Sledmere House facts for kids
Sledmere House is a beautiful old country house in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It's a special type of building called a Grade I listed building, which means it's very important historically. The house was built in the Georgian style and is filled with amazing furniture and paintings.
Sledmere House has been the home of the Sykes family for many years. It's located in the small village of Sledmere, between Driffield and Malton. The first version of the house was started in 1751. It was made bigger in the 1790s and then rebuilt after a big fire in 1911. Today, it is the home of Sir Tatton Sykes, 8th Baronet.
The house is built from a type of stone called ashlar and has three floors. It is shaped like the letter "H".
The History of Sledmere House
How the Sykes Family Became Wealthy
The Sykes family's story began with William Sykes, who lived from 1500 to 1577. He moved from Cumberland to the West Riding of Yorkshire. There, he and his son became very successful cloth traders.
Later, Daniel Sykes (born in 1632) was the first family member to start trading in Hull. He made a lot of money from shipping goods and from finance. Richard Sykes (1678–1726) focused on trading pig iron from the Baltic Sea. This trade helped the family become very rich in the early 1700s.
Building the First Sledmere House
Richard's son, Sir Richard Sykes (1706–1761), married Mary Kirkby. She was the sister of Mark Kirby and inherited the Sledmere estate. In 1751, Sir Richard Sykes decided to build a new mansion. He tore down the old Manor House that had been there since medieval times.
Sir Richard also planted about 20,000 trees on the nearby Wolds hills around his new home. He did not have any sons, so when he passed away, the estate went to his brother, Sir Mark Sykes, 1st Baronet (1711–1783).
Expanding the Estate and Gardens
Sir Mark's son, Sir Christopher Sykes, 2nd Baronet (1749–1801), made the estate much larger. He was also a Member of Parliament for Beverley. Sir Christopher and his wife bought and fenced off huge areas of land for farming.
They also added two new wings to the house and designed the gardens. They planted 2,500 acres (10 square kilometers) of trees. The entire village of Sledmere was even moved to a new location! Sir Christopher left a huge estate of nearly 30,000 acres (121 square kilometers). The large mansion was set in its own 200 acres (0.8 square kilometers) of parkland. This estate is still owned by the family today.
Sir Christopher also hired Joseph Rose, a famous plasterer of his time. Rose decorated Sledmere House, and his work is considered some of the best plaster-work in England.
The 1911 Fire and Restoration
In 1911, a terrible fire destroyed most of the house, leaving only the outer walls. The beautiful interiors from the 1790s were lost. It is said that Sir Tatton Sykes, 5th Baronet, was too busy eating his favorite milk puddings to pay much attention.
However, villagers and estate workers bravely saved many items. They rescued pictures, statues, furniture, china, carpets, and even doors and stair railings. They even saved a copy of the famous Apollo Belvedere statue from 1780. Just moments later, the roof collapsed. Luckily, the original designs for the interiors had survived. The house was then carefully restored to its former glory. Sir Mark Sykes, 6th Baronet, inherited the estate after his father.
Sledmere House Today: Tribfest
Today, some of the land around Sledmere House is used for a music festival called Tribfest. This festival features tribute bands that play songs by famous artists. Tribfest started in 2007 and has been held at Sledmere House every year since then. The only exception was in 2020, when the festival was canceled because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Exploring Sledmere House and Its Grounds
Inside Sledmere House
The Long Library at Sledmere is one of the most beautiful rooms in England. It was perfectly restored after the fire. The Drawing Room and Music Room were decorated by Joseph Rose. The Music Room has a lovely organ case designed by Samuel Green in 1751. However, the organ cannot be played today.
The Turkish Room was designed for Sir Mark Sykes, 6th Baronet, by an Armenian artist named David Ohannessian. It was inspired by a sultan's apartment in the Yeni Mosque in Istanbul. The special tiles for the room were made in 1913 in Ohannessian's workshop.
The house also has a Roman Catholic chapel. It features a beautiful ceiling painted by Thomas Errington. The ceiling shows the four winged creatures of the Evangelists in the front part of the chapel. In the main part, you can see various birds, including a mute swan, grey heron, barn swallow, and northern lapwing.
The Park and Gardens
Sledmere House is surrounded by a large park that covers 960 acres (3.9 square kilometers). This park was designed in 1777 by the famous landscape architect Capability Brown. Sir Christopher Sykes, 2nd Baronet, carried out the design. The original plan for the park is still kept in the house.
The gardens include a paved sculpture court, which was added in 1911. There is also an 18th-century walled rose garden and a newer knot garden.
Sledmere Monument
The Sledmere Monument is a tall stone structure, 120 feet (37 meters) high. It stands along the B1252 road on Garton Hill. Friends and neighbors built it in 1865 to remember Sir Tatton Sykes, 4th Baronet.
See also
- Sykes family of Sledmere
