in the United Kingdom when he introduced a number of terracotta figures from Germany in the 1840s. [1]

History

Lamport Hall in 1898 when it was owned by Sir Charles Isham. Lamport Hall 1898.jpg
Lamport Hall in 1898 when it was owned by Sir Charles Isham.

In 1568 John Isham, a wealthy wool merchant, built a manor house on the Lamport Estate. His grandson, also named John, became the first baronet in 1627 during the reign of Charles I. He extended the house considerably. However, the only remains of this structure is a section of the present stable wing.

It was Sir Justinian Isham who built the main existing building. In 1655 he commissioned John Webb, a pupil of Inigo Jones, to design a large two-story home. The next major additions were to the south-west front and the north. These were completed in 1741. The gates on the main road date from 1824 and were designed by Henry Hakewill [2]

In 1842 further major rebuilding of the south east front was completed, and later Sir Charles Isham commissioned the building of a new façade with porch to the north-west front, which is now the distinctive main entrance to the Hall. This was completed in 1862. The tower was built about the same time. [2]

By about 1950 the house had considerably deteriorated, and the then owner Sir Gyles Isham undertook major renovation works and allowed the ground floor to be opened to the public in 1974. When he died in 1976 he left the building and its contents to the Lamport Hall Preservation Trust, who care for the Hall and Gardens today.

In 2021 the trust caused controversy by advertising for musicians to perform for no fee at a dining event in the garden, although they did offer the musicians a hamper for performing. [3] The hall trust released an official apology, explaining it was meant as a showcase for amateur musicians. [4] [5]

Sir Charles Isham

Sir Charles Isham c. 1850. Sir Charles Isham circa 1850.jpg
Sir Charles Isham c. 1850.
Sir Charles Isham near the gates at Lamport Hall when he was aged about 80. Gates Lamport Hall 1898.jpg
Sir Charles Isham near the gates at Lamport Hall when he was aged about 80.

Charles Isham inherited Lamport Hall at about the age of 26 in 1846 when his elder brother Justinian died. He had a particular interest in gardening and his garden featured in many of the journals of that day. Of particular interest to many of the journalists was the rockery which still exists today. Some of the descriptions of this feature were as follows.

In 1872 the Journal of Horticulture, Cottage Gardener and Country Gentleman made the following comment.

This rockwork is the great feature of the gardening at Lamport, and is a striking evidence of Sir Charles Isham's fine taste and wonderful patience. The whole is his own handiwork, and has occupied a period of two and twenty years to bring it to its present high perfection. [6]

In 1897 the Gardeners Chronicle said

It may be said here that every stone of which the structure is composed has been placed in position by the owner himself, or by his direction, and in his presence. He has done the planting and no other person has anything to do with it unless by his instruction ... We should have been none the wiser had Sir Charles not explained that he had chiseled a small hole through the centre of the stone, and put soil into it, so that the roots of the plant could by that means reach the ground through the stone. No plant that grows quickly is a favorite for this structure. Everything is in miniature, and if the plants are not so naturally, then their cultivation is directed to that end. It is full of plant curiosities. A stunted individual that refuses to make free growth is just the kind of plant that is sought. Dwarf Conifers form one of its features, and Sir Charles has been at some trouble to procure them. Some of them are known to be upwards of seventy years old, and have not made more than 3 feet natural growth. [7]

This rockery was particularly noted for the gnomes that it housed. The magazine called The Garden contained the following description of them.

The caves and recesses with the fairy miners are another distinctive feature. These miniature figures (only a few inches high) are in various attitudes and in strange association with the dwarf trees. In one section they are on strike, hands in pockets, with a general aspect of disdain and indignation. [8]

Photos of the rockery and gnomes are shown in the gallery below.

One of the gnomes in this remarkable rockery survives and is on view at Lamport Hall today. A photo of the replica of this gnome is shown below.

The Library

In 1867 a number of rare volumes of Elizabethan prose and poetry were found in an attic. The story of the discovery was told on its centenary in the words of bookseller, Charles Edmond who observed the discovery would "warm the heart of the most cold-blooded bibliomaniac." [9] These included first editions bound in sheepskin by John Milton-- Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained. [10]

Lamport Hall was used to depict Clarence House in the Netflix series The Crown . The exterior was also used to double for the stables at Windsor Castle. [11]

Image gallery: The rockery and gnomes in 1897

See also

Isham baronets

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Garden gnome</span> Lawn ornament figurines

Garden gnomes are lawn ornament figurines of small humanoid creatures based on the mythological creature and diminutive spirit which occur in Renaissance magic and alchemy, known as gnomes. They also draw on the German folklore of the dwarf.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lamport, Northamptonshire</span> Human settlement in England

Lamport is a village and civil parish in West Northamptonshire, England. The village is on the A508, about 8 miles (13 km) south of Market Harborough and 8 miles (13 km) north of Northampton. Nearby is Lamport Hall. At the time of the 2001 census, the parish's population was 207 people, including Hanging Houghton and increasing to 225 at the 2011 Census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clevedon Court</span> Manor House on Court Hill in Clevedon, North Somerset, England

Clevedon Court is a manor house on Court Hill in Clevedon, North Somerset, England, dating from the early 14th century. It is owned by the National Trust and is designated as a Grade I listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burton Agnes Hall</span>

Burton Agnes Hall is an Elizabethan manor house in the village of Burton Agnes, near Driffield in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It was built by Sir Henry Griffith in 1601–10 to designs attributed to Robert Smythson. The older Norman Burton Agnes Manor House, originally built in 1173, still stands on an adjacent site; both buildings are now Grade I listed buildings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Isham baronets</span> Title in the Baronetage of England

The Isham Baronetcy, of Lamport in the County of Northampton, is a title in the Baronetage of England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Isham</span>

Sir Charles Edmund Isham, 10th Baronet was an English landowner and gardener based at Lamport Hall, Northampton. He is credited with beginning the tradition of garden gnomes in the United Kingdom when he introduced a number of terracotta figures from Germany in the 1840s. Nicknamed "Lampy", the only gnome of the original batch to survive is on display at Lamport Hall and insured for £1 million.

Isham is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sir Justinian Isham, 2nd Baronet</span>

Sir Justinian Isham, 2nd Baronet was an English scholar and royalist politician. He was also a Member of Parliament and an early member of the Royal Society.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Euseby Isham</span>

Rev. Euseby Isham, D.D. was an English academic administrator at the University of Oxford.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joan Carlile</span> British artist (c. 1606–1679)

Joan Carlile or Carlell or Carliell, was an English portrait painter. She was one of the first British women known to practise painting professionally. Before Carlile, known professional female painters working in Britain were born elsewhere in Europe, principally the Low Countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sir Thomas Isham, 3rd Baronet</span>

Sir Thomas Isham, 3rd Baronet of Lamport is known for a diary he wrote from 1671 to 1673 of his observations as a teenage member of the English aristocracy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sir Justinian Isham, 4th Baronet</span> English landowner and Tory politician

Sir Justinian Isham, 4th Baronet was an English landowner and Tory politician, who sat in the House of Commons almost continuously from 1685 until his death in 1730. He was the longest serving member, later termed Father of the House, from 1729 to 1730.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gyles Isham</span> British actor and historian

Sir Gyles Isham, 12th Baronet was an English aristocrat, actor, and historian.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sir Justinian Isham, 5th Baronet</span>

Sir Justinian Isham, 5th Baronet, of Lamport, Northamptonshire was a British Tory politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1730 to 1734.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sir Edmund Isham, 6th Baronet</span> British Tory Politician

Sir Edmund Isham, 6th Baronet was a Member of Parliament for several successive terms during the reigns of Kings George II and George III of Great Britain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sir John Isham, 1st Baronet</span>

Sir John Isham Bt (1582-1651) was High Sheriff of Northamptonshire and created the 1st hereditary Baronet of Lamport by King Charles I.

Elizabeth Isham (1609–1654) was an English intellectual, herbalist, and diarist. She is best known today for her two autobiographical diaries, which are among the earliest known examples of autobiography written by an Englishwoman. Although a wealthy woman, Anne Cotterill has said that for Isham her "mind was more to her than wealth".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sir Justinian Isham, 7th Baronet</span>

Sir Justinian Isham IV was the 7th Baronet of Lamport and served in 1776 as High Sheriff of Northamptonshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Finedon Hall</span>

Finedon Hall is a Victorian country house in Finedon, Northamptonshire. It is a Grade II listed building.

Bruce Anthony Bailey ALA FSA is an English author, architectural historian, archivist, librarian, freelance lecturer and photographer. He was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London on 1 January 2003. He lives near the village of Lowick, Northamptonshire, works as an archivist and librarian, and is a Trustee of the Northamptonshire Historic Churches Trust.

References

  1. Bruce A. Bailey, "Isham, Sir Charles Edmund, tenth baronet (1819–1903)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004
  2. 1 2 Pevsner, Nikolaus (1973) [1961]. Cherry, Bridget (ed.). Northamptonshire. The Buildings of England (2nd ed.). London: Penguin. p. 289. ISBN   0-14-0710-22-1.
  3. Odell, Carly (7 April 2021). "Northamptonshire country manor boss apologises for 'musicians to work for free' request after huge social media backlash". Northampton Chronicle and Echo. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  4. Herrod, Mark (9 April 2021). "Official apology from the Lamport Hall Preservation Trust" (PDF). Lamport Hall Preservation Trust. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  5. Journal of Horticulture, Cottage Gardener and Country Gentleman, 20 June 1872, p. 501. Online reference https://archive.org/stream/journalofhorticu1872lond#page/501/mode/1up
  6. The Gardeners' chronicle : a weekly illustrated journal of horticulture and allied subjects, vol 22 p. 209. Online reference https://archive.org/stream/gardenerschronic322lond#page/209/mode/1up
  7. The Garden: and illustrated weekly Journal of gardening in all its branches, 18 April 1903, p. 269. Online reference https://archive.org/stream/gardenillustrate6303lond#page/268/mode/1up
  8. Hallam, H.A.N. (1967). "Lamport Hall Revisted." The Book Collector 16 no 4 (Winter): 439-449.
  9. The Times, 27 November 1935; p11; The Sale Room Disposal Of Terry Library
  10. "Lamport Hall doubles as Clarence House in The Crown". BBC News. Retrieved 11 January 2024.