Grand mansions around Lake Windermere
In the Victorian era, many industrialists from Lancashire chose to build grand mansions around lake Windermere, all probably trying to impress and outdo their neighbours. This has left us a wonderul legacy of fine architecture, and many of these buildings can be seen by the public as they are now hotels, or used for purposes that give the public access. Here are some of them :
Broadleys
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Designed By Charles F A Voysey as a holiday home in 1898 for A Currer Briggs of Leeds, now the Windermere Motor Boat Racing Club. |
Wray Castle
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Not a real castle but a private house built in in the Gothic Revival Style in 1840. It was built for Dr Dawson,a retired Liverpool surgeon, and is now owned by the National Trust. The house was built using his wife's inheritance from a gin fortune. Apparently she took one look at the house when it was finished, and refused to live in it. The architect, H.P. Horner, drank himself to death. |
Langdale Chase
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A large Elizabethan style gabled house built as a private house in 1891 to a design by J.L. Ball, J.T. Lee and Pattinson of Manchester.
It was built for Mrs Edna Howarth, whose husband was a businessman from Manchester.
Gardens by Thomas Mawson. |
Holehird
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The house you see today was designed by J.S. Crowther, architect of Manchester Cathedral, in 1865.
The house was owned by the Groves family from 1897 to 1945, when the estate was given to the people of Windermere.
Gardens by Thomas Mawson. |
Brockhole
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Brockhole was built by wealthy Manchester silk merchant William Henry Aldolphus Gaddum. Architect Dan Gibson designed the house.
Gardens by Thomas Mawson. |
Blackwell
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Blackwell is one of England's most important surviving houses from the turn of the 20th century. It was designed by M H Baillie Scott between 1897 and 1900, and is a superb example of Arts and Crafts movement architecture, with most of the original decorative interiors still intact. The house is of international importance, standing at the crossroads between Victorian and Modern architecture.
Gardens by Thomas Mawson. |
Storrs Hall
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Storrs Hall, a grade ll Georgian Mansion, 1808-1811 by Joseph Gandy (1771-1843). Within the grounds is the National Trust-owned folly the "Temple" - an octaganal garden house with arched openings. The house and temple were built for Sir John Legard, but greatly improved by a later owner, John Bolton. |
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