Goddards House and Garden
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Goddards House and Garden is an
Arts and Crafts A handicraft, sometimes more precisely expressed as artisanal handicraft or handmade, is any of a wide variety of types of work where useful and decorative objects are made completely by one’s hand or by using only simple, non-automated re ...
house in
Dringhouses Dringhouses is a suburb, formerly a village, in York, in the unparished area of York, in the York district, in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is bounded by the Knavesmir ...
,
York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
, England. It was built in 1927 for Noel and Kathleen Terry of the famed chocolate-manufacturing family
Terry's Terry's is a British chocolate and confectionery maker, formerly based in York, England, until 2005, and re-established in 2019 as Terry's Chocolate Co and based in London. The company was founded in 1767. The company's headquarters and fact ...
with the house designed by local architect
Walter Brierley Walter Henry Brierley (1862–1926) was a York architect who practised in the city for 40 years. He is known as "the Yorkshire Lutyens" or the "Lutyens of the North". He is also credited with being a leading exponent of the "Wrenaissance" ...
and the garden by George Dillistone. The
National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...
acquired the property in 1984 to use as regional offices and the garden and parts of the house are open to visitors with displays telling the story of the family and their confectionery business. The house is a Grade I
listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
and the carriage entrance to the property is Grade II* listed.


Design


House

Goddards was the last major project of Walter Brierley who died in 1926 whilst the house was still under construction. His own home (the Grade II* listed Bishopsbarns) in St George's Place, York, was in the same street that Noel and Kathleen Terry lived in and from Goddards. One of the notable architectural features of the house is the
vaulted ceiling In architecture, a vault (French ''voûte'', from Italian ''volta'') is a self-supporting arched form, usually of stone or brick, serving to cover a space with a ceiling or roof. As in building an arch, a temporary support is needed while ring ...
in the drawing room which is similar to Brierley's own home with the
plasterwork Plasterwork is construction or ornamentation done with plaster, such as a layer of plaster on an interior or exterior wall structure, or plaster Molding (decorative), decorative moldings on ceilings or walls. This is also sometimes called parge ...
in both houses attributed to George Bankart, probably George P Bankart in both cases, rather than his son George E Bankart, with whom he wrote books about the craft. The
National Heritage List for England The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, an ...
describes Goddards as “the finest surviving example of the work of Walter Brierley, the Lutyens of the north”, and it still retains many of the original fixtures including its Arts and Crafts wallpapers and panelling and the staircase with its oak carving. The exterior of the house features handmade locally produced bricks arranged in geometric patterns and decorative chimney stacks typical of a Brierley building. Goddards was built by William Anelay whose initial estimate for the project, including the carriage entrance, was £25,980 (), however the work suffered a number of delays and was not finished until after the family had moved into the house. Copies of the original plans are displayed in the house.


Garden

In 1925 George Dillistone, a landscape architect from
Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in Kent, England, southeast of central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the Weald, High Weald, whose sandstone geology is exemplified by the rock formation High Roc ...
who worked with
Lutyens Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens ( ; 29 March 1869 – 1 January 1944) was an English architect known for imaginatively adapting traditional architectural styles to the requirements of his era. He designed many English country houses, war memoria ...
at
Castle Drogo Castle Drogo is a country house and mixed-revivalist castle near Drewsteignton, Devon, England. Constructed between 1911 and 1930, it was the last castle to be built in England. The client was Julius Drewe, the hugely successful founder of the ...
, was hired to design the garden at Goddards. The design evolved over a number of years and plans were still being developed as late as 1935, by which time Dillistone had become vice-president of the
Institute of Landscape Architects The Landscape Institute (LI) is a UK based professional body for the landscape profession. Its membership includes landscape architects, urban designers, landscape planners, landscape scientists and landscape managers. The LI also has a catego ...
. In keeping with the style of the house, the four acre garden at Goddards was divided into several distinct areas, including a terrace and a series of rooms separated by shrubs, hedges and a
herbaceous border A herbaceous border is a collection of perennial herbaceous plants (plants that live for more than two years and are soft-stemmed and non-woody) arranged closely together, usually to create a dramatic effect through colour, shape or large scale. ...
; all of these elements illustrate the Arts and Crafts nature of the garden. The enclosures included a
tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
court (restored in 2016) and a
bowling green A bowling green is a finely laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of turf for playing the game of bowls. Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding of Thrupp, near Stroud, UK, invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep on ...
used as a
croquet Croquet ( or ; french: croquet) is a sport that involves hitting wooden or plastic balls with a mallet through hoops (often called "wickets" in the United States) embedded in a grass playing court. Its international governing body is the Wor ...
lawn. The centrepiece of the garden is a cruciform lily pool which is fed from a semi-circular
reflecting pool A reflecting pool, also called a reflection pool, is a water feature found in gardens, parks, and memorial sites. It usually consists of a shallow pool of water, undisturbed by fountain jets, for a reflective surface. Design Reflecting pools are ...
and was originally surrounded by a rose garden. Beyond this area the garden slopes downwards to
York Racecourse York Racecourse is a horse racing venue in York, North Yorkshire, England. It is the third biggest racecourse in Britain in terms of total prize money offered, and second behind Ascot Racecourse, Ascot in prize money offered per meeting. It att ...
, (
Knavesmire The Knavesmire is one of a number of large, marshy undeveloped areas within the city of York in North Yorkshire, England, which are collectively known as '' Strays''. Knavesmire, together with Hob Moor, comprises Micklegate Stray. It has bee ...
) across which it was possible to walk to where, in 1926, Terry's had built their
factory A factory, manufacturing plant or a production plant is an industrial facility, often a complex consisting of several buildings filled with machinery, where workers manufacture items or operate machines which process each item into another. T ...
, with its distinctive
clock tower Clock towers are a specific type of structure which house a turret clock and have one or more clock faces on the upper exterior walls. Many clock towers are freestanding structures but they can also adjoin or be located on top of another buildi ...
visible from the garden. Typical of this style of garden the landscaping becomes less formal further from the house with paths leading down through a
rock garden A rock garden, also known as a rockery and formerly as a rockwork, is a garden, or more often a part of a garden, with a landscaping framework of rocks, stones, and gravel, with planting appropriate to this setting. Usually these are small A ...
at the far end of the garden. The wildlife in the garden included a colony of midwife toads, also referred to as bell toads, and it was once home to a number of exotic pets including
axolotl The axolotl (; from nci, āxōlōtl ), ''Ambystoma mexicanum'', is a paedomorphic salamander closely related to the tiger salamander. Axolotls are unusual among amphibians in that they reach adulthood without undergoing metamorphosis. Instea ...
s and green lizards which were introduced into the garden in the early 1930s. In 2016 the National Trust revealed plans to recreate the original planting schemes drawn up by Dillistone almost ninety years earlier.


Carriage entrance

Brierley was also the architect for the Grade II* listed
gatehouse A gatehouse is a type of fortified gateway, an entry control point building, enclosing or accompanying a gateway for a town, religious house, castle, manor house, or other fortification building of importance. Gatehouses are typically the mos ...
at the entrance to Goddards, a red brick structure with staircase
turret Turret may refer to: * Turret (architecture), a small tower that projects above the wall of a building * Gun turret, a mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon * Objective turret, an indexable holder of multiple lenses in an optical microscope * Mi ...
s which incorporates a flat roofed motor house. It was originally the home of the Terry's chauffeur and remains in residential use.


The Terry Family at Goddards

Noel Terry (1889–1980) was the great-grandson of Joseph Terry, the first
Terry Terry is a unisex given name, derived from French Thierry and Theodoric. It can also be used as a diminutive nickname for the names Teresa or Theresa (feminine) or Terence (given name), Terence or Terrier (masculine). People Male * Terry Albrit ...
of the family confectionery business. Noel was brought up at Trentholme, the home of his maternal grandfather, located north of Goddards, and opposite the Elmbank Hotel which, at the time, was the home of Sidney Leetham, an uncle of Kathleen Leetham (1892–1980). The Leetham family were owners of a large flour-milling business in the Hungate area of York. Kathleen lived at Aldersyde, a large house that her father Henry Ernest Leetham commissioned in 1895 and which is located south of Goddards. Noel and Kathleen married in 1915 having overcome the objections of her father who had initially opposed their relationship. Soon after the marriage Noel was sent to France due to the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
and in 1916 was wounded at the
Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme ( French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place bet ...
whilst serving with the 5th
West Yorkshire Regiment ) , march = ''Ça Ira'' , battles = Namur FontenoyFalkirk Culloden Brandywine , anniversaries = Imphal (22 June) The West Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of Wales's Own) (14th Foot) was ...
. After he returned home they started a family together and by 1925 had two sons, Peter and Kenneth, a daughter, Betty, and plans to move to a larger house. From 1927 Goddards would become the family home of the Terry's and their children - with their youngest son Richard being born the following year. The name of the house came from Noel Terry's middle name, which was that of his grandmother, Frances Goddard, first wife of Sir Joseph Terry. By the 1930s Noel had become a managing director at Terry's and it was at this time that the company introduced two of their most famous products –
Terry's All Gold Terry's All Gold was an assorted chocolate box originally made by Terry's, subsequently by Carambar & Co and discontinued in 2020. Introduction The archives of Kraft Foods/Mondelēz International, who owned the Terry's brand between 1993 and 2 ...
and the
Chocolate Orange Terry's Chocolate Orange is a chocolate product created by Terry's in 1932 at Terry's Chocolate Works in York, England. The brand has changed ownership several times, and production was moved to Eastern Europe in 2005. Since 2018, the Terry' ...
. When production was interrupted by the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
Noel became a Controller with the
Royal Observer Corps The Royal Observer Corps (ROC) was a civil defence organisation intended for the visual detection, identification, tracking and reporting of aircraft over Great Britain. It operated in the United Kingdom between 29 October 1925 and 31 December ...
and was awarded an
MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...
in 1943. His son Kenneth served in the RAF and was awarded the DFC in 1942. He died in 1944 and is commemorated on the local war memorial (also by Brierley). Noel continued to work at Terry's until 1970, and his son Peter, who had joined Terry's in 1945, became deputy managing director. Although the house was built in the Arts and Crafts style it would become furnished with a large assortment of
Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...
furniture and clocks which Noel Terry collected throughout his life. It is thought that his enthusiasm in antiques was partly inspired by his father-in-law who had been a collector of porcelain and jade. His interest in history also led to his involvement with
York Civic Trust York Civic Trust is a membership organisation and a registered charity based in York, UK. Its primary function is to "preserve, protect and advise on the historic fabric of York". It is based in Fairfax House. Foundation York Civic Trust was fo ...
, of which he was honorary treasurer for many years. After Noel and Kathleen died in 1980 Noel's collection was put on display at
Fairfax House Fairfax House is a Georgian townhouse located at No. 27, Castlegate, York, England, near Clifford's Tower and York Castle Museum. It was probably built in the early 1740s for a local merchant and in 1759 it was purchased by Charles Gregory Fai ...
, in York, a
Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...
house museum renovated by the Civic Trust.


Family connections

Kathleen's sister Constance Leetham Terry was one of the first women to be admitted to
The Physiological Society The Physiological Society, founded in 1876, is a learned society for physiologists Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organism ...
in 1915. She was married to Noel's brother
J. E. Harold Terry Joseph Edward Harold Terry (1885–1939) was an English novelist, playwright, actor and critic who was born in York. He was a nephew of the actor Eille Norwood. and a grandson of Sir Joseph Terry. and became famous for writing two of the longe ...
, a novelist and playwright. Noel's sister Kathleen Betsy married Air Marshal Jack Baldwin


National Trust era

When the National Trust took over Goddards it was initially only for use as regional offices rather than a visitor attraction. However, the garden was opened to the public in 2006 and the house in 2012. The rooms contain period furniture which is used to recreate the atmosphere of the 1930s when the house was at its busiest and the family business at its zenith. As well as owning a chocolate factory Terry's also had its own tearoom and shop in York, whose cakes are the inspiration for food now served in the dining room at Goddards. Exhibits at Goddards include decorative packaging from Terry's chocolates and a scale model of the Terry's factory. In 2014 and 2015 Goddards was listed as a finalist in the 'Visitor Attraction of the Year (Under 50,000 Visitors)' category of the VisitYork Tourism Awards. In 2016 the National Trust put forward plans to expand the catering facilities and use more of the house to display its collection of chocolate memorabilia, citing the increase in visitor numbers between 2011 (5,608), before the house opened, and 2015/16 (24,500) as a reason for the proposed change. The National Trust closed the property at the end of October 2016 for conservation and maintenance work and it re-opened in April 2017. The property closed to the public in March 2020, with only the gardens subsequently reopening for selected visitor days.


References


External links


National Trust page for GoddardsFairfax House - Noel Terry CollectionArt UK - National Trust, Goddards
{{Terry's, state=collapsed Arts and Crafts architecture in England Grade I listed buildings in York Grade I listed houses Historic house museums in North Yorkshire National Trust properties in North Yorkshire