Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970. Vol. 2. Plans, drawings and photographs 1830-1970.

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

Hinchingbrooke 1200 - 1970

HINCHINGBROOKE FROM 1830 TO 1970: PLANS, DRAWINGS AND PHOTOGRAPHS

Edited by Roger Mitchell Volume 2 1

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

Cover image: Postcard - date unknown.

2

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 Published in two volumes

Volume 2 HINCHINGBROOKE FROM 1830 TO 1970: PLANS, DRAWINGS AND PHOTOGRAPHS

Edited by Roger Mitchell

3

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

First published in 2019.

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without express permission of the Editor or individual authors of essays reproduced.

Enquiries to the Editor via The Friends of Hinchingbrooke House Hinchingbrooke House Huntingdon PE29 3BN

4

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

Preface: a

W

hen Hinchingbrooke was rebuilt after the 1830 fire, both the architect and the family

sought to retain or restore as much of the old house as possible. This conservative approach has been maintained right up to the present day. The only significant extensions were in the 1890s and they were demolished after World War 2, so that the western part of the house looks very much as it did after Blore’s rebuilding.

Plans of the house from the 1830s, from 1886 and from 1926 are reproduced below, along with Blore’s designs for rebuilding the north and east fronts, which were carried out almost unchanged. Two rather attractive illustrations from a garden magazine in the 1880s are also included but most of the material in this collection is photographic.

There are many photographs of Hinchingbrooke and, because it is easy to produce copies either as prints or as digital images, it is not always possible to identify when they were taken, by whom and for what purpose. What follows is an attempt to show all the images that are available and, when possible, give information about date, source etcetera. This is very much a first draft and contributions either of new pictures or of new information about the pictures included here would be gratefully received. The numbering system that I have adopted should enable new material to be inserted at an appropriate point.

All descriptions and comments are by me (R.M), except where identified as I.N. for Ian Nicholls or A.C. for Ann Colbert. Both Ian and Ann have done much pioneer work on which I have tried to build The most extensive collection of early photographs is found in a scrapbook compiled by or for the 8th Earl. This now belongs to the School. Ian Nichols photographed all the images of Hinchingbrooke – events, gardens, interiors and exteriors. Some, but by no means all of these pictures are dated (although these dates are not necessarily correct). I have done a bit of amateur photoshopping to try to get maximum detail but Ian’s original photographs are also available. Other images come from local collections and postcards.

Probably the best quality photographs are those published by Country Life in articles about the house published in 1905 and 1926. We do not currently have copies of these but we know that they exist. The plan below also comes from the 1920s – Royal Commission on Historical Monuments – Huntingdonshire.

Roger Mitchell January 2019

1

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

Above: Miss Lina Dyke at Hinchingbrooke 1896 (Picture 113).

2

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

Contents: SECTION 1

Page Number

A-C Plans (Blore 1830s, Hutchinson 1886, RCHM 1926) D-G 19th Century Drawings H-J Country Life Articles and Photographs Country Life Magazine had articles about Hinchingbrooke on 2nd November 1907 and on 6th and 13th April 1929. We do not currently have copies of these but at least we know that they exist.

4 8 10

SECTION 2 Before 1895 001-022 Photographs

11

SECTION 3 1895-1916 101-105 People 111-124 House Exteriors 131-140 House Interiors 141-153 The Gardens 161-170 Japanese Garden 181-199 Pageant 1912 (Photographs and Newspaper Cuttings)

26 29 38 44 52 58

SECTION 4 1916-1962 201-224 Inter War and World War II Photographs plus postcards

72

SECTION 5 1962-1970 Restoration

85

251- 264 During Restoration 271- 281 After Restoration

85 93

3

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

SECTION 1 PLANS AND DRAWINGS We are fortunate to have three plans of Hinchingbrooke; one from the 1830s, a second from 1886 and a third from 1926. Although there are some differences in room names and room use, there is remarkably little structural change in this hundred year period, or indeed in the 90 years since then.

Each plan names the rooms and the list below shows those names in a clockwise direction from entrance hall.

1830s

1886

1926

Entrance Hall Dining Room Breakfast Room Billiard Room Drawing Room Library Garden (?)

Lord Sandwich Butler Servants Hall Housekeeper Open Central Courtyard

Entrance Hall Saloon Ship Room Dining Room Drawing Room Library Garden Room Lord Sandwich’s Room Still Room Housekeeper’s Room Butler’s Pantry Billiard Room in centre

Entrance Hall Yellow Drawing Room Red Drawing Room Billiard Room Library Part of Library Garden Room Oak Room Dining Room Part of Dining Room 3 unnamed rooms Inner Hall

The 1830s plan shows (but does not name) the kitchen and dairy but not the laundry or any storage or service rooms to the west of the house. Kitchen, dairy and laundry are identical on 1886 and 1926 plans, unaffected by the 8th Earl’s extensions. The extension provides new spaces for butler, housekeeper, still room and servants hall, so that a new dining room can be created in the part of the house previously used for service rooms.

4

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

A) Plan by Edward Blore 1830s (British Library Add MS 42047)

5

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

B) Plan of the Drains by Robert Hutchinson, Architect and Surveyor, Huntingdon 1886 (Hunts Archives 4696/7).

6

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

C) Royal Commission on Historical Monuments – Huntingdonshire 1926.

7

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

D-G 19th Century Drawings D & E) Two drawings by Edward Blore for rebuilding Hinchingbrooke in 1830s (British Library Add MS 42027 61 and 62)

8

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

F & G) Two Illustrations of Hinchingbrooke from the Gardeners’ Chronicle of 10th December 1881.

The article was about the gardens, but curiously the drawings concentrate on the architecture of the house and show no significant garden features.

9

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

H, I and J) Country Life Articles.

H) 2nd November 1907 contains text and the following photographs. There are no interiors.

From the Rose Garden The Gatehouse Entrance The Nuns’ Court Loggia and South Wing The Old Brewhouse (Laundry Block) The Renaissance Bay Window (1602 Bow) The East Front (Should read South Front) Entrance to Nuns’ Court (Should read Front Court) Japanese Garden Rosery Terrace Walk I) 6th April 1929 contains text by Christopher Hussey and the following photographs.

1 The Gateway erected by the Cromwells 2 The Entrance Front and Tudor Wing 3 From the South West 4 The Buck Print 5 The Bow Window 6 The Back of the Tudor Kitchen Wing 7 Steps to the Terrace 8 A stone bench and the top of a pier on the terrace 9 The Terrace looking East 10 A New Rose Garden 11 Chestnuts lining the Cut 12 Trunk of a Huntingdon Elm 13 RCHM Plan J) 13th April 1929 contains text by Christopher Hussey and the following photographs.

1 The Entrance Court through the Gateway 2 The Drawing Room 3 Portraits of 4th Earl and Prince Rupert in Drawing Room 4 A Portion of 1st Earl’s Staircase 5 Another Part of the Staircase (Both these show panels outside chapter house room) 6 The Library 7-9 A Bed and its Hangings 10-20 Pictures that were then in the house but are there no longer. The following have a particular relevance to the family: 10 Martha Ray by Allen Ramsey 13 Louisa, Countess of Sandwich by Lawrence 14 A Son of 4th Earl by Hogarth 15 2nd Earl by Lely 16 4th Earl by Zoffany (He is seated at a table with classical urn in background) 18 Sketch of Battle of Sole Bay – Van de Velde 19 Naval scene on gesso panel 20 Engagement between Lion and Elizabeth 1745 – Samuel Scott 10

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

SECTION 2 – PHOTOGRAPHS FROM 1871 TO THE BUILDING OF THE NEW WING IN 1894 – 5 The photographs that follow are all from the 8th Earl’s scrapbook and they are not an organised attempt to depict the house and garden. There are both formal and informal photographs of people as well as architectural studies of the house and a small number of interiors.

001 Hinchingbrooke v I Zingari 1871. This is the earliest dated photograph in the album and the caption suggests that it was taken at Hinchingbrooke, although the house is not visible.

11

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

002 Nunnery Block 1880 (?)

003 North Front March 1884. Notice the vegetation on the Nunnery Block and the complete lack of ‘twelve apostles’,

12

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

004 South and West Fronts 1884

005 South and West Fronts undated but before 1894

13

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

006 West Front 1893. Both this and the previous picture show a single storey range running at an angle to the main West Range. The 1886 plan of the drains by Robert Hutchinson (Huntingdonshire Archives Ref no 159 or Photostat copy at 4696/7) shows that this enclosed a small internal courtyard with coal and wood stores and a bathroom.

007 East Front 1893

14

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

008 5th King’s Royal Rifles 1889

009 New Wing under Construction June 1894

15

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

010 New Wing still incomplete 22 Feb 1895

011 22 Feb 1895 16

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

012 and 013 These two undated photographs are titled ‘My father’s Rooms’ and must therefore date from no later than 1884.

17

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

014 ‘My Room 1884’. The 7th Earl died in March 1884 and so this picture may mark the 8th Earl coming into possession. It is the earliest dated photograph of the interior of the house. The male figure is the 8th Earl, but who is the woman? It could be his stepmother, Blanche, Dowager Countess of Sandwich (1832 – 1894). The room is the Oak Room.

18

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

015 The caption reads ‘News from the sickroom – no change. Tooke and Lady Sandwich 1891’. The patient may well have been the 8th Earl. The Dowager Countess would then have been aged 59 and Tooke may well have been her Lady’s Maid. Neither of them was at Hinchingbrooke at the time of the 1891 census.

19

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

There are a number of photographs of ‘the grounds’ and an interesting one of the conservatory but no photographs of formal gardens in this period. The first 6 pictures (016 – 021) are all from 1888-1890 and seem to show the same people (the Earl and members of Paget family) and the same dog (Jock).

016 Nuns’ Bridge c1890

20

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

017 Hinchingbrooke Gardens

018

21

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

019

020

22

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

021

022 The undated photograph above is the only one to show the formal gardens and it is the only photograph from any period that shows the Conservatory. The Huntingdonshire Archives (Calm Ref KHAC4/4098/1) has a plan for a Conservatory for the 7th Earl dated 1839. A reproduction of that plan is on the next page (022a) followed by two details (022b) and (022c).

23

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

022a

24

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

022b and 022c

25

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

SECTION 3 - PHOTOGRAPHS OF HINCHINGBROOKE 1895 TO 1916 This period is very well documented. The 8th Earl seems to have been keen to have photographs of his new south west wing and of his gardens, particularly the new Japanese Garden. Other factors were also important.

In 1902 the Post Office allowed both address and message to be written on one side of the card, freeing up the whole of the other for the picture. (postcard.co.uk). This produced an Edwardian craze for sending postcards.

The first issue of Country Life Magazine was in 1897 and, almost from the beginning, it included articles and pictures of country houses. Hinchingbrooke was the subject of an article on 2nd November 1907. There is a longer account with more illustrations in the edition published on 6th April 1929.

There are also photographs of groups of guests (most notably Edward VII in1906) and a whole album of photographs of the Pageant of 1912. The Pageant Photographs are at the end of this section.

People

101 Earl of Sandwich and Corporation of Borough of Huntingdon. The Earl was Mayor of Huntingdon from 1896-9

26

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

102 Servants at Hinchingbrooke

103 A House Party at Hinchingbrooke 1902 (or possibly 1912 – see caption)

27

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

104 Visit of King Edward VII to Hinchingbrooke – June 1906

105 Gardeners

28

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

House exteriors

111 House from outside Rose Garden 1896

112 The Terrace Date Unknown

29

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

113- Cloister Hinchingbrooke – Miss Lina Dyke 1896.

Lina Mary (24 February 1873 – 15 April 1964) was the eldest daughter of Rt Hon. Sir William Hart Dyke, and Emily Caroline Montagu. She was the niece of Edward Montagu, 8th Earl of Sandwich and a frequent visitor to Hinchingbrooke. In 1902 she married Alexander John Scott Scott-Gatty (1876-1937). He was the son of Sir Alfred Scott-Gatty who was Garter King of Arms from 1904 until his death in 1918. In 1903 they had a son Edward Comyn Scott-Gatty. The marriage does not seem to have been a success, although they did not divorce until 1926. They both subsequently remarried - he in 1927 and Lina in 1931 to Antonio Crivellari.

In his Memoirs the 8th Earl has frequent references to Lina. He states that ‘My niece, Lina Scott-Gatty, came to stay with me this summer and has made her home with me ever since’. It is not entirely clear which summer this was, but it was no earlier than 1906 and no later than 1908. She was probably still with him when he died in 1916. She played a major part in the organisation of the Hinchingbrooke Pageant, travelled with the Earl to India in 1912 - 13 and was closely involved in and supportive of the Earl’s experiments in spiritual healing.

30

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

114 Terrace 1896 with Miss Lina Dyke

31

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

115 View from Rose Garden 1896

116 Laundry Block from North 1896

32

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

117 Stables March 1896

118 Stables December 1896 (after rebuilding?)

33

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

119 Photograph by Miss Willmott 1898

34

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

120 Photograph by Miss Willmott 1898

35

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

121 Photograph by Miss Willmott 1898

122 From ‘Land and Water Illustrated’ 21st January 1905 – Also Gardeners’ Magazine 7th January 1905.

36

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

123 From ‘Lady’ Field’ [sic] 1912. This illustration of the 1912 Pageant shows the north front clearly. In other Pageant photographs, the house just serves as a back drop. Photographs of the pageant appear later in this section as items 181 - 199.

124 The West Wing – unknown date.

37

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

House interiors

131 The Yellow Drawing Room 1896. On the Plan of the Drains from the previous decade, the room is labelled ‘The Saloon’. It is now the Assembly Room. ‘The furniture in a mixture of styles stands on a well polished wooden floor. At the top of the picture there appears to be a chandelier. The elaborate ceiling is not shown’. I.N.

132 The Red Drawing Room, previously known as the Ship Room and now the Pedigree Room. 1896. ‘This and the following photograph show a typical late-Victorian interior crowded with paintings, ornaments and furniture. In this picture the eye is led through the door into the brightly lit Yellow Drawing Room but Picture 133 shows that, in the Red Drawing Room, sunlight is severely restricted by the heavy drapes’ I.N.

38

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

133 The Red Drawing Room 1896 134a and 134b (on following page).

These two pictures are something of a puzzle.

134a is described as The Sitting Room or Oak Room 1909. If it was the Oak Room, there should be a window to the left of the fireplace. The fireplace seems similar to that in the Red Drawing Room but in that room, the fireplace and chimney does not project forward. Could it be the Garden Room?

(I.N). There are even fewer clues (apart from the window) to identify the room shown in 134b.

(R.M.)’

39

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

134b

135 The (Yellow) Drawing Room from Gardeners’ Magazine 1905

40

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

136 The Inner Hall 1909, the year in which it was constructed. ‘The room is easily recognisable by the fireplace. With sunlight entering from above, it has a pleasant, airy feeling.’ I.N.

41

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

138 (below) Drawing Room. No date.

137 (above) Billiard Room. No date.

42

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

139 (above) Drawing Room. No date.

140 (below) Library. No date.

43

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

The Gardens

141 This article from FHH Newsletter 14 by Ian Nicholls shows four pictures of the Rose Garden. The one showing the Conservatory is in the previous section of Photographs 1870 to 1895. The bottom picture has already been included in this section as 114 (but is repeated here). The other two pictures are shown below as images 142 and 143.

44

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

114 This is in the section on House exteriors and is repeated here. Does it predate or postdate 142, which is taken from an almost identical position?

143 The Rose Garden (no date or provenance beyond Ian Nicholl’s article in FHH Newsletter 14).

45

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

Below:145 The Rose Garden

Above:144 The Rose Garden

46

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

146 and 147 Two coloured photographs of Rose Garden

47

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

148 Undated Postcard. The view is described as being of the Japanese Garden, but it is in fact the Rose Garden.

149 - 53 A Series of 5 coloured postcards of the house and grounds. These come from the 8th Earl’s scrapbook, which suggests a date before 1914.

48

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

149

150

49

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

151

152

50

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

153

51

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

Japanese Garden

161 - 170 The Japanese Garden constructed in 1903 was a highlight of the 8th Earl’s Garden.

Anne Colbert has produced a thorough history and the images that follow are provided by her.

They take the story into the 1930s.

161 and 162

52

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

163

164

53

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

165 The Japanese Garden (Sandwich Family album 1902-1906) and below (1907-09).

166

54

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

167 (above) The family dog, Smut is sitting in front of the tea house – known by the family as the summer house.

The re-thatching is clearly seen. Trees and shrubs have grown up around the summer house and there is evidence that steps led up to it.

168 Photograph from 1927

55

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

169 Photograph from Sandwich Family Album in 1933.

Although winter pictures, there has been considerable clearance of trees and shrubs by this time. The landscape has been opened up and the pond area does not appear to have the same amount of beds and planting as previously. The lantern is still seen in the second photograph (A.C.)

56

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

170

57

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

181 – 200. PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE HINCHINGBROOKE PAGEANT OF 1912 These photographs are lodged in an album in the British Library (Cup.1247.S.13.1912). The Pageant was held at Hinchingbrooke, and so the house usually features in the background.

This is probably the first time that a full portfolio of pictures was commissioned and, of course the performers rather than the house take centre stage.

A major research project about Pageants in the 20th Century is taking place at the moment.

Its official title is The Redress of the Past: Historical Pageants in Britain 1905-2016 and its website and database is at www.historicalpageants.ac.uk.

There are full details of both the 1912 Pageant and the similar 1953 Hinchingbrooke Pageant, but the listing is under Huntingdon rather than Hinchingbrooke.

The data base gives the following pageant outline, although it is not clear what is the source of this material. There seem to be errors in this text. In episode 3 Elizabeth’s visit is dated to 1598 rather than 1564. The 8th Earl’s book about Hinchingbrooke which was published only two years before the pageant has the correct date of 1564. A 1598 visit seems extremely unlikely. The Queen was ageing and there was only a brief summer progress to Kent and Surrey. In episode 4, the young Oliver Cromwell, who comes to blows with Prince Charles, is the nephew not the son of Sir Oliver. In episode 5, we have a ‘Miss Olga Montagu’ awaiting the return of her husband. Olga Blanche Montagu (1873-1951) played the part of Jemima, 1st Earl’s wife.

Pageant outline Episode I. The Granting of the Charter to the Town of Huntingdon by King John, AD 1206 The King’s messenger reads out a proclamation declaring the freedoms of the borough of Huntingdon, and the crowd declares ‘Long Live the King’.

Episode II. The Expulsion of the Nuns from the Priory at Hinchingbrooke, AD 1535 The nuns are expelled at the reformation, with the convent given to Richard Cromwell.

Episode III. The Visit of Queen Elizabeth to Hinchingbrooke, AD 1598 Elizabeth speaks to the people of Huntingdon and proceeds to knight Henry Cromwell.

Episode IV. King James at Hinchingbrooke, AD 1603 King James, coming from the North to London, staged two nights at Hinchingbrooke and was entertained lavishly by Sir Oliver Cromwell. His son, who attended the Grammar School, played with the young Prince Charles but soon quarrelled and came to blows.

Episode V. Return of the First Earl of Sandwich after the Restoration, AD 1660 Miss Olga Montagu awaits the return of her husband. Samuel Pepys arrives in a coach along with a pretty actress. Pepys’s wife scolds him and carries him away by coach before Lord Sandwich arrives and is welcomed by his family. They drink to the health of the King.

58

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

181 This is the 8th Earl very much entering into the spirit of things and (I would guess) portraying James VI & I.

59

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

Episode I. The Granting of the Charter to the Town of Huntingdon by King John, AD 1206

182

Episode II. The Expulsion of the Nuns – The Abbess (2nd from right) was played by Lady Emily Hart 183 Dyke, the Earl’s sister.

60

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

Episode III. The Visit of Queen Elizabeth portrayed by ‘Miss Montagu’. This is almost certainly Mary Sophie Montagu (1870-1946). She was the 8th Earl’s niece, daughter of his younger brother, Rear Admiral Victor Alexander Montagu. She did not marry.

184 and 185

61

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

186 Miss Hignett(?)

62

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

Episode IV. King James at Hinchingbrooke, AD 1603.

187

188 Caption reads ‘Grammar School’.

63

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

Episode V. Return of the First Earl of Sandwich after the Restoration, AD 1660.

The Countess of Sandwich (played by Miss Olga Montagu) awaits the return of her husband.

Samuel Pepys arrives in a coach along with a pretty actress. Pepys’s wife scolds him and carries him away by coach before Lord Sandwich arrives and is welcomed by his family. They drink to the health of the King.

189 and 190

64

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

191 and 192

65

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 193

194 Caption reads ‘Lady Susan Fitzclarence’. Born Lady Susan Yorke in 1881, she married Augustus Arthur Cornwallis Fitzclarence in 1910. She appeared in many aristocratic theatricals and was a friend of Nellie Melba.

66

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

195 The Caption reads ‘George, Olga, Victor and Drogo Montagu’ and they are portraying the 1st Earl and his family. George, born 1874, succeeded his uncle as Earl of Sandwich in 1916. He married Alberta Sturges in 1905 and Victor was born in 1906 and Drogo in 1908. For whatever reason, Alberta did not take part and 1st Earl’s wife was played by George’s sister, Olga, born 1873.

67

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

The following cuttings are kept with the album in the British Library and help to put the Pageant into a wider perspective. This is something that the Historical Pageants Project should also be able to do. There was a craze for this kind of Pageant in the decade before World War. Most of these were town or city based, although some took place in Country Houses, usually those, like Hinchingbrooke, were close to a town eg Dudley Castle, Sherborne Castle Ruins and Warwick Castle.

Where Hinchingbrooke seems to be unusual if not unique is in the extent of aristocratic involvement. The Earl of Sandwich himself was both stage manager and an active participant..

His sister, Lady Emily Hart Dyke played the Abbess of Hinchingbrooke and his niece had the best pageant role of all as Queen Elizabeth. His nephew George, who succeeded him as 9th Earl, played his own direct ancestor, Edward Montagu, 1st Earl of Sandwich. George’s real wife, an American, did not take part. I don’t know the reason. It could have been pregnancy but the dates don’t seem to fit. His pageant wife was his sister and his two young sons appeared as their children. This casting suggests either a great concentration of theatrical talent in the family or the survival of deference in early 20th century Huntingdon.

196

68

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

197 and 198

69

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

199a and 199b

70

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

199c (top) and 199d

71

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

SECTION 4 1916-1962: Inter War and World War II Photographs plus postcards

201 Stanley Baldwin at Hinchingbrooke 1926

This section is a mixture of pictures from various sources. Few of them are dated and many are from unknown sources or anonymous internet images. Nevertheless they should be included in this collection.

202 9th Earl and Family at Hinchingbrooke c1930

72

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

203 9th Earl (?) during World War II when the house was used as a convalescent hospital

204

73

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

205

74

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

206 – 208 These 3 pictures are copied from a scrapbook that belonged to Geoffrey Rodd, who was a friend of Victor and Drogo and stayed at Hinchingbrooke in 1926. He was an amateur pilot and may have been responsible for taking the aerial photograph. It is useful to have precise dating.

206

207

75

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

208

76

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 209 and 210 Two more aerial photographs are reproduced below. The first is on p137 of Huntingdon Eight Centuries of History – Akeroyd and Clifford and is accession 4231A at County Record Office, Huntingdon, the second on p170 of the same authors’ History of Huntingdon Grammar School is also from Hunts archives but no accession number is given.. Both must be later and a 1960s date is suggested for the first. Rather curiously, the kitchen garden seems to be a much more active operation in that picture than in either of the others.

77

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

211 and 212 The Stable Block shown on the previous air photograph. No date.

78

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970 These postcards of Hinchingbrooke are undated and almost impossible to date. There is one of the gatehouse, one of ‘The Nunnery’ (which unlike the very early picture (002) shows exposed timbering) and then six different versions of the view of the south and west fronts.

All except possibly the final one, show the 1890s wing intact and must therefore date from no later than 1947. Perhaps rather surprisingly, there is no view of the North Front.

213

214. A version of this picture without the caption is reproduced on page 13 of Huntingdon Eight Centuries of History – Akeroyd and Clifford 79

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

215

216

80

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

217

218

81

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

219

220

82

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

221 This photograph comes from Men and Mansions by Harold Spender (published 1924). There is a whole chapter on The Cromwells and Hinchingbrooke, but, apart from this picture, nothing of significance.

It is a romantic and not very accurate account of Oliver Cromwell and Huntingdon.

222 83

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

222 and 223 These two pictures come from English Country Houses Open to the Public by Christopher Hussey (Second edition revised and enlarged 1953) published by Country Life. I think that the pictures were probably in the first edition of 1951, but note that the photograph of the West Front was taken after the 1890s wing had been demolished in 1947.

223

224 This picture is undated but the state of the lawn suggests a degree of neglect

84

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

SECTION 5 1962-1970 Restoration In the 1960s a major restoration of the house took place in order to make it suitable for its new role as part of Hinchingbrooke School. The main contractors were Rattee and Kett of Cambridge and these photographs (provenance unknown) were probably taken by, or for, them or for their clients, Huntingdonshire County Council.

Numbers 251-255 are exteriors, 256 to 258 show the Library, 259 and 260 are the rooms above the Library, with the recently uncovered Richard Cromwell fireplace visible in 259, The locations of 261 to 264 are less certain.

During restoration 251 and 252

85

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

253

254

86

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

255

256

87

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

257 and 258

88

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

259

260

89

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

261

90

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

262

263

91

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

264

92

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

271

After restoration

I know nothing of the provenance of these high quality images, but I think that they were taken after the 1960s restoration was complete, but before Hinchingbrooke School took over the house in 1970. The litter bin in 272, the television aerials in 274 and 275 and the fire door in 278 would all point to this.

Perhaps they were commissioned by Rattee and Kett or by Huntingdonshire County Council.

272

93

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

273

274

94

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

275

95

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

276

96

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

277

97

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

278

98

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

279

99

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

280

100

Hinchingbrooke 1200-1970

281

Design and layout by Sam Bell

101