Belton House facts for kids
Belton House is a beautiful country house in Lincolnshire, England. It was built a long time ago, between 1685 and 1687, by Sir John Brownlow, 3rd Baronet. The house is surrounded by lovely gardens and a huge park with long paths leading to interesting buildings called follies. Belton House is considered a perfect example of a typical English country house from that time. Some people even say its main front inspired the signs on British motorways that point to historic homes!
For about 300 years, until 1984, Belton House was home to the Brownlow family. Even though Sir John Brownlow was very rich, he chose to build a house that was grand but not as huge as some of the palaces others were building. The house was built in a style called Carolean, which was popular in England then. It had the newest features, like sash windows, and was designed to keep the family's living areas separate from where the servants worked. Over the years, different family members made small changes inside the house, but its main look stayed the same.
During World War I and World War II, Belton House and its park were used by the military. In 1914, soldiers gathered there before going to war. Later, it became a training ground for the Machine Gun Corps. In World War II, it was a base for the RAF Regiment, with many personnel stationed there.
Like many wealthy families, the Cust family (who inherited Belton) faced money problems. The seventh Baron opened the estate to the public and even built an adventure playground to attract visitors. But it wasn't enough. In 1984, they gave the house and most of its contents to the National Trust, a charity that looks after historic places. The National Trust added new attractions and uses the house for filming and weddings to help pay for its care. In 2021, over 340,000 people visited Belton House.
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History of Belton House
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The Brownlow family, who were lawyers, started buying land in Lincolnshire in 1598. They bought the manor of Belton in 1609. King James I even stayed at the old manor house for a night in 1617!
The family's wealth grew, and in 1679, Sir John Brownlow I died without children. His great-nephew, also named John Brownlow, and his great-niece, Alice Sherard, inherited the estates. They married in 1676 when they were both 16.
Alice and John Brownlow wanted to be part of high society in London. So, they decided to build a grand new country house at Belton to show off their wealth. They started gathering materials and workers in 1684. The old manor house was carefully taken down so its parts could be reused. The first stone of Belton House was laid on March 23, 1685, and the outside was mostly finished by late 1686. The inside was completed in 1687.
Belton as a Private Home
The Brownlows moved into Belton House in November 1688. On October 29, 1695, King William III visited. He reportedly enjoyed his stay so much that he was too tired to eat the next day!
In 1697, Sir John Brownlow II died. His brother, William, inherited Belton, but he let Alice stay there until she died in 1721. Alice spent her time arranging good marriages for her five daughters. One daughter, Eleanor, married William's son, Sir John Brownlow III. John III, who became Viscount Tyrconnel, inherited Belton House after Alice died and updated the furniture.
Sir John Brownlow III also died without children in 1754. His sister Anne inherited Belton House and lived there until 1766. She then gave it to her son, John Cust, who was a Member of Parliament and later the Speaker of the House of Commons. He needed a grand home for his important job. John Cust died in 1770, and Belton went to his son, Brownlow Cust, who became Baron Brownlow in 1776.
Brownlow Cust made big changes to Belton House. He repaired the inside and hired architects to make it more modern. When he died in 1807, his son, John, became Earl Brownlow in 1815. The Earl also made changes to the house and its grounds.
The 3rd Earl Brownlow, who inherited Belton in 1867, preferred to live elsewhere but spent the late 1800s making Belton House look like it did in the 1600s again. The house was in good condition at the start of the 20th century, but then serious problems began.
In 1921, the 3rd Earl died without children. This meant his title ended, and his estates were inherited by the 5th Baron Brownlow. The family's land was losing value, and they had to pay high taxes after the Earl's death. This forced them to sell some of their other properties and art. More taxes came when the 5th Baron died in 1927, and the house went to his son, Peregrine. The 6th Lord Brownlow was involved in the 1936 event when Edward VIII gave up his throne. Edward VIII, who became the Duke of Windsor, visited Belton in the 1930s with his girlfriend, Wallis Simpson.
Belton House During the World Wars
Before World War I, Belton Park was often used for temporary army training camps. When the war started in 1914, the 3rd Earl Brownlow offered Belton House and its grounds to the government. The offer was accepted. In August 1914, Belton House and its park became a meeting point for the new 11th (Northern) Division before they went to war.
By April 1915, a small town was built on the estate for the soldiers. It had things like a YMCA, a cinema, and even its own railway line. In October 1915, the Machine Gun Corps set up their training ground in the southern part of Belton park. By 1922, the camp closed, and all the military buildings were taken down.
Belton was used for war service again during World War II. In March 1942, the main base for the RAF Regiment was set up in the park, called RAF Belton Park. It had buildings called Nissen huts. Belton Park also had a training unit for RAF Regiment officers. Two RAF Regiment squadrons were formed there in 1942. By November 1944, 1,850 people were based at Belton. After the war ended in 1945, the RAF Regiment changed its structure and left Belton in August 1946.
Belton House and the National Trust
After the wars, many large country houses were torn down because their owners couldn't afford them. Belton was lucky to survive. In 1961, the house was in bad shape, so the 6th Baron hired an architect to fix it. The roof was replaced, and repairs were made to the wood panels and other parts. They also tried to stop serious dry rot. In the 1950s, Belton was given a "Grade I listed building" status, meaning it's a very important historic building.
The seventh Baron tried to keep the house and estate by opening it to the public. An adventure playground was built in the nearby woods to attract families. However, the money problems were too big. In January 1984, he gave the house, garden, and some of its contents to the National Trust. The National Trust is a charity that manages historic properties.
The National Trust then bought more parkland and many of the remaining items from the house. A big priority for the Trust was to open a restaurant to earn money and encourage people to visit. The house and its contents are always being looked after and restored. The National Trust has also added new things, like a silver exhibition. They also earn money by letting films be shot there and by hosting weddings in the Marble Hall. Belton House was featured in the 1988 TV show Moondial and as "Rosings Park" in the BBC's 1995 TV show Pride and Prejudice.
Architecture of Belton House
Belton House is seen as a perfect example of English architecture from the late 1600s. It's like a smaller version of another famous house called Clarendon House. Belton House has two main floors above a lower basement level, and it has wings on the sides, making it look like an "H" shape from above. The outside of Belton House was built using 1.75 million bricks! It's covered with special stone from Lincolnshire. Later, some fancy decorations were added to the outside in the 1770s.
The second floor has windows that match the ones on the first floor. The newest type of windows, called sash windows, were used on both main floors. The basement and attic floors had older-style windows, showing that these areas were for servants or less important uses. This design clearly showed that the two main floors were for the family and important guests, while the staff and service areas were hidden away in the basement and attic. This idea of keeping servants out of sight was quite new at the time.
We don't know for sure who designed Belton House. Many people think it was William Winde. It was once thought that Christopher Wren designed it, but now experts believe Winde is the most likely architect. This is because Belton looks similar to another house Winde worked on. Also, Winde knew many of the skilled workers who built Belton.
John and Alice Brownlow hired some of the best craftsmen of their time. The main builder was William Stanton, who managed the whole project. The chief carpenter, John Sturges, had worked on other grand houses. The metalworker, John Warren, created the beautiful iron gates. These builders were so skilled that Winde might have only provided the main plans, leaving the details to the craftsmen on site. The stable block next to the house, which looks a bit simpler, was entirely built by Stanton.
Inside Belton House
The way the rooms are laid out at Belton was a bit old-fashioned for a grand house of its time. In Europe, it was becoming popular to have a set of "state rooms" for important guests, like a king. These rooms would be a living room, a dressing room, and a bedroom, all connected. Belton does have a main living room (called a saloon) in the middle, but it doesn't have these long lines of state rooms. This might be because the Brownlows were wealthy gentry, but not quite as high-ranking as the very top aristocracy. When King William III stayed at Belton, he used the "Best bedchamber," a large room directly above the main living room.
The design followed the idea that guest rooms and family rooms should be separate. The family lived in the rooms on the first and second floors of the west and east wings. The grand state rooms were in the center. The main staircase, which was designed to be impressive, was on the east side of the house. It was part of the route guests would take from the main hall to the dining room and bedroom upstairs.
The main entrance hall, reception rooms, and family bedrooms were on the ground and first floors. The lower basement had service rooms. The two main entrances to the house, in the middle of the north and south sides, had outdoor staircases leading up to them.
The most important room is the large Marble Hall (1) in the center of the south side. This hall is the start of a grand tour through the house. It has a black and white marble floor that looks like a checkerboard. In those days, the main hall was no longer where the whole household ate, but a grand entrance. The hall was originally decorated with 28 portraits of kings and queens, to make the family seem important. The Brownlow family portraits were hung in the Great Dining Room above. The room has beautiful wood panels, some with decorations by a famous carver named Grinling Gibbons. In the early 1800s, this room was updated, and the wood panels were painted to look like oak.
The Saloon (9) opens from the Marble Hall. This large room is the main reception room of the house. It still has its original marble fireplace and a fancy plaster ceiling, which is a copy of the original. The center of the room has a huge carpet made in 1839 for the 1st Earl Brownlow.
On either side of the Saloon are two smaller living rooms (8, 10). These would have been private rooms, away from the more public Marble Hall and Saloon. One of these, now called the Tyrconnel Room (10), was turned into a state bedroom for Lord Tyrconnel to create a more fashionable set of rooms. After he died in 1754, it became a Billiard Room. Later, the 3rd Earl Brownlow redecorated it. The floor is unusually painted with the family's coat of arms.
The Hondecoeter Room (16) is another large room on the first floor. It's named after three huge paintings by Melchior d'Hondecoeter that show birds in courtyards. These paintings are set into the wood panels. This room was made into the main dining room in 1876. It was originally a library in 1808, created from the upper part of the old kitchen. The West staircase (14) was once a simple service staircase, but by the late 1800s, the family used it regularly.
Next to the Marble Hall are the Great Staircase (2) and the Tapestry Room (11), which has a collection of tapestries from the early 1700s. The Great Staircase is unusual because it's not in the main hall. It goes up in three sections to the former Great Dining Room above the Marble Hall. So, the staircase was a grand path between the three main reception rooms. The Great Dining Room has been changed a lot, and all the old decorations are gone. It was originally a parlor, then a drawing room, and in 1876, it became a library. This room holds about 6,000 books, showing how much the family loved collecting books over 350 years.
Leading from the Library is the Queen's Room, which was once the "Best Bed Chamber." This room was redecorated in 1841 for a visit from Queen Adelaide, the widow of King William IV. It has a grand bed with the Queen's initials, "AR" (Adelaide Regina), embroidered on it. Other rooms on the second floor are mostly bedrooms. These include the Chinese Room with its original 18th-century hand-painted Chinese wallpaper, and the Windsor Bedroom, named because Edward VIII used it during the 1936 abdication crisis. Today, Belton has an exhibition about that event. The future Charles III also used this room often when he was a cadet nearby.
Gardens and Park
In 1690, Sir John Brownlow was allowed to create a park of about 1,000 acres and keep deer there. It seems some of this area had been a park since at least 1580. The park was designed with long paths, including the Eastern Avenue, which still exists today. Brownlow also had a large pond dug and planted many trees, including ash, oak, and fruit trees. It's thought that William Winde might have helped design the gardens.
Closer to the house were more formal gardens with canal ponds and symmetrical paths. By the late 1700s, these formal gardens were removed, and the canal ponds were filled in. Lord Tyrconnel added many of the interesting structures you can still see in the park and garden. Between 1742 and 1751, he built several "follies" (buildings made just for decoration), including a Gothic ruin, a waterfall, and a tower called the Bellmount Tower, which offered great views.
The 1st Earl Brownlow had architects work on the park too. They created the Italian Garden, with its Orangery (a greenhouse for orange trees) and the Lion Exedra (a curved bench with a statue). In 1838, more improvements were made, including a public house, cottages, a hermitage, and the boathouse. The gardens and park at Belton are considered very important historic sites.
The owners of Belton House are buried in the village church of St Peter and St Paul, which is close to the house. The Brownlow family tombs are one of the most complete sets of family memorials in England, showing generations of the family for almost 350 years.
Images for kids
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The "Italian garden", Orangery and Church. The Orangery and "Italian garden" were designed by Jeffry Wyatville in the early 19th century
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The Italian garden from the Orangery looking towards the "Lion Exedra"
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Looking from the east front of the house, along the Eastern Avenue, through the park towards Viscount Tyrconnel's Bellmount Tower, a belvedere built c. 1750
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Anthony Salvin's boathouse
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The funerary chapel of the owners of Belton House, in the Church of St Peter and St Paul adjacent to the mansion's garden
See also
In Spanish: Belton House para niños
