Marbury Hall, Anderton with Marbury
Encyclopedia
Marbury Hall was a country house in Marbury
, near Northwich
, Cheshire
, England. Several houses existed on the site from the 13th century, which formed the seat successively of the Marbury, Barry and Smith-Barry families, until 1932. An extensive collection of artwork and sculpture was housed at the hall from 1801 until the 1930s. The final house was extensively remodelled by Anthony Salvin
in the 1850s.
Marbury Hall was used as a military camp and later as a prisoner-of-war camp
during the Second World War
, and afterwards Imperial Chemical Industries
housed foreign workers there. The house was demolished in 1968, and the grounds now form part of Marbury Park
.
, in 1708. In 1714 it passed to James Barry, 4th Earl of Barrymore, the Earl's son-in-law, who enlarged the existing house, and then to his second son Richard Barry. When the latter died without issue in 1787, the hall passed to James Hugh Smith Barry, an art collector who also owned the adjacent Belmont Hall
. From 1801, Marbury Hall housed his extensive collection of artworks and sculpture.
James Hugh Smith Barry's grandson of the same name had the hall extended and remodelled by Anthony Salvin
in around 1856. It served as the family home of the Smith-Barry family until 1932, when it was sold and became a country club. In 1940, during the Second World War
, the house was requisitioned for war use. British soldiers camped in the park before huts and roads were built to serve the military, including survivors from Dunkirk. The house became a prisoner-of-war camp
, known as Camp 180. Bert Trautmann
, a German paratrooper
, later to become Manchester City goalkeeper, was billeted at the camp.
After the war the house was sold to the chemical company Imperial Chemical Industries
, and was used to house Polish
workers. However, the house deteriorated over time and was demolished in 1968. Nikolaus Pevsner
called the demolition "a great pity".
building in brick, which Lord Barrymore extended with side wings and a portico
. In 1837, Thomas Moule
described the hall before Salvin's remodelling as "a spacious building with a Doric
corridor on the entrance front".
The hall was enlarged and remodelled in around 1856 by architect Anthony Salvin
, based on the great French château of Fontainebleau. Salvin was recommended by John Nesfield, landscape gardener to the Smith-Barry family.
Pevsner
considered that Salvin's work was a remodelling of an existing house originally by James Gibbs
. Architectural writers Peter de Figueiredo and Julian Treuherz, however, state that this is a misidentification of a house by Gibbs described as "a very Convenient Small house of six rooms on the floor for the Honble John Smith Barry at Aston Park in Cheschire" in manuscripts held at the Soane Museum. They identify John Smith Barry's house with Belmont Hall
, now a school, which stands adjacent to the Marbury estate.
Pevsner compared the remodelled Marbury Hall with Wellington College
, completed in 1859, describing it as "quite a document of architectural history". The architecture mixed Louis XIII
pavilion roofs and French dormer
s with parts in the Queen Anne
style; there were turrets and a dome.
Avenues were planted in the 1840s to the design of Nesfield, and still exist today.
James Hugh Smith Barry, an avid collector of artwork and sculpture, brought numerous works of ancient Greek
and Roman
statuary back from Rome
at a date variously given as 1766 or 1780. The 45 pieces included part of the Parthenon Frieze
, a greater than life size (81.5 inch high) Roman marble statue of Zeus
, a bust of Livia
, described by Susan Walker of the British Museum
as an "outstanding" portrait, and marble busts of several Roman emperors, including Marcus Aurelius, Antoninus Pius
, Lucius Verus
and Septimius Severus
. Some of these pieces were purchased from Gavin Hamilton
, a well-known archaeologist and antiquities dealer, including a statue of Antinous
for £1000, then the highest known price of any antiquity imported to Britain from Rome. James Hugh Smith Barry also collected numerous paintings by Old Master
s, including a self-portrait by Anthony van Dyck
and Venus disarming Cupid by Parmigianino
.
The works were originally housed at Belmont Hall
, but after James Hugh Smith Barry's death in 1801, Belmont Hall was sold, and his collection was moved to Marbury Hall. Under the terms of his will, the collection was to be housed in a special gallery, but his heir, John Smith Barry, failed to build this, and it remained to John Smith Barry's son, another James Hugh Smith Barry, to extend the house in 1856.
Moule
described the interior of the house in 1837: "the hall is filled with antique vases, statues, &c, and the saloon is embellished with many of the finest works of art, for which this seat is celebrated: the collection of pictures is chiefly of the Italian school". In 1870–72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales
described the house as containing "a fine selection of paintings and antique sculptures".
The collection remained intact at Marbury Hall until 1932, when the house passed out of the Smith Barry family. The collection was dispersed with most pieces were sold in 1933 or 1946; the piece of the Parthenon Frieze is now held in the British Museum, and the statue of Zeus is at the Getty Museum
.
. The walled garden is now a garden centre. Dead trees in the Lime Avenues were replanted in 1980 to commemorate the 80th birthday of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother
, and the avenues were renamed Queen Elizabeth Avenue.
Anderton with Marbury
right|thumb|Map of civil parish of Anderton with Marbury within the former borough of Vale RoyalAnderton with Marbury is a civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It had a population of 582 according to the 2001 census, and...
, near Northwich
Northwich
Northwich is a town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It lies in the heart of the Cheshire Plain, at the confluence of the rivers Weaver and Dane...
, Cheshire
Cheshire
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...
, England. Several houses existed on the site from the 13th century, which formed the seat successively of the Marbury, Barry and Smith-Barry families, until 1932. An extensive collection of artwork and sculpture was housed at the hall from 1801 until the 1930s. The final house was extensively remodelled by Anthony Salvin
Anthony Salvin
Anthony Salvin was an English architect. He gained a reputation as an expert on medieval buildings and applied this expertise to his new buildings and his restorations...
in the 1850s.
Marbury Hall was used as a military camp and later as a prisoner-of-war camp
Prisoner-of-war camp
A prisoner-of-war camp is a site for the containment of combatants captured by their enemy in time of war, and is similar to an internment camp which is used for civilian populations. A prisoner of war is generally a soldier, sailor, or airman who is imprisoned by an enemy power during or...
during the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, and afterwards Imperial Chemical Industries
Imperial Chemical Industries
Imperial Chemical Industries was a British chemical company, taken over by AkzoNobel, a Dutch conglomerate, one of the largest chemical producers in the world. In its heyday, ICI was the largest manufacturing company in the British Empire, and commonly regarded as a "bellwether of the British...
housed foreign workers there. The house was demolished in 1968, and the grounds now form part of Marbury Park
Marbury Park
thumb|right|250px|Lime tree avenue in parkMarbury Country Park is a park in Cheshire, England. It lies in the heart of Northwich Community Woodlands, an integral part of the Mersey Forest...
.
History
The first Marbury Hall was built in the 13th century by the Marbury or Merbery family. On the death of Richard Marbury in 1684, the male line of the family became extinct. The estate was sold to Richard Savage, 4th Earl RiversRichard Savage, 4th Earl Rivers
Richard Savage, 4th Earl Rivers PC was the second son of Thomas, 3rd Earl; and after the death about 1680 of his elder brother Thomas, styled Viscount Colchester, he was designated by that title until he succeeded to the peerage....
, in 1708. In 1714 it passed to James Barry, 4th Earl of Barrymore, the Earl's son-in-law, who enlarged the existing house, and then to his second son Richard Barry. When the latter died without issue in 1787, the hall passed to James Hugh Smith Barry, an art collector who also owned the adjacent Belmont Hall
Belmont Hall, Cheshire
Belmont Hall, Cheshire, is a country house to the northwest of the village of Great Budworth, Cheshire, England. It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade I listed building. The house stands to the north of the A559 road...
. From 1801, Marbury Hall housed his extensive collection of artworks and sculpture.
James Hugh Smith Barry's grandson of the same name had the hall extended and remodelled by Anthony Salvin
Anthony Salvin
Anthony Salvin was an English architect. He gained a reputation as an expert on medieval buildings and applied this expertise to his new buildings and his restorations...
in around 1856. It served as the family home of the Smith-Barry family until 1932, when it was sold and became a country club. In 1940, during the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the house was requisitioned for war use. British soldiers camped in the park before huts and roads were built to serve the military, including survivors from Dunkirk. The house became a prisoner-of-war camp
Prisoner-of-war camp
A prisoner-of-war camp is a site for the containment of combatants captured by their enemy in time of war, and is similar to an internment camp which is used for civilian populations. A prisoner of war is generally a soldier, sailor, or airman who is imprisoned by an enemy power during or...
, known as Camp 180. Bert Trautmann
Bert Trautmann
Bernhard Carl "Bert" Trautmann, OBE is a German former professional footballer who played for Manchester City from 1949 to 1964. Brought up during times of inter-war strife in Germany, Trautmann joined the Luftwaffe early in the Second World War, serving as a paratrooper...
, a German paratrooper
Paratrooper
Paratroopers are soldiers trained in parachuting and generally operate as part of an airborne force.Paratroopers are used for tactical advantage as they can be inserted into the battlefield from the air, thereby allowing them to be positioned in areas not accessible by land...
, later to become Manchester City goalkeeper, was billeted at the camp.
After the war the house was sold to the chemical company Imperial Chemical Industries
Imperial Chemical Industries
Imperial Chemical Industries was a British chemical company, taken over by AkzoNobel, a Dutch conglomerate, one of the largest chemical producers in the world. In its heyday, ICI was the largest manufacturing company in the British Empire, and commonly regarded as a "bellwether of the British...
, and was used to house Polish
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
workers. However, the house deteriorated over time and was demolished in 1968. Nikolaus Pevsner
Nikolaus Pevsner
Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner, CBE, FBA was a German-born British scholar of history of art and, especially, of history of architecture...
called the demolition "a great pity".
Architecture
The Marbury Hall of 1714 was a vernacularVernacular architecture
Vernacular architecture is a term used to categorize methods of construction which use locally available resources and traditions to address local needs and circumstances. Vernacular architecture tends to evolve over time to reflect the environmental, cultural and historical context in which it...
building in brick, which Lord Barrymore extended with side wings and a portico
Portico
A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls...
. In 1837, Thomas Moule
Thomas Moule
Thomas Moule was an English antiquarian, writer on heraldry, and map-maker. He is best known for his popular and highly decorated county maps of England, steel-engraved and first published separately between 1830 and 1832....
described the hall before Salvin's remodelling as "a spacious building with a Doric
Doric order
The Doric order was one of the three orders or organizational systems of ancient Greek or classical architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian.-History:...
corridor on the entrance front".
The hall was enlarged and remodelled in around 1856 by architect Anthony Salvin
Anthony Salvin
Anthony Salvin was an English architect. He gained a reputation as an expert on medieval buildings and applied this expertise to his new buildings and his restorations...
, based on the great French château of Fontainebleau. Salvin was recommended by John Nesfield, landscape gardener to the Smith-Barry family.
Pevsner
Nikolaus Pevsner
Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner, CBE, FBA was a German-born British scholar of history of art and, especially, of history of architecture...
considered that Salvin's work was a remodelling of an existing house originally by James Gibbs
James Gibbs
James Gibbs was one of Britain's most influential architects. Born in Scotland, he trained as an architect in Rome, and practised mainly in England...
. Architectural writers Peter de Figueiredo and Julian Treuherz, however, state that this is a misidentification of a house by Gibbs described as "a very Convenient Small house of six rooms on the floor for the Honble John Smith Barry at Aston Park in Cheschire" in manuscripts held at the Soane Museum. They identify John Smith Barry's house with Belmont Hall
Belmont Hall, Cheshire
Belmont Hall, Cheshire, is a country house to the northwest of the village of Great Budworth, Cheshire, England. It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade I listed building. The house stands to the north of the A559 road...
, now a school, which stands adjacent to the Marbury estate.
Pevsner compared the remodelled Marbury Hall with Wellington College
Wellington College, Berkshire
-Former pupils:Notable former pupils include historian P. J. Marshall, architect Sir Nicholas Grimshaw, impressionist Rory Bremner, Adolphus Cambridge, 1st Marquess of Cambridge, author Sebastian Faulks, language school pioneer John Haycraft, political journalist Robin Oakley, actor Sir Christopher...
, completed in 1859, describing it as "quite a document of architectural history". The architecture mixed Louis XIII
Louis XIII of France
Louis XIII was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1610 to 1643.Louis was only eight years old when he succeeded his father. His mother, Marie de Medici, acted as regent during Louis' minority...
pavilion roofs and French dormer
Dormer
A dormer is a structural element of a building that protrudes from the plane of a sloping roof surface. Dormers are used, either in original construction or as later additions, to create usable space in the roof of a building by adding headroom and usually also by enabling addition of windows.Often...
s with parts in the Queen Anne
Queen Anne Style architecture
The Queen Anne Style in Britain means either the English Baroque architectural style roughly of the reign of Queen Anne , or a revived form that was popular in the last quarter of the 19th century and the early decades of the 20th century...
style; there were turrets and a dome.
Gardens and park
Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer states that the hall "stands in beautiful grounds, which include a lake of 80 acres". The LimeTilia
Tilia is a genus of about 30 species of trees native throughout most of the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The greatest species diversity is found in Asia, and the genus also occurs in Europe and eastern North America, but not western North America...
Avenues were planted in the 1840s to the design of Nesfield, and still exist today.
Collection
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
and Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
statuary back from Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
at a date variously given as 1766 or 1780. The 45 pieces included part of the Parthenon Frieze
Parthenon Frieze
The Parthenon frieze is the low relief, pentelic marble sculpture created to adorn the upper part of the Parthenon’s naos. It was sculpted between ca. 443 and 438 BC, most likely under the direction of Pheidias. Of the of the original frieze, survives—some 80 percent...
, a greater than life size (81.5 inch high) Roman marble statue of Zeus
Zeus
In the ancient Greek religion, Zeus was the "Father of Gods and men" who ruled the Olympians of Mount Olympus as a father ruled the family. He was the god of sky and thunder in Greek mythology. His Roman counterpart is Jupiter and his Etruscan counterpart is Tinia.Zeus was the child of Cronus...
, a bust of Livia
Livia
Livia Drusilla, , after her formal adoption into the Julian family in AD 14 also known as Julia Augusta, was a Roman empress as the third wife of the Emperor Augustus and his adviser...
, described by Susan Walker of the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
as an "outstanding" portrait, and marble busts of several Roman emperors, including Marcus Aurelius, Antoninus Pius
Antoninus Pius
Antoninus Pius , also known as Antoninus, was Roman Emperor from 138 to 161. He was a member of the Nerva-Antonine dynasty and the Aurelii. He did not possess the sobriquet "Pius" until after his accession to the throne...
, Lucius Verus
Lucius Verus
Lucius Verus , was Roman co-emperor with Marcus Aurelius, from 161 until his death.-Early life and career:Lucius Verus was the first born son to Avidia Plautia and Lucius Aelius Verus Caesar, the first adopted son and heir of Roman Emperor Hadrian . He was born and raised in Rome...
and Septimius Severus
Septimius Severus
Septimius Severus , also known as Severus, was Roman Emperor from 193 to 211. Severus was born in Leptis Magna in the province of Africa. As a young man he advanced through the customary succession of offices under the reigns of Marcus Aurelius and Commodus. Severus seized power after the death of...
. Some of these pieces were purchased from Gavin Hamilton
Gavin Hamilton (artist)
Gavin Hamilton was a Scottish neoclassical history painterwho is more widely remembered for his hunts for antiquities in the neighborhood of Rome...
, a well-known archaeologist and antiquities dealer, including a statue of Antinous
Antinous
Antinoüs or Antinoös was a beautiful Bithynian youth and the favourite of the Roman emperor Hadrian...
for £1000, then the highest known price of any antiquity imported to Britain from Rome. James Hugh Smith Barry also collected numerous paintings by Old Master
Old Master
"Old Master" is a term for a European painter of skill who worked before about 1800, or a painting by such an artist. An "old master print" is an original print made by an artist in the same period...
s, including a self-portrait by Anthony van Dyck
Anthony van Dyck
Sir Anthony van Dyck was a Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England. He is most famous for his portraits of Charles I of England and his family and court, painted with a relaxed elegance that was to be the dominant influence on English portrait-painting for the next...
and Venus disarming Cupid by Parmigianino
Parmigianino
Girolamo Francesco Maria Mazzola , also known as Francesco Mazzola or more commonly as Parmigianino or sometimes "Parmigiano", was an Italian Mannerist painter and printmaker active in Florence, Rome, Bologna, and his native city of Parma...
.
The works were originally housed at Belmont Hall
Belmont Hall, Cheshire
Belmont Hall, Cheshire, is a country house to the northwest of the village of Great Budworth, Cheshire, England. It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade I listed building. The house stands to the north of the A559 road...
, but after James Hugh Smith Barry's death in 1801, Belmont Hall was sold, and his collection was moved to Marbury Hall. Under the terms of his will, the collection was to be housed in a special gallery, but his heir, John Smith Barry, failed to build this, and it remained to John Smith Barry's son, another James Hugh Smith Barry, to extend the house in 1856.
Moule
Thomas Moule
Thomas Moule was an English antiquarian, writer on heraldry, and map-maker. He is best known for his popular and highly decorated county maps of England, steel-engraved and first published separately between 1830 and 1832....
described the interior of the house in 1837: "the hall is filled with antique vases, statues, &c, and the saloon is embellished with many of the finest works of art, for which this seat is celebrated: the collection of pictures is chiefly of the Italian school". In 1870–72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales
Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales
The Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales is a substantial topographical dictionary first published between 1870 and 1872, edited by the Reverend John Marius Wilson. It contains a detailed description of England and Wales...
described the house as containing "a fine selection of paintings and antique sculptures".
J. Paul Getty Museum
The J. Paul Getty Museum, a program of the J. Paul Getty Trust, is an art museum. It has two locations, one at the Getty Center in Los Angeles, California, and one at the Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, California...
.
Present day
None of the house exists following its demolition. However, raised terraces, a pair of rusticated gatepiers topped with urns, stone walls, the arboretum and walled garden still exist within Marbury ParkMarbury Park
thumb|right|250px|Lime tree avenue in parkMarbury Country Park is a park in Cheshire, England. It lies in the heart of Northwich Community Woodlands, an integral part of the Mersey Forest...
. The walled garden is now a garden centre. Dead trees in the Lime Avenues were replanted in 1980 to commemorate the 80th birthday of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother
Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon was the queen consort of King George VI from 1936 until her husband's death in 1952, after which she was known as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, to avoid confusion with her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II...
, and the avenues were renamed Queen Elizabeth Avenue.
Sources
- de Figueiredo P, Treuherz J. Cheshire Country Houses (Phillimore; 1988) (ISBN 0 85033 655 4)
- Pevsner N, Hubbard E. The Buildings of England: Cheshire (Penguin Books; 1971) (ISBN 0-14-071042-6)