Wentworth Woodhouse, South Yorkshire
Ionic Temple
Wentworth Woodhouse is a stately home in the South Yorkshire district of Rotherham, close to the village of Wentworth.
The original Jacobean house was built by Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford, in the 1630s. After the second Earl died without a male heir in 1695, the estate passed to a nephew, Thomas Watson, leading to a bitter family feud with his cousin, also a Thomas Wentworth, who expected to inherit. This rivalry spurred the construction of the current, magnificent house and the nearby Wentworth Castle, as each family tried to outdo the other in grandeur.
The house as it stands today was primarily built for the 1st Marquess of Rockingham, Thomas Watson-Wentworth, starting around 1725. The construction occurred in two main phases.
The West Front was built first in the English Baroque style. An even larger, magnificent East Front in the Palladian style was then added, ultimately creating a structure with the longest country house facade in Europe.
The second Marquess of Rockingham, Charles Watson-Wentworth, who was twice Prime Minister of Great Britain, inherited the house in 1750 and completed the building work. The house became a major center of Whig political influence.
The estate passed to the Earls Fitzwilliam family in 1782 and remained in their hands until 1989. In the post-World War II era, the family's wealth was greatly reduced by the nationalisation of their coal mines and death duties. The house also suffered damage due to government-mandated open-cast coal mining on its grounds.
In 2017, the house was purchased for £7 million by the Wentworth Woodhouse Preservation Trust, a charitable body whose sole purpose is to restore and regenerate the site for the benefit of South Yorkshire and the nation.
Wentworth Woodhouse, South Yorkshire
Ionic Temple
Wentworth Woodhouse is a stately home in the South Yorkshire district of Rotherham, close to the village of Wentworth.
The original Jacobean house was built by Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford, in the 1630s. After the second Earl died without a male heir in 1695, the estate passed to a nephew, Thomas Watson, leading to a bitter family feud with his cousin, also a Thomas Wentworth, who expected to inherit. This rivalry spurred the construction of the current, magnificent house and the nearby Wentworth Castle, as each family tried to outdo the other in grandeur.
The house as it stands today was primarily built for the 1st Marquess of Rockingham, Thomas Watson-Wentworth, starting around 1725. The construction occurred in two main phases.
The West Front was built first in the English Baroque style. An even larger, magnificent East Front in the Palladian style was then added, ultimately creating a structure with the longest country house facade in Europe.
The second Marquess of Rockingham, Charles Watson-Wentworth, who was twice Prime Minister of Great Britain, inherited the house in 1750 and completed the building work. The house became a major center of Whig political influence.
The estate passed to the Earls Fitzwilliam family in 1782 and remained in their hands until 1989. In the post-World War II era, the family's wealth was greatly reduced by the nationalisation of their coal mines and death duties. The house also suffered damage due to government-mandated open-cast coal mining on its grounds.
In 2017, the house was purchased for £7 million by the Wentworth Woodhouse Preservation Trust, a charitable body whose sole purpose is to restore and regenerate the site for the benefit of South Yorkshire and the nation.