Smiles from everyone at the History Day at Lamport Hall
It was lovely to be able to meet up again with friends from around the county at the History Day on Saturday 9 October, which had been rescheduled from last year. And what a treat was in store for us!
Speakers (L-R): Neil Lyon, Bruce Bailey and Michael Brown with Hindsight editor, Enid Jarvis
Our first speaker was Bruce Bailey, archivist at Drayton House and for Althorp, but perhaps better known for his involvement with Pevsner’s ‘Buildings of England – Northamptonshire’. Bruce introduced us to the drawings of George Clarke and then gave an excellent presentation of the architectural history of the county’s great houses. Starting with Drayton, with its medieval origins and Elizabethan extension, through to Fawsley, Deene, Rushton Hall, Lyvedon and, of course, Lamport. Kirby Hall was highlighted as one of the county’s great treasures due to its innovative architecture. We learnt about the different styles, architects and builders enabling us to understand more about the history of these buildings.
** Click on the images above and below to view in a slideshow **
Michael Brown, a renowned garden historian then took us on a picturesque tour of the gardens of some of these homes. Lyvedon’s garden, like the house, was never completed but air photographs do show the archaeological remains and the National Trust has worked on restoring these. At Kirby, the medieval village was cleared to make way for the gardens and the 1587 map by Treswell of Holdenby showed how grand the gardens (and the house!) were at that time. Like houses, gardens went through various styles and fashions with water features and canals introduced at Boughton in the early 18th century.
Our third speaker was Neil Lyon who has undertaken much research on the effect of both World Wars on the county’s great houses. Unlike WW1, when the land-owning classes suffered great losses through losing sons and heirs and some estates were sold, the losses in WW2 were compounded by them being requisitioned by the War Office. At Apethorpe, the long gallery became a dormitory for 80 beds; Brockhall was taken over by the US in 1944; Finedon Hall was used by the Free French and, at Haselbech, Nissan huts were erected in the grounds. Lilford became a military hospital for the USAF with 1,500 Nissan huts in the park. Other homes and parks were used for officer training purposes and billets, maternity homes or had air bases built on estate lands.
Following the war and six years of occupation, many of the buildings were in a bad state. Not all managed to survive into the next decade. Those that did tended to be where the owners had remained on site and were able to keep a closer eye on its use (or abuse).
At the end of the morning, the Chairman, Martin Lawrence, made a presentation to Enid Jarvis, on behalf of the Forum, to thank her for 10 years as Editor of Hindsight.
Following an excellent buffet lunch, the afternoon was given over to exploring the rooms of Lamport Hall, the large gardens and the parish church opposite, the latter having many ornate memorials to members of the Isham family. The day ended with tea and (birthday) cakes to celebrate Jon-Paul’s birthday.
Thank you to the organising committee for arranging such an informative and interesting day.
Angela Malin
“My contemplations of The History Day at Lamport Hall are that it was a perfect special occasion, putting the past year behind us, meeting friends again in such a splendid setting in the heart of stunning Northamptonshire countryside, on a beautiful autumn day. We were treated to superb speakers, provided with excellent refreshments throughout the day and all the teams at Lamport made us so welcome.”
History Day Hindsight presentation
Enid Jarvis, editor of Hindsight with Forum chair, Martin Lawrence
The Heritage Forum History Day 2021, held at Lamport Hall, had the theme, ‘Aspects of Northamptonshire Country Houses’. The Forum committee decided this was an appropriate occasion to make a presentation to Enid Jarvis, the editor of the Forum journal, ‘Hindsight’. Enid took over the editorship in 2011 and the committee were keen to mark this 10th anniversary. Enid was presented with a voucher for afternoon tea for two at Rushton Hall, a house which had been discussed by the speakers during the morning talks. The audience showed their appreciation of Enid’s contribution to the Forum with warm applause, and many people congratulated her during the afternoon.
Martin Lawrence
Chair
