Sledmere House
Encyclopedia
Georgian architecture
Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1720 and 1840. It is eponymous for the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I of Great Britain, George II of Great Britain, George III of the United...
country house, containing Chippendale
Thomas Chippendale
Thomas Chippendale was a London cabinet-maker and furniture designer in the mid-Georgian, English Rococo, and Neoclassical styles. In 1754 he published a book of his designs, titled The Gentleman and Cabinet Maker's Director...
, Sheraton
Sheraton Style
Sheraton is a late 18th century neoclassical English furniture style, in vogue ca 1785 - 1820, that was coined by 19th century collectors and dealers to credit furniture designer Thomas Sheraton, born in Stockton-on-Tees, England in 1751 and whose books, "The Cabinet Dictionary" of engraved...
and French furnishings and many fine pictures, set within a park designed by Capability Brown
Capability Brown
Lancelot Brown , more commonly known as Capability Brown, was an English landscape architect. He is remembered as "the last of the great English eighteenth-century artists to be accorded his due", and "England's greatest gardener". He designed over 170 parks, many of which still endure...
. It is located in the village of Sledmere
Sledmere
Sledmere is a village in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England that is situated approximately north west of Driffield on the B1253 road.Together with the hamlet of Croome it forms the civil parish of Sledmere and Croome....
, between Driffield
Driffield
Driffield, also known as Great Driffield, is a market town and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The civil parish is formed by the town of Driffield and the village of Little Driffield....
and Malton
Malton, North Yorkshire
Malton is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. The town is the location of the offices of Ryedale District Council and has a population of around 4,000 people....
, in the East Riding
East Riding of Yorkshire
The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Yorkshire, is a local government district with unitary authority status, and a ceremonial county of England. For ceremonial purposes the county also includes the city of Kingston upon Hull, which is a separate unitary authority...
of Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The present house was begun in 1751, extended in the 1790s, and rebuilt after a fire in 1911. It was once the home of Sir Mark Sykes, noted English traveller and diplomatic advisor, and is now the home of Sir Tatton Sykes, 8th Baronet.
There has been a Manor House
Manor house
A manor house is a country house that historically formed the administrative centre of a manor, the lowest unit of territorial organisation in the feudal system in Europe. The term is applied to country houses that belonged to the gentry and other grand stately homes...
at Sledmere since medieval times, but the present Sledmere House history begins in 1751 when Sir Richard Sykes, who had married Mary Kirkby, an heiress to the Sledmere estates, demolished the previous house and built a new one, planting some 20,000 trees on the Wolds
Yorkshire Wolds
The Yorkshire Wolds are low hills in the counties of East Riding of Yorkshire and North Yorkshire in northeastern England. The name also applies to the district in which the hills lie....
about it. Sir Christopher Sykes, 2nd Baronet
Sir Christopher Sykes, 2nd Baronet
Sir Christopher Sykes, 2nd Baronet D.C.L. was an English Tory politician and a Member of Parliament for Beverley from 1784 to 1790....
(1749–1801) greatly expanded the estate. He and his wife bought and enclosed huge areas of land for cultivation, built two new wings to the house, and landscaped the grounds, planting 10 square kilometres of trees. The entire village of Sledmere was moved. Sir Christopher left a vast estate of nearly 120 square kilometres and a large mansion set in its own 0.8 square kilometres of parkland, which survives in the family to the present day. Sir Christopher also employed Joseph Rose, the most celebrated plasterer
Plasterer
A plasterer is a tradesman who works with plaster, such as forming a layer of plaster on an interior wall or plaster decorative moldings on ceilings or walls...
of his day, to decorate Sledmere. The result has been called among the finest plaster-work in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
A catastrophic fire in 1911 left the building a shell and destroyed the Adam-style 1790s interiors. It is said that Sir Tatton Sykes, 5th Baronet was too busy eating one of the milk puddings to which he was addicted to pay much attention, but villagers and estate workers loyally rescued pictures, statues and furniture, china and carpets, and even doors and banisters, including the house's 1780 copy of the Belvedere Apollo
Apollo
Apollo is one of the most important and complex of the Olympian deities in Greek and Roman mythology...
. The roof fell in a few moments later. The original designs for the interiors had survived however, and the house was then restored.
The Long Library at Sledmere, superbly restored, is one of the most beautiful rooms in England. The Drawing Room and Music Room were decorated by Joseph Rose, the most famous English plasterer of his day. The Music Room contains a fine organ case designed by Samuel Green
Samuel Green (organ builder)
Samuel Green , was an organ-builder.Green learnt his art under the elder Byfield, Bridge, and Jordan, and afterwards entered into several years' partnership with the younger Byfield. Green built a large number of organs for the cathedrals, and for churches in London and the country, instruments...
for the original house in 1751. However, there is nothing behind the facade pipes and the organ is unplayable. The Turkish
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
Room was designed for Sir Mark Sykes, 6th Baronet
Sir Mark Sykes, 6th Baronet
Colonel Sir Mark Sykes, 6th Baronet was an English traveller, Conservative Party politician and diplomatic adviser, particularly about matters respecting the Middle East at the time of World War I...
, by an Armenia
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
n artist, David Ohannessian, as a copy of one of the sultan's apartments in the Yeni Mosque
Yeni Mosque
The Yeni Camii, The New Mosque or Mosque of the Valide Sultan is an Ottoman imperial mosque located in the Eminönü district of Istanbul, Turkey. It is situated on the Golden Horn at the southern end of the Galata Bridge. It is one of the best-known sights of Istanbul.-History:The construction of...
in Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
. The tiles were made in Damascus
Damascus
Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...
under the supervision of Ohanessian. The attached Roman Catholic
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
chapel
Chapel
A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...
has a fine ceiling painted by Thomas Errington. It depicts the four winged creatures of the Evangelist
Four Evangelists
In Christian tradition the Four Evangelists are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, the authors attributed with the creation of the four Gospel accounts in the New Testament that bear the following titles:*Gospel according to Matthew*Gospel according to Mark...
in the Chancel
Chancel
In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar in the sanctuary at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building...
and in the Nave
Nave
In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...
, a variety of birds including a swan
Swan
Swans, genus Cygnus, are birds of the family Anatidae, which also includes geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini. Sometimes, they are considered a distinct subfamily, Cygninae...
, heron
Heron
The herons are long-legged freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae. There are 64 recognised species in this family. Some are called "egrets" or "bitterns" instead of "heron"....
, swallow and lapwing
Lapwing
Vanellinae are any of various crested plovers, family Charadriidae, noted for its slow, irregular wingbeat in flight and a shrill, wailing cry. Its length is 10-16 inches. They are a subfamily of medium-sized wading birds which also includes the plovers and dotterels. The Vanellinae are...
.
Sledmere House is set within a park of 3.9 square kilometres designed in 1777 by Capability Brown
Capability Brown
Lancelot Brown , more commonly known as Capability Brown, was an English landscape architect. He is remembered as "the last of the great English eighteenth-century artists to be accorded his due", and "England's greatest gardener". He designed over 170 parks, many of which still endure...
and executed by Sir Christopher Sykes, 2nd Baronet. The plan still survives in the house. Its gardens include a paved sculpture court (1911), an 18th century walled rose garden and a recently laid out knot garden.
Sledmere
Sledmere
Sledmere is a village in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England that is situated approximately north west of Driffield on the B1253 road.Together with the hamlet of Croome it forms the civil parish of Sledmere and Croome....
Monument is a 120 feet (36 m) stone monument along the B1252 road on Garton Hill
Garton on the Wolds
Garton on the Wolds is a village and civil parish on the Yorkshire Wolds in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is situated approximately north west of Driffield town centre and lies on the A166 road....
, built in memory of Sir Tatton Sykes, 4th Baronet, by his friends and neighbours in 1865.
External links
- Official site. Retrieved 27 November 2007.
- Karen Thompson (2005). Sledmere with information about house interior and current resident Sir Tatton Sykes, 8th Bt. Retrieved 27 November 2007.
- Sledmere village and house. Retrieved 27 November 2007.