Lotherton Hall is a country house near Aberford in West Yorkshire, England. It is a short distance from the A1(M) motorway, equidistant from London and Edinburgh. It is part of the Leeds Museums & Galleries group.
A manor house has occupied the site of the hall from at least 1775, when it appears on Thomas Jeffery's map of Yorkshire. The house was owned by Thomas Maude, who bought it from George Rhodes in 1753 for £4,115. Ownership then passed to Wollen and then to John Raper.Lotherton Hall Archive, uncatalogued document, produced by Thomas Herbert Prater, Agent for Colonel FRTT Gascoigne, 4 January 1922 In 1824 John Raper died and his son and heir, John Lamplugh Raper, sold the property to Richard Oliver Gascoigne in 1825.
After Richard Oliver Gascoigne's death in 1842, Lotherton was inherited by his unmarried daughters, Elizabeth and Mary Isabella. Richard Trench Gascoigne took up ownership of the house in 1893 following the death of his aunt Elizabeth who had married Lord Ashtown. It became the main residence of the Gascoigne family after the death of Richard's father Frederick at Parlington Hall in 1905. Between 1914 and 1918, the Hall was used as a V.A.D. hospital.Leodis.net A 12th-century Norman chapel in the grounds, in use until 1830, was renovated between 1913 and 1917 and used as part of the V.A.D. hospital.
The hall is on the Gascoigne estate, and was presented to the City of Leeds in 1968 by Sir Alvary Gascoigne and his wife, last of the Gascoigne family, whose roots were at Parlington Hall. The hall and parkland were opened for public access on 6 August 1969,Temple Newsam Day Book, Temple Newsam archives exactly 25 years after Sir Alvary Gascoigne's only son and heir, Douglas Gascoigne, was killed in a tank battle in Normandy. The estate is home to a collection of endangered bird species and a herd of red deer. There is a large expanse of grassland in front of the bird garden, typically used during the summer months for ball games and picnics. Another field is used to host shows, such as an annual motorcycle show.
The hall was extensively rebuilt during the Victorian and Edwardian eras. It holds an art collection that includes the Gascoigne Gift, given to the City of Leeds along with the hall, which sits alongside collections of fine and decorative arts added to the collection since becoming a museum in 1968.
The hall is licensed to hold wedding and civil partnership ceremonies."Weddings at Lotherton" at leeds.gov.uk .
Gascoignes at Lotherton Hall Lotherton Hall came into the possession of the Gascoigne family when it was purchased in 1825 by Richard Oliver Gascoigne. He would have assumed he had secured a male heir, as he had raised two adult sons, one of which would inherit. In 1842 both his sons died leaving the Gascoigne estate to be inherited by his daughters after he died the following year.
The sisters divided the Yorkshire estates between them, Mary Isabella took Parlington Hall and Elizabeth took Lotherton. During Elizabeth Gascoigne's ownership, she and her husband Fredrick Mason Trench, the 2nd Baron of Ashtown, whom she married in 1852, mostly let Lotherton to tenants, preferring Castle Oliver in Ireland, along with Woodlawn, Lord Ashtown's own family residence in County Galway, Ireland. Lord and Lady Ashtown did however seem to use Lotherton as their Yorkshire seat for a time in the 1850s. On Elizabeth's death in 1893, Lotherton was inherited by her nephew, Colonel Fredrick Richard Thomas Trench Gascoigne who was a noted soldier and traveller.
Census returns during the period that Lotherton Hall was let (1842–93) show that Elizabeth and Mary Isabella Gascoigne’s cousin, R. S. (Richard Silver) Oliver (1812–89), grandson of the Rt Hon Silver Oliver (1736–98) and son of Robert Oliver (–1834), was living at Lotherton Hall as head of household in 1851.1851 England and Wales Census. County: Yorkshire – West Riding. Township/Parish: Lotherton Cum Aberford. Page 31, Family 121, Line 8. Widowed Ann Hornby was head of household at the 1861 census.1861 England & Wales Census. County: Yorkshire. Township/Parish: Lotherton Cum Aberford. Page 20, Family 105, Line 16. Richard F. Shawe, recorded as living ‘from investment’, was head of household at the 1871 census,1871 England & Wales Census. County: Yorkshire. Township/Parish: Lotherton Cum Aberford. Page 17, Family 91, Line 23. with Shawe’s widow, Anna Shawe, a 'landed proprietor', head of household in 1881.1881 England & Wales Census. County: Yorkshire – West Riding. Township/Parish: Lotherton Cum Aberford. Page 16, Family 95, Line: 4. Lotherton Hall was unoccupied at the 1891 census.1891 England & Wales Census. County: Yorkshire – West Riding. Township/Parish: Lotherton Cum Aberford. Page 16, Line 1.
Colonel Gascoigne's wife, Gwendolen, was the daughter of engineer Sir Douglas Galton, and second cousin and god daughter to Florence Nightingale. Colonel Gascoigne preferred Lotherton Hall to Parlington, moving many of the furnishings from Parlington to Lotherton. Parlington was demolished in 1950s. Between 1896 and 1931 the Gascoignes remodelled Lotherton to accommodate their growing family, adding a dining room, entrance hall, drawing room and servant's wing. Mrs Gascoigne designed and built the Edwardian style gardens along the south front. Colonel and Mrs Gascoigne had three children together, Alvary, Oliver (who died as an infant) and Cynthia.
Sir Alvary Gascoigne was the British ambassador to Japan and Moscow. He inherited Lotherton in 1937 and lived there with his second wife, Lorna Priscilla Gascoigne. While at Lotherton he enriched the house with oriental works of art he had acquired as an ambassador. He and his first wife, Sylvia Wilder, had a son, Douglas Wilder Gascoigne, who was killed in action during the Second World War. With no heir left to inherit Lotherton, Sir Alvary presented the hall to the City of Leeds in 1968 as a gift to be open to the public. He also gave an endowment fund to buy works of art to further the collection. He died in 1970.
Lotherton Hall hospital The Gascoignes were patriotic and felt it was their duty to help the war effort during the First World War. In November 1914, Lotherton Hall was transformed into a Voluntary Aid Detachment (V.A.D) hospital for wounded soldiers. The hospital was run by Mrs Gascoigne (Laura Gwendolyn Gascoigne née Galton), with help of VAD volunteer nurses and her daughter, Cynthia. The hospital's eighteen beds increased to thirty five by the end of the war.
Between 21 November 1914 and 28 March 1919, 655 soldiers were treated there. The Gascoignes funded the hospital refusing any government grants or aid. Colonel Gascoigne volunteered as an ambulance driver on the western front and their son, Alvary, served in the army. Their support in the war effort was appreciated by the local community and the St Johns Ambulance Service and in 1918, Mrs Gascoigne was awarded a CBE.
Collections Lotherton Hall contains around 3,000 objects from five collections. The Gascoigne gift, less than a third of the collection, was given in stages between 1955 and 1979 and comprises paintings, sculpture, furniture, silver, jewelry, porcelain, prints, drawings and textiles. The costume collection is made up of historic and modern clothes and accessories. The Eastern pottery and porcelain collection was in the most part given by Frank Savery in 1966. The collection of modern craft includes ceramics, furniture, jewelry and metalwork by leading British artists. The Cooper Collection, on loan from a private owner, includes Victorian and early-20th century furniture and ceramics.
Paintings Notable paintings in the collection include:
The Irish House of Commons (1780) by Francis Wheatley (1747–1801) – a large-scale group portrait showing Henry Grattan making a speech on the repeal of Poynings’ Law during a debate in the Irish House of Commons on 19 April 1780.Leeds Arts Calendar No.64, 1969, pp.14–15. https://leedsartfund.org/files/calendar/No%20-%20%2064%201969.pdf. Retrieved 13 June 2020.Art UK https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/the-irish-house-of-commons-37644/view_as/grid/search/locations:lotherton-hall-leeds-museums-and-galleries/page/9. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
Portrait of Sir Thomas Gascoigne (1779) by Pompeo Batoni (I708-87) – painted in Rome during Sir Thomas Gascoigne’s Grand Tour, Sir Thomas is shown as a connoisseur surrounded by books, sculptures and a globe. Sir Thomas is also holding a snuff box bearing the portrait of Marie Antoinette.Leeds Arts Calendar No.64, 1969, p.16. https://leedsartfund.org/files/calendar/No%20-%20%2064%201969.pdf. Retrieved 13 June 2020.Art UK https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/sir-thomas-gascoigne-17451810-8th-bt-38744/search/locations:lotherton-hall-leeds-museums-and-galleries/page/4. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
Five Impressionist paintings by Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida (1863–1923) – A Lady and a Dog on the Beach (1906), Ladies on the Beach (1906), People Sitting on the Beach (1906), The Beach (1906) and The Bridge (1906)Art UK https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/view_as/grid/search/locations:lotherton-hall-leeds-museums-and-galleries--makers:joaqui_n-sorolla-y-bastida-18631923. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
Four portraits and three landscapes by George Clausen (1852–1944) – The Miller’s Man (1888), The Shy Girl (1897–1907), Lady Beatrice (1908), Reading by Lamplight (Twilight: Interior) (1909), The Village at Night (1903), Misty Morning and The Village Green at Night.Art UK https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/view_as/grid/search/makers:george-clausen-18521944--locations:lotherton-hall-leeds-museums-and-galleries. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
Lotherton Hall also houses work by Mark Senior (1862–1927)Art UK https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/view_as/grid/search/makers:mark-senior-18641927--locations:lotherton-hall-leeds-museums-and-galleries. Retrieved 15 June 2020. (a member of the Staithes Group), Philip Wilson Steer (1860–1942)Art UK https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/view_as/grid/search/locations:lotherton-hall-leeds-museums-and-galleries--makers:philip-wilson-steer-18601942. Retrieved 15 June 2020. and Edward Atkinson Hornel (1864–1933)Art UK https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/view_as/grid/search/makers:edward-atkinson-hornel-18641933--locations:leeds-art-gallery-leeds-museums-and-galleries--works:springtime. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
Furniture Notable furniture in the collection includes:
Neo-Gothic designs by Augustus (A.W.N.) Pugin (1812–52) – Footstool and pair of dining chairs made for George IV by Morel and Seddon for Windsor Castle and oak armchair made for the Jacksons of Kelwood Grove, Yorkshire after a Pugin design of 1835.Leeds Art Calendar No. 71, 1972, p. 3. https://leedsartfund.org/files/calendar/No%20-%20%2071%201972.pdf. Retrieved 13 June 2020.Leeds Art Calendar No. 70, 1972, pp.26–29. https://leedsartfund.org/files/calendar/No%20-%20%2070%201972.pdf. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
Neo-Gothic design by William Burges (1827–81) – Centre table made for Burges's rooms at 15 Buckingham Street, London and later transferred to Burges’s new home (Tower House, 29 Melbury Road, Kensington). Red, black and gold painted oak frame supporting top of marble inlay (pietra dura).Leeds Art Calendar No. 70, 1972, p3. https://leedsartfund.org/files/calendar/No%20-%20%2070%201972.pdf. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
Neo-Gothic oak wardrobe designed by Collier & Plucknett and decorated with allegorical paintings of the seasons and the winds by J. Moir Smith.White, Adam (2007). Lotherton Hall. Leeds: Leeds Museums and Galleries. .
Art nouveau high-backed chair designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868–1928)Gilbert, Christopher (1978) Furniture at Temple Newsam House and Lotherton Hall, London, National Art Collections Fund and Leeds Art Collections Fund,