Lingholm is a

country house An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...

just outside

Portinscale Portinscale is a village in Cumbria, England, close to the western shore of Derwentwater in the Lake District National Park from Keswick. Portinscale is in the civil parish of Above Derwent, the district of Allerdale, the county of Cumbria, ...

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumb ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

History

The house was built in 1871–1875 for Lt-Col James Fenton Greenall (1834–1899), of the Greenall brewing family, Commanding Officer of the 9th Lancashire Rifle Volunteers, at a cost of £15,700 by

Alfred Waterhouse Alfred Waterhouse (19 July 1830 – 22 August 1905) was an English architect, particularly associated with the Victorian Gothic Revival architecture, although he designed using other architectural styles as well. He is perhaps best known f ...

. In 1900 it was purchased by the family of

George Kemp, 1st Baron Rochdale George Kemp, 1st Baron Rochdale, (9 June 1866 – 24 March 1945) was a British politician, soldier, businessman and cricketer. Education and business career Kemp was born at Beechwood, Rochdale, Lancashire, and educated at Shrewsbury and Mill ...

. They commissioned Bertram Symons-Jeune to design the

water garden Water garden or aquatic garden, is a term sometimes used for gardens, or parts of gardens, where any type of water feature is a principal or dominant element. The primary focus is on plants, but they will sometimes also house waterfowl, or orn ...

at Lingholm. Between 1885 and 1907,

Beatrix Potter Helen Beatrix Potter (, 28 July 186622 December 1943) was an English writer, illustrator, natural scientist, and conservationist. She is best known for her children's books featuring animals, such as ''The Tale of Peter Rabbit'', which was he ...

spent her summer holidays at Lingholm, where she wrote some of her best-known stories. Beatrix credited The Lingholm Kitchen Garden as her original inspiration for Mr McGregor's Garden in ''

The Tale of Peter Rabbit ''The Tale of Peter Rabbit'' is a children's book written and illustrated by Beatrix Potter that follows mischievous and disobedient young Peter Rabbit as he gets into, and is chased around, the garden of Mr. McGregor. He escapes and returns ho ...

''. She also wrote ''

The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin ''The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin'' is a children's book written and illustrated by Beatrix Potter and first published by Frederick Warne & Co. in August 1903. The story is about an impertinent red squirrel named Nutkin and his narrow escape from ...

'' and the first draft of ''The Tale of Mrs Tiggy-Winkle'' whilst staying at Lingholm. During

World War I 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 ...

, the house was used as a hospital for wounded officers. As a result of

's connection and its unique design by a well respected architect, Lingholm was listed Grade II on 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 ...

in 2013.

References

External links

*{{Official, https://thelingholmestate.co.uk/ Alfred Waterhouse buildings Country houses in Cumbria Grade II listed houses in Cumbria Houses completed in 1875