Lotherton Hall facts for kids
Lotherton Hall is a beautiful old country house near Aberford in West Yorkshire, England. It's not far from the A1(M) motorway, about 200 miles from both London and Edinburgh. Lotherton Hall is one of nine places managed by the Leeds Museums & Galleries group.
A house has stood on this spot since at least 1775. The Gascoigne family owned Lotherton Hall for many years. In 1968, Sir Alvary Gascoigne and his wife gave the hall and its parkland to the City of Leeds. It opened to the public on August 6, 1969. This was exactly 25 years after Sir Alvary's only son, Douglas Gascoigne, was sadly killed in a tank battle during World War II.
The estate is now home to many different kinds of birds and a group of red deer. There's a big grassy area in front of the bird garden, perfect for games and picnics in the summer. Another field is used for special events, like an annual motorcycle show.
The hall was greatly changed and updated during the Victorian and Edwardian times. It has an amazing art collection, including many items given by the Gascoigne family. Since becoming a museum in 1968, more beautiful art and decorative items have been added. You can even have your wedding or civil partnership ceremony at Lotherton Hall!
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The Gascoigne Family at Lotherton Hall
Lotherton Hall became part of the Gascoigne family's property in 1825 when Richard Oliver Gascoigne bought it. He thought his two adult sons would inherit the estate. However, both his sons died in 1842. After Richard Oliver Gascoigne passed away the next year, his daughters inherited the estate.
The sisters divided the family's land in Yorkshire. Mary Isabella took Parlington Hall, and Elizabeth took Lotherton. Elizabeth Gascoigne and her husband, Fredrick Mason Trench, often rented out Lotherton Hall to other people. They preferred to live at their homes in Ireland.
When Elizabeth died in 1893, her nephew, Colonel Fredrick Richard Thomas Trench Gascoigne, inherited Lotherton. He was a well-known soldier and traveler. Colonel Gascoigne liked Lotherton Hall more than Parlington Hall, so he moved many of the furnishings from Parlington to Lotherton. Parlington Hall was later taken down in the 1950s.
Between 1896 and 1931, the Gascoignes changed Lotherton Hall to make space for their growing family. They added a dining room, an entrance hall, a drawing room, and a special area for servants. Mrs. Gascoigne designed and built the beautiful Edwardian-style gardens along the south side of the house. Colonel and Mrs. Gascoigne had three children: Alvary, Oliver (who died as a baby), and Cynthia.
Sir Alvary Gascoigne later became a British ambassador to Japan and Moscow. He inherited Lotherton in 1937 and lived there with his second wife, Lorna Priscilla Gascoigne. While living at Lotherton, he added many amazing Asian artworks to the house that he had collected as an ambassador. Sir Alvary and his first wife had a son, Douglas Wilder Gascoigne, who was killed in World War II. Since there was no one left to inherit Lotherton, Sir Alvary gave the hall to the City of Leeds in 1968 so it could be open to everyone. He also gave money to help buy more art for the collection. He passed away in 1970.
Lotherton Hall Hospital
The Gascoigne family was very patriotic and wanted to help during the First World War. In November 1914, Lotherton Hall was turned into a special hospital for wounded soldiers. This was a Voluntary Aid Detachment (V.A.D) hospital.
Mrs. Gascoigne (Laura Gwendolyn Gascoigne) ran the hospital with the help of VAD volunteer nurses and her daughter, Cynthia. The hospital started with eighteen beds, but by the end of the war, it had thirty-five beds. Between November 21, 1914, and March 28, 1919, 655 soldiers were treated there. The Gascoignes paid for the hospital themselves and did not accept any money from the government. Colonel Gascoigne even volunteered as an ambulance driver on the Western Front, and their son, Alvary, served in the army. The local community and the St. John Ambulance Service greatly appreciated their help. In 1918, Mrs. Gascoigne was given a special award called a CBE.
Collections at Lotherton Hall
Lotherton Hall has about 3,000 objects in its collections. The Gascoigne family gave many items, including paintings, sculptures, furniture, silver, jewelry, and textiles. The hall also has a costume collection with historic and modern clothes.
There is a collection of pottery and porcelain from Eastern countries, mostly given by Frank Savery in 1966. You can also see modern crafts like ceramics, furniture, and metalwork by famous British artists. The Cooper Collection, on loan from a private owner, includes Victorian and early 20th-century furniture and ceramics.
Paintings
Some important paintings in the collection include:
- The Irish House of Commons (1780) by Francis Wheatley. This large painting shows a debate in the Irish House of Commons.
- Portrait of Sir Thomas Gascoigne (1779) by Pompeo Batoni. This painting shows Sir Thomas surrounded by books and sculptures. He is holding a snuffbox with a picture of Marie Antoinette.
- Five Impressionist paintings by Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida from 1906, showing scenes on the beach.
- Four portraits and three landscapes by George Clausen, including The Miller’s Man and The Village at Night.
Lotherton Hall also has works by other artists like Mark Senior, Philip Wilson Steer, and Edward Atkinson Hornel.
Furniture
The furniture collection includes:
- Neo-Gothic designs by Augustus (A.W.N.) Pugin, such as a footstool and chairs made for King George IV for Windsor Castle.
- A Neo-Gothic table by William Burges with a marble top.
- A Neo-Gothic oak wardrobe designed by Collier & Plucknett, decorated with paintings of the seasons.
- An Art Nouveau high-backed chair designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh.
- Furniture from the Arts and Crafts and Aesthetic Movements by designers like Ernest Gimson and C. F. A. Voysey.
- Georgian furniture by Gillows of Lancaster, including a dining table made for Richard Oliver Gascoigne.
- Victorian designs by Charles Bevan, including furniture made for Titus Salt Junior.
Gascoigne Silver Collection
The Gascoigne collection has many silver horse racing cups from 1776 to 1842. These include the Doncaster Cup from 1776 and a large cup from 1779 that celebrates two successful horses owned by Sir Thomas Gascoigne, 8th Baronet. There are also cups from Beverley and Lincoln.
The collection also has a Communion Cup and Cover from 1628 and a silver paten from 1719. You can also see two old tankards, one from Sweden and one from Moscow, showing popular styles from across Europe.
Portrait Miniatures
The Gascoigne gift includes ten small portrait miniatures. One is a snuffbox with a portrait of Marie Antoinette, which is special because Sir Thomas Gascoigne holds this exact box in his portrait by Pompeo Batoni. The most impressive miniature is a portrait of Catherine, by Richard Cosway, a very important artist who was even appointed Painter to the Prince of Wales.
Chinese Ceramics
The collections include many Chinese ceramics, some of the earliest from the Neolithic period (4th–2nd millennium BC).
You can see items from the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220), like a tiger-decorated roof tile. From the Tang dynasty (AD 618–906), there are grave offerings shaped like animals, such as a colorful camel and a realistic horse.
Song dynasty porcelain (10th–13th century AD) includes a water sprinkler for a Buddhist temple and a water dropper shaped like a duck, used by scribes.
The Ming dynasty (AD 1368–1644) is shown with a seated female figure, a wine jar with a scholar in a garden, and a bowl with a finely painted bird.
There is also painted porcelain made for export to Europe during the Qing dynasty (Kangxi period AD 1662–1722), including a vase with a detailed scene of warriors and people in a garden.
18th and 19th Century Pottery and Porcelain
This collection includes Chinese armorial porcelain from the late 18th century. Sir Thomas Gascoigne ordered a dinner service and a tea service for Parlington Hall. These services had the Gascoigne family crest (a pike’s head). About 63 items from the dinner service and 22 from the tea service still exist today.
Other important ceramic designers and makers on display include William de Morgan, Burmantofts Pottery, and Leeds Pottery.
Modern Craft Studio Pottery
Lotherton Hall has a small collection of modern studio pottery. This includes works by important potters like Alison Britton, Michael Cardew, Hans Coper, Elizabeth Fritsch, Bernard Leach, and Lucy Rie.
Medieval Chapel
The chapel was built in the 1100s to serve the old village of Lotherton.
During the First World War, Colonel and Mrs. Gascoigne restored it. It was used to house wounded soldiers and as a place for worship. Inside the chapel, there is a memorial dedicated to the soldiers who fought and were treated at Lotherton. The prayer desk inside the pulpit was carved by soldiers at the hospital as a way to help them recover.
Gardens
Mrs. Gascoigne (Laura Gwendolen Gascoigne) designed the gardens in the early 20th century, before the First World War. She was a well-known gardener and had famous gardening friends. The gardens have several different areas, each with its own style, matching the different rooms in the house. At one end of the house, there is a statue of Sho Haku, the peony priest, a Japanese holy man famous for loving peonies.
Wildlife
The bird gardens opened in 1980. This area used to be the old kitchen gardens and greenhouses. In 1984, the bird gardens grew and became a major attraction. They now have over two hundred species of birds from six different continents. In 2003, a walk-through aviary called 'Into Africa' was added, where you can see a mix of African bird species. In 2005, the bird gardens celebrated their 25th anniversary with two more new developments.
The deer park was created in the early 1980s. A group of deer was moved to Lotherton from Temple Newsam. Later, a group of red deer was brought to the estate, and they are the only type of deer still living there.
Visitor Information
Lotherton Hall is a very popular place to visit. In 2018, over 450,000 people visited, making it the second most visited paid attraction in Yorkshire and Humber.
When Lotherton Hall started its Christmas Experience event, visitor numbers greatly increased. For example, in 2016, nearly 65,000 people attended the Christmas event, compared to about 9,000 in 2015. This also led to many new memberships for Lotherton. The festive event includes a "Twelve Days of Christmas" walk through the woods and gardens, and an elf village with Santa's Grotto. A new skating rink was added in 2019.
