Stanwick Park (also known as Stanwick Hall) was a

Palladian Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...

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 ...

Stanwick St John Stanwick St John is a village, civil parish, former manor and ecclesiastical parish in the Richmondshire district of North Yorkshire, (formerly "North Riding" of Yorkshire), England. It is situated between the towns of Darlington and Richm ...

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...

, England. It was re-built by the 1st Duke of Northumberland, a great patron of the arts, , mostly to his own designs. The duke's principal seat was Alnwick Castle in Northumberland, thus Stanwick Park was always a secondary residence. The 1st Duke furnished the interior of the house with many works of art, including paintings by Canaletto. As a secondary seat, the house was often allocated to a dowager duchess of Northumberland. During 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 ...

, the house served as a military hospital. Following the end of the war, it remained empty. In 1918, on the death of 7th Duke of Northumberland, his heirs became liable for large

death duties An inheritance tax is a tax paid by a person who inherits money or property of a person who has died, whereas an estate tax is a levy on the estate (money and property) of a person who has died. International tax law distinguishes between an es ...

, and as a consequence in 1922 the 8th Duke of Northumberland sold the estate. The house was demolished in 1923. For many years, before the First World War, the house had been the residence of

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. The duchess lived at the house for 40 years until her death in 1911. She became so attached to the estate that she chose to be buried in the village church, which she had rebuilt by Salvin, rather than in the Northumberland vault in

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...

. During her occupancy of the house, the gardens were expanded and developed, these included an Italian garden also designed by Salvin. During this period, the gardens were renowned for their glasshouses producing what at the time were considered rare and exotic fruits such as bananas, peaches, grapes, figs and nectarines; some varieties such as the "Stanwick nectarine" were propagated and bred on the estate. The "Stanwick nectarine" was introduced to the United Kingdom by the diplomat John Barker. The interior of the house contained many fine 18th-century features; before the demolition, some of the decorations and

motif Motif may refer to: General concepts * Motif (chess composition), an element of a move in the consideration of its purpose * Motif (folkloristics), a recurring element that creates recognizable patterns in folklore and folk-art traditions * Moti ...

s were removed. Three of the rooms were removed completely and are today believed by some to be those in the

Minneapolis Institute of Arts The Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia) is an arts museum located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. Home to more than 90,000 works of art representing 5,000 years of world history, Mia is one of the largest art museums in the United State ...

. Comparisons with the extant photographs of the house interiors cast doubt upon this, and the links are doubtful; the director of the institute visited Alnwick in the 1930s to check on the provenance, but no record seems to exist of his ultimate findings. A firm called Robersons in London were in this relocation business. It seems possible that since there were 22 rooms from different houses being traded, of which only three were offered from Stanwick, there may have been an error. Museums in Roslyn, New York, and

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, as well as the collection of

William Randolph Hearst William Randolph Hearst Sr. (; April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American businessman, newspaper publisher, and politician known for developing the nation's largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications. His flamboya ...

are also alleged to have Stanwick rooms.The lost Stanwick Hall

Notes

References

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External links

* {{coord, 54.49759, -1.715872, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Demolished buildings and structures in England Country houses in North Yorkshire British country houses destroyed in the 20th century Buildings and structures demolished in 1923