Wentworth Woodhouse (Paperback)
The House, the Estate and the Family
Imprint: Pen & Sword History
Pages: 152
Illustrations: 70 colour & black and white illustrations
ISBN: 9781526783011
Published: 21st May 2021
Last Released: 7th November 2023
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It was the home of a knight, a baron, a viscount, two marquises and nine earls. The family had estates not only in South Yorkshire, but also in North Yorkshire, the Midlands and Ireland, at their greatest extent covering nearly 120,000 acres. One head of household was beheaded. Another saw one of the last wolves in the British Isles. One owner built the Palladian mansion at Wentworth, which has the longest frontage of any country mansion in Britain, and was one of the earliest growers of pineapples in this country. One head of family was prime minister. Twice. Another provided financial assistance to more than 6,000 of his Irish tenants and their families to emigrate to Canada during the Great Famine. Another had a christening attended by 7,000 official guests. Yet another bought an ocean liner to go and search for buried treasure in the Pacific.
This copiously illustrated book explores the history of the house, the estate and the family over more than 400 years, drawing on a wide variety of sources, particularly the family records (the Wentworth Woodhouse Muniments) held in Sheffield Archives.
There are many excellent images throughout, which I think is a great plus, and the book, whilst a bit brief, is nevertheless most informative and enjoyable.
The Seventeenth Century Lady
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The story of a great house, this is a fascinating and informative read which I really enjoyed. The authors are very knowledgeable on their subject, it is really well researched and filled with anecdotes on the owners of the estate house. I recommend it highly.
NetGalley, Carol Elizabeth Keogh
As featured in
Around Town (Barnsley) 01/06/21
Fascinating! I am a big english history nerd, so this was just my cuppa. There is a great depth and detail to the research that comes through in a very accessible to the reader manner. I especially enjoyed the format focus into one family over the centuries. Left me eager to visit Wentworth Woodhouse one day.
NetGalley, Shifra Lefkowitz
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
NetGalley, Leonie Hinch
A great insight into the house and family, it very interesting as my grandparents live in wentworth. I have pre ordered a copy for my grandads birthday as I think he’ll enjoy it too.
This is well-written and researched. It's also unusual to find a short book about a historical subject, so it's nice to find one that knows when to stop; and the brevity gives it more a nice punch that one with filler. I suspect many readers will be tempted to visit that area of the country. I'll probably remember this story for a long time. Recommended.
NetGalley, Paul V
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
NetGalley, Karen Ashton
I found this book really interesting especially as I live near Wentworth and have only been to Wentworth Woodhouse a couple of times.
At the moment the house is being renovated and was quite run down when I last visited, but you could still see how it must have looked when it was first built and in the years after when the Gentry did a lot of entertaining and the grand balls they they had
You can imagine the Men in evening suits and the Lady's in their ball gowns stepping out of the carriages and entering the House with its ornate ceilings and life size statues, It must have looked magical.
I am quite ashamed to say that I have not made the most of exploring such a beautiful place as Wentworth Woodhouse and the grounds but after reading this book I am determining to put this right.
Not a subject i'd normally have picked up, however it was a super interesting read, well laid out and full of fabulous facts.
NetGalley, Nicola Whitehead
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
NetGalley, Jody Walker
An absolutely fascinating insight into the Wentworth-Fitzwilliams. Well researched and put together, detailing the rise and fall of the family, along with the rise, fall and rise again of one of the most beautiful country houses in the world!
About Stephen Cooper
Stephen Cooper was a solicitor for almost forty years, in private practice and then in the Government Legal Service. He has written three books on medieval military history for Pen & Sword Books; and written and published three on local history and the 7th Earl Fitzwilliam’s search for buried treasure: Earl Fitzwilliam’s Treasure Island (with John Moorhouse, 2016), Cocos Island and the Treasure of Lima (2017) and The Jubilee Poacher (2018).
About Joan Jones
Joan Jones was Deputy Head in a junior school then Senior Lecturer in Education at Sheffield Hallam University. She was an advisor to the BBC on the making of TV programmes for schools. She is co-author (with Melvyn Jones) of Historic Parks and Gardens in and around South Yorkshire (Pen & Sword Books) and Wentworth Woodhouse Gardens: an Illustrated History (Green Tree Publications, 2002).
About Melvyn Jones
The late Melvyn Jones was a local and landscape historian. On his retirement, after a teaching career in higher education of nearly forty years, he was appointed Visiting Professor in Landscape History at Sheffield Hallam University in 1999. He is the author of numerous books and articles on the history of South Yorkshire, including The Making of the South Yorkshire Landscape (2000); The Making of Sheffield (2004) and South Yorkshire Mining Villages (2017) all for Pen & Sword Books.