Island Hall is a

Grade II* listed 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 ...

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 ...

mansion A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word '' manse'' originally defined a property l ...

located near the

River Great Ouse The River Great Ouse () is a river in England, the longest of several British rivers called "Ouse". From Syresham in Northamptonshire, the Great Ouse flows through Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk to drain into the Wa ...

in Godmanchester,

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and North ...

, England.

History

Named after a two-acre ornamental island on the River Great Ouse, the house was built in 1749 as a combined 21st birthday and wedding present for John Jackson, the

receiver general A receiver general (or receiver-general) is an officer responsible for accepting payments on behalf of a government, and for making payments to a government on behalf of other parties. See also * Treasurer * Receiver General for Canada * Recei ...

for Huntingdonshire, and his family. He sold it to Jacob Julian Baumgartner in 1804 for 2,000 guineas in order to pay his debts. It remained a family house until 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 ...

, where it was requisitioned and used by the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

Women's Auxiliary Air Force The Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF), whose members were referred to as WAAFs (), was the female auxiliary of the Royal Air Force during World War II. Established in 1939, WAAF numbers exceeded 180,000 at its peak strength in 1943, with over 2 ...

and Pathfinder squadron in 1942. The garden was used for Nissen huts. After the war, the building became the property of the

Huntingdonshire District Council Huntingdonshire District Council is the local authority for the district of Huntingdonshire in Cambridgeshire, England. Based in Huntingdon, it forms the lower part of the two tier system of local government in the district, below Cambridgeshire ...

under the Emergency Housing Act and was converted into 15

council flats A council house is a form of British Public housing in the United Kingdom, public housing built by Local government in the United Kingdom, local authorities. A council estate is a building complex containing a number of council houses and othe ...

. During the 1977 Firemen's Strike, a fire broke out on the ground floor. It was brought under control, but broke out again during the night, severely damaging the south wing. The main body of the house was unaffected. After the fire in 1979, the house was sold to the Heritage family, who initiated a major restoration process. The Nissen huts and internal partitions were removed from the garden and building, respectively, and the fire damage was cleaned up. The custodianship of Island Hall in December 2020 has passed to Grace Vane Percy and her family who continuous the renovation and restoration of this historic family home.

Bridge

A Chinese style bridge, being Godmanchester's first, connects Island Hall with the island that it was named after. The bridge was built around the same time as the building.

Access

The house and gardens are now privately owned.

References

External links

*{{Official website, https://www.islandhall.com Buildings and structures in Cambridgeshire Country houses in Cambridgeshire Grade II* listed buildings in Cambridgeshire Grade II* listed houses