EPISODE 506 LIST OF LOST COUNTRY HOUSES IN BRITAIN. (This gets personal)
alan skeoch
Jan. 6 , 2022
SO FAR 1,984 COUNTRY ESTATE GRAND HOUSES HAVE BEEN DEMOLISHED
So far 1,984 Country Estates like Eywood have been lost. Many by demolition…others by fire…others by inability
to maintain due to costs….others by deaths in wars…others by extensive damage…etc. etc. Result has been
loss of 1,984 very unique large homes some of which were like Casa Loma and others interesting but
less ostentatious. A loss all the same. In Canada such losses have also occurred with little if any protest.
In Britain the demolitions have been recorded with pictures and comments under the heading below”
“COMPLETE LIST OF LOST COUNTRY HOUSES IN BRITAIN.”
Yes, all 1,984 lost country estates are listed. I have picked a few below just for interests sake…one
especially for friend Judy Caldecott under heading ‘Caldecott House’. Her dad, Stapes, was our
principal at Parkdale C.I. for several years. He was a fighter for kids and would have fought for
Caldecott House if it had any family connection at all.
While the number of country estates lost is huge, there are more than 3,000 still in existence although some are
doomed. The list reads as if the sword of Damocles hangs over them all except those protected
by the National Trust.
Caldecott House
Abingdon, Berkshire
Caldecott House was, for many years, the home of the Hyde family. When its last owner, Major-Genral Bailie, died in 1918, the place became an hotel. Requisitioned during the last war, it was, finally, a Barnardo’s Children’s Home until its demolition, in 1972, to make way for the present housing estate.
SALTMARSHE CASTLE
| LOCATION | BROMYARD | |
| COUNTY | HEREFORDSHIRE | |
| YEAR DEMOLISHED | 1955 | |
| REASON | UNKNOWN |
ST LEONARD’S HILL
| LOCATION | CLEWER NR WINDSOR | |
| COUNTY | BERKSHIRE | |
| YEAR DEMOLISHED | 1924, 1970 | |
| REASON | ABANDONED, BECOMING DERELICT BEFORE DEMOLITION |
<< BACK TO MAIN PAGE 
ST LEONARD’S HILL – PHOTOGRAPH FROM ‘BEAUTIFUL BRITAIN – THE SCENERY AND SPLENDOURS OF THE UNITED KINGDOM’ (PUBLISHED 1894) 
ST LEONARD’S HILL – PRINT FROM LONDON ILLUSTRATED NEWS
UNDER THREAT…ANNESLEY HALL BELOW
ANNESLEY HALL…a country house under threat o demolition. It was here that Lord
Byrons praises MARY CHAWORTH. (1785 – 1832)
Aramstone House, King’s Caple, Herefordshire (Demolished)
“TRY TO STAY FOR THE NIGHT IN THE BIG HOUSE DOWN THE ROAD!
Marjorie and I had a real life experience with country houses decades ago when we were
searching for English ’tithe barns’. Places where peasant medievsal farmers paid their tithes
in kind because they never handled cash in coin form. Or very rarely did so. They paid their
10”% tithes in the form af bushels of grain or domestic animals. Church and state officials
had to have buildings in which to store and eventually sell or distribute these agricultural products.
So huge tithe barns were built. And many of these ancient medieval buildings have survived
and are tucked away in obscure villages., landed estates or alongside churches in Britain.
Finding them was a challenge which made our trip worthwhile.
“Alan, that was one of our greatest trips when we searched for those tithe barns.?
“Gave purpose to the trip didn’t it?”
“Remember Bromyard?
“Night driving east from Leominster…dark…we had no place to stay…
But by chance we found a Counry House…old aristocratic estate…long lane.”
Just east of Bromyard, Herefordshire.”
“A man in the Bromyard pub suggested we try the big house outside own….sometimes
they take in tourists…not often but sometimes.”
So we drove down that long dark twisty lane arriving at a very large
Country Estate home. There was some kind of party going on in the
main room…seemed to be celebrating something.
“Sure, we can put you up. Big room upstairs. Make yourself at home.
Wine, beer and scotch in the room, help yourself.
We will send up
coffee in the morning on the dumb waiter.”
“Dumb waiter?” What did he mean by that? Turned out to be a miniature hand
cranked elevator for food directly from the estate kitchen somewhere below. We made
ourselves at home. Made gin and tonic from the loaded bar. Great long cast
iron bathtub with heated towel rack. Pure luxury. The former aristocratic owners
knew those finer touches of relaxation.
A while later there was a knock on our door and an invitation to come down
and join them in the drawing room where around a half doze ’30 somethings’ had been
lamenting end of fox hunting with hounds and horses..
“The estate is owned by an American company to entertain executives visiting England.
Very irregular…so rooms are unused most of the time.”
Marjorie and I were just entertainment for the group All of them bemoaning
the decline off fox hunting. Upper class. Seems former owners of he estate
were kept on to maintain estate for American corporation. Quite a come down.
We had a great time and in the morning a little bell rang and coffee came up
on the dumb waiter while we were invited downstairs for a complete English breakfast with Kippers included.
WHAT HAPPENED TO MOST OF THE COUNTRY HOUSES IN IRELAND?
Sad situation in Ireland. Between 1919 and 1923 most of the 4,000 country houses
in Ireland were set ablaze. Today there are only 100 or so remaining. The
Irish I met when working there in 1960 referred to those bitter days of the
early 1920’s as the ’Time of the Troubles’ which meant little to me at the time.
In those years thousands of grand estate homes many of which were like
Eywood were set on fire by members of the IRA…Irish Republican Army.
I remembered doing our 1960 geophysical survey work through a big estate
east of Bunmahon. Seemed the owner was not pleased with our trespassing. He had a good case.
The reasons I remembered was the heavy rain and spongy swamp area where
John Fleming and the staking crew worked in the darkness and pouring rain cutting our survey lines
using a compass and flashlight. Fleming did it and kept lines straight. Amazing work.
But first we had to overcome the estate owners protests. Do not remember how
we got access. Do remember the thick rhododendron underbrush and then
the needle like Gorse. Who would want to trespass?
So I sent a note to Professor Aidan Coffey who is quite an authority on what is
now called the Copper Trail of western Waterford.
DATELINE: JANUARY 4, 2022
Hello Alan.
I saw your message this morning before I left for Waterford. When I took my mother for the usual drive this afternoon, I deliberately went by Gardenmorris estate and I took a photo of it for you to show you how it looks. I read about your exploration work there on your website writings – so I know it’s the same one. In 1960, it was owned by the Poer-O’Shee family. The estate is about 500 acres.
In answer to your question: Gardenmorris certainly was burnt down in 1923 along with very many other fine houses in County Waterford with all their contents including paintings (generally, the occupants were ordered to leave the house before it was doused in fuel and torched). There were some houses that escaped, notably Curraghmore House, the home of Lord Waterford – de la Poer Beresford. Gardenmorris (previously three-storey: see old museum photo attached) was subsequently rebuilt as a two storey house, and has been pink in colour as far back as I can remember. Maybe the fact that it was rebuilt made some people that you met think that it wasn’t burnt. Many of the big houses were rebuilt, I guess on the strength of their insurance at the time. Others were not and only their ruins remain.
During the Irish civil war when the anti-treaty IRA were burning big houses they appeared to be indiscriminate. Their purpose was apparently to undermine the new 26-county Irish state including houses of those perceived to have influence. It apparently did not matter whether a big house was owned by Catholic or Protestant. Gardenmorris was owned by the Catholic Poer-O’Shee family who in 1874 had built the neo-gothic Catholic church for the local village of Kill. In the mid 1700s, the family had also built the tiny remote Roman Catholic church in Faugheen valley (where you also prospected in 1960). The latter is possibly the earliest catholic church in the county that is still in use, though only once a year in mid-August. The Poer-O’Shee family were generally respected in the area down through the generations. They sold Gardenmorris estate in the 1970s to a local family. As you see in the photo, they have maintained the house well.
Best regards
Aidan
In answer to your question: Gardenmorris certainly was burnt down in 1923 along with very many other fine houses in County Waterford with all their contents including paintings (generally, the occupants were ordered to leave the house before it was doused in fuel and torched). There were some houses that escaped, notably Curraghmore House, the home of Lord Waterford – de la Poer Beresford. Gardenmorris (previously three-storey: see old museum photo attached) was subsequently rebuilt as a two storey house, and has been pink in colour as far back as I can remember. Maybe the fact that it was rebuilt made some people that you met think that it wasn’t burnt. Many of the big houses were rebuilt, I guess on the strength of their insurance at the time. Others were not and only their ruins remain.
During the Irish civil war when the anti-treaty IRA were burning big houses they appeared to be indiscriminate. Their purpose was apparently to undermine the new 26-county Irish state including houses of those perceived to have influence. It apparently did not matter whether a big house was owned by Catholic or Protestant. Gardenmorris was owned by the Catholic Poer-O’Shee family who in 1874 had built the neo-gothic Catholic church for the local village of Kill. In the mid 1700s, the family had also built the tiny remote Roman Catholic church in Faugheen valley (where you also prospected in 1960). The latter is possibly the earliest catholic church in the county that is still in use, though only once a year in mid-August. The Poer-O’Shee family were generally respected in the area down through the generations. They sold Gardenmorris estate in the 1970s to a local family. As you see in the photo, they have maintained the house well.
Best regards
Aidan
This is the estate home I remember…did not know it had been torched and rebuilt
There were 4,000 country estate homes in Ireland, many much like Eywood. But only 100
survived the IRA burnings of the Time of the Troubles (1919 -1923). Owners were informed
on the night of an attack on country home. “Get all the living persons out of this house,
we are going to burn it.” Nothing much was ever saved. Great paintings went up in smoke
along with furniture and possessions. Some were rebuilt. Others remained as burned
out shells like the one below.
JUST SO WE DO NOT END WITH A SOUR NOTE…HERE IS KITCHENER HOUSE, EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND
(where Morgan Skeoch is now living)
KITCHENER HOUSE, EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND…NOW A STUDENT RESIDENCE
SOMEWHERE in this grand old house lives our granddaughter Morgan who is a Veterinary Medicine
student at the University of Edinburgh. Morgan’s house, like many other grand Country Houses has been
redesigned as student housing. There is one big difference from the past to the present. In the past
Kitchener House had a cook and servants. Today the kitchen is still there but students have to prepare their
own meals and woe betide the person who does not wash his or her dishes afterward. That happened once.
As a result the kitchen was closed down until whoever left the mess cleaned up the kitchen. I think Morgan
did some of the clean up even though she was not responsible for the dirty dishes.
Student Review: 5 /5
By biochemislife On 15th May 19
I loved my time in Kitchener. Super affordable, spacious rooms and so close to Kings Buildings. Great for socialising too, with the events organised by the RAs. The cleaning staff were lovely, always up for a chat and in a couple of weeks they knew all of us. The wifi crashed a couple of times, but they solved it within a couple of days. Highly recommend.
alan skeoch
JAN. 7, 2022