Westholme House
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Westholme House is a historic building in the English
market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...
of
Sleaford Sleaford is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the North Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. Centred on the former parish of New Sleaford, the modern boundaries and urban area include Quarrington, Lincolnshire, ...
in
Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...
, set in 32 acres of parkland and school grounds. Built around 1849 in the style of a French
Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
mansion by Charles Kirk for his business partner
Thomas Parry Thomas Parry may refer to: * Thomas Parry (Comptroller of the Household) (c. 1515–1560), serving Queen Elizabeth I of England * Thomas Parry (ambassador) (1541–1616), English MP, ambassador to France and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster * T ...
, it was privately owned until the 1940s, when
Kesteven County Council Kesteven County Council was the county council of Parts of Kesteven in the east of England. It came into its powers on 1 April 1889 and was abolished on 1 April 1974. The county council was based at the County Offices in Sleaford. It was amalgama ...
acquired the house and its grounds. It subsequently served as the county library and part of Sleaford Secondary Modern School (later
St George's Academy St George's Academy is a co-educational comprehensive secondary school based in the English market town of Sleaford in Lincolnshire, with a satellite school at nearby Ruskington. Its origins date to 1908, when Sleaford Council School opened ...
). The stone house follows an asymmetrical layout and incorporates a range of Gothic elements in its design. In 1974, it was recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II
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 ...
, recognising it as of "special interest".


History

Prior to the
enclosure Enclosure or Inclosure is a term, used in English landownership, that refers to the appropriation of "waste" or " common land" enclosing it and by doing so depriving commoners of their rights of access and privilege. Agreements to enclose land ...
of Sleaford in 1794, the lands that later became the Westholme estate were mostly open fields. The largest was Puddingpan Race behind the houses on Westgate, thought to be named for the muddy puddles that formed there. That field was bounded to the north by Drove Lane, a track running to
South Rauceby South Rauceby is a village and civil parish in the North Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated west from Sleaford. The village of North Rauceby is less than to the north. The 2001 Census recorded a village population of 3 ...
, and parts of the future estate also included "Millgatemere Furlong" to the north west and claypits to the north east. Following the enclosure, Drove Lane was straightened and moved northwards by a third of a mile; the old open fields were reorganised within this new space, producing straight, geometric boundary lines. The future Westholme grounds were divided up between several land-owners, including Lord Bristol and
Benjamin Handley Benjamin Handley (9 January 1784 – 16 May 1858) was an English soldier and Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1832 to 1835. His family were prominent in Lincolnshire during the 18th and 19th Centuries. Biography Handley wa ...
.


Private ownership

Thomas Parry Thomas Parry may refer to: * Thomas Parry (Comptroller of the Household) (c. 1515–1560), serving Queen Elizabeth I of England * Thomas Parry (ambassador) (1541–1616), English MP, ambassador to France and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster * T ...
(1818−1879), an architect, builder and future
Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
for
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
, had purchased the estate by 1846; he employed his business partner and brother-in-law, Charles Kirk the younger, to design Westholme House on the site for him; their firm
Kirk and Parry Kirk and Parry were an architectural and civil engineering practice in Sleaford that specialised in the design of public buildings, housing and the construction of Railways. The practice was initially founded by Charles Kirk (senior) (1791–18 ...
completed the mansion around 1849. Parry moved in with his wife, mother and sister, and employed two servants; by 1871, two domestic workers had been added to his household. Parry died in 1879 followed by his wife, Henrietta, in 1882. Henry Peake (1821–1886) and his family were occupying Westholme by 1883. Peake was a solicitor who served as clerk to the county magistrates, and was a partner in the local law firm Peake, Snow and Peake, along with his son Henry Arthur Peake. The partnership had connections with Kirk and Parry, and Peake married Eliza, a daughter of Charles Kirk the elder. After his death, Peake's sons, George Herbert and Henry Arthur, successively occupied the house in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. 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 ...
, Henry Arthur and his wife, Alice Ann, lost three of their sons in battle. In 1923, Henry Arthur died while staying at
Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...
. He and his wife were planning to sell Westholme and move to
Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...
before his death; she did so and died there in 1933. The businessman and Liberal politician
Samuel Pattinson Samuel Pattinson (17 December 1870 – 15 November 1942) was a British businessman and Liberal politician. Early life and family Samuel Pattinson was born on 17 December 1870 in Ruskington, the son of a contractor and businessman, William Pa ...
(1870–1942) lived at the house from at least 1924. His wife, Betsy Sharpley Pattinson, also died in 1942 and their trustees auctioned off the furniture at Westholme two years later.


Public ownership

Westholme was occupied by the military during 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 ...
.
Kesteven County Council Kesteven County Council was the county council of Parts of Kesteven in the east of England. It came into its powers on 1 April 1889 and was abolished on 1 April 1974. The county council was based at the County Offices in Sleaford. It was amalgama ...
had acquired the property and its parkland by 1945 and proposed to use it for educational purposes. The council wanted to convert the house into Kesteven County Library, but it had to wait for the War Department to agree to pay fees for "dilapidations" caused during its occupancy. The Department provisionally agreed on £1,276 16s in 1947 and the library was operating at the house by 1949. A
Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes The Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes (NAAFI ) is a company created by the British government on 9 December 1920 to run recreational establishments needed by the British Armed Forces, and to sell goods to servicemen and their families. It runs c ...
(NAAFI) canteen at the site supplied school meals after the war; and in 1947 the council bought a series of huts on the site from the War Department. The parkland at Westholme was used as playing fields for students at Sleaford Secondary Modern School in the late 1940s, and the school acquired
HORSA Hengist and Horsa are Germanic peoples, Germanic brothers said to have led the Angles, Saxons and Jutes in their invasion of Great Britain, Britain in the 5th century. Tradition lists Hengist as the first of the Jutish kings of Kingdom of Kent ...
huts at Westholme to use as classrooms in the 1950s. A metalwork room and sports pavilion were added and Westholme Lodge was also taken over by the school during that decade. Earlier post-war plans had envisaged a separate secondary modern for girls being built on the site and Kesteven and Sleaford High School being rebuilt there, but in 1957 the County Council proposed building a new mixed secondary modern at Westholme instead. In 1961, a new school building at Westholme had opened with an assembly hall, five classes and kitchens. The secondary modern continued operating there alongside its original buildings on Church Lane."Sleaford County Secondary School", 1960, B/W silent film on 16mm film (23 mins). Preserved at the Lincolnshire Film Archive
no. 495
In 1983, an extension to the Westholme block opened, allowing the school to close the old site; new teaching blocks were then built around the grounds. The school changed its name to St George's School in 1984, became a technology college in 1992 and converted to
St George's Academy St George's Academy is a co-educational comprehensive secondary school based in the English market town of Sleaford in Lincolnshire, with a satellite school at nearby Ruskington. Its origins date to 1908, when Sleaford Council School opened ...
in 2010."Brief History", ''St. George's College of Technology'', as archived at the
Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...
o
11 December 2009
The house continued to be used by the library service into the 1980s, but by the next decade, had become the school's
sixth form In the education systems of England, Northern Ireland, Wales, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepare for A-l ...
base and an adult education centre."Reference Name LCL24620"
''Lincs to the Past'' (Lincolnshire Archives). Retrieved 1 April 2015.
As a result of major rebuilding work at St George's in 2011–12, a new sixth form centre opened and Westholme House was converted into the school's administrative centre.


Architecture

Charles Kirk and Thomas Parry were builders and architects in Sleaford; their company prospered in the mid-19th century and was responsible for a number of civic, religious and corporate buildings in the town, including the gas works,
Carre's Grammar School Carre's Grammar School is a selective secondary school for boys in Sleaford, a market town in Lincolnshire, England. Founded on 1 September 1604 by an indenture of Robert Carre, the school was funded by rents from farmland and run by a group ...
and Carre's Hospital."Journal and Account Book of Charles Kirk, of Sleaford, builder and architect (ref. name MISC DON 1015)"
''Lincs to the Past ''(Lincolnshire Archives). Retrieved 14 December 2014.
Westholme has been called their "most cheerfully inventive" building; built in the style of a Gothic château, Pevsner described the mansion as "an ebullient essay in French
5th century The 5th century is the time period from 401 ( CDI) through 500 ( D) ''Anno Domini'' (AD) or Common Era (CE) in the Julian calendar. The 5th century is noted for being a period of migration and political instability throughout Eurasia. It saw the ...
domestic Gothic." The two-storey house is built in coursed stone with steep, Welsh slate roofing. Its asymmetrical design incorporates an eclectic range of Gothic elements, including tall, polygonal chimney stacks, a four-centred arch doorway, dragon motifs and carved
pinnacle A pinnacle is an architectural element originally forming the cap or crown of a buttress or small turret, but afterwards used on parapets at the corners of towers and in many other situations. The pinnacle looks like a small spire. It was mainly ...
s. The eastern façade includes two gables with a tall four-centred arch window. To the right is a tower of three-storeys with a pointed roof which connects to a projecting bay of two storeys. The bay incorporates a stack of three square windows topped with a
Flamboyant Flamboyant (from ) is a form of late Gothic architecture that developed in Europe in the Late Middle Ages and Renaissance, from around 1375 to the mid-16th century. It is characterized by double curves forming flame-like shapes in the bar-tr ...
arch, two hipped roofs with decorative spikes, and three chimneys. The rear is more simple; the windows are mullioned and most are square, except for three
bay windows A bay window is a window space projecting outward from the main walls of a building and forming a bay in a room. Types Bay window is a generic term for all protruding window constructions, regardless of whether they are curved or angular, or r ...
. It has two wings laid out like half an "H", which each have a gable and
embattled A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (i.e., a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at interva ...
parapets.See photograph a
"Reference Name LCL24620"
''Lincs to the Past'' (Lincolnshire Archives). Retrieved 1 April 2015.
The site also houses a
Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
stable-block, which Sir
Nikolaus Pevsner Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (1 ...
considered "charming", and two
Tudor-style Tudor Revival architecture (also known as mock Tudor in the UK) first manifested itself in domestic architecture in the United Kingdom in the latter half of the 19th century. Based on revival of aspects that were perceived as Tudor architecture ...
lodges. These outbuildings incorporate medieval stone fragments probably retained by Kirk during church restorations. A stretch of wall in the grounds is 100m long and made up of stone fragments, many Gothic, which were also most likely taken from church restorations conducted by Kirk and Parry. One of the lodges, the stable-block and the wall have their own Grade II listings.


See also

*
Listed buildings in Sleaford Sleaford is a market town and civil parish in the North Kesteven district of the non-metropolitan county of Lincolnshire, England. This list includes the 181 listed buildings in the civil parish of Sleaford, which incorporates the village of Q ...


References

;Notes ;Citations ;Bibliography * * * * * * * * * * *


External links

* {{Good article Houses in Lincolnshire Grade II listed houses Grade II listed buildings in Lincolnshire Sleaford