Raynham Hall
Encyclopedia
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. For 300 years it has been the seat of the Townshend family. The hall gave its name to the area, known as The Raynhams
East Raynham
East Raynham is a village in the county of Norfolk. It is located on the A1065 some south-west of from Fakenham. The River Wensum flows close to the village...
, and is reported to be haunted, providing the scene for possibly the most famous ghost photo of all time, the famous Brown Lady
Brown Lady of Raynham Hall
The Brown Lady of Raynham Hall is a ghost which reportedly haunts Raynham Hall in Norfolk. It became one of the most famous hauntings in Great Britain when the image of the 'Brown Lady' was captured by photographers from Country Life magazine who were photographing the staircase in 1936, where it...
descending the staircase. However, the ghost
Ghost
In traditional belief and fiction, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a deceased person or animal that can appear, in visible form or other manifestation, to the living. Descriptions of the apparition of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to...
has been seen infrequently since the photo was taken. Its most famous resident was Charles Townshend, 2nd Viscount Townshend
Charles Townshend, 2nd Viscount Townshend
Charles Townshend, 2nd Viscount Townshend Bt, KG, PC was a British Whig statesman. He served for a decade as Secretary of State, directing British foreign policy...
(1674–1738), leader in the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
.
Style
Raynham Hall is one of the most splendid of the great houses of NorfolkNorfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
. It was begun by Sir Roger Townshend
Sir Roger Townshend, 1st Baronet
Sir Roger Townshend, 1st Baronet , was an English Member of Parliament.Townshend was the son of Sir John Townshend. In 1617 he was created a Baronet, of Rainham in the County of Norfolk. He later sat as Member of Parliament for Orford from 1621 to 1622 and for Norfolk from 1628 to 1629...
and was the first of its kind in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Perhaps because of the three-year grand tour of Europe which Sir Roger had undertaken, Raynham was built in an entirely new style, abandoning native tradition and following the Italian form and plan. Raynham could easily be mistaken for a house built nearly a century later.
Legend
In 1713, Lord Townshend married Robert Walpole's prettiest sister, Dorothy. She was his second wife, and is reputed in the gossip of the time to have been previously the mistress of Lord Wharton, "whose character was so infamous, and his lady's complaisant subserviency so notorious, that no young woman could be four and twenty hours under their roof with safety to her reputation."Lady Townshend was buried in 1726. But there is a tradition that she did not die in that year and that the funeral was a mock interment.
Instead, she is rumoured to have been locked up in the house by her husband. This is why the ghost of "Dolly" Townshend, the "little brown lady of Raynham," is said still to haunt the oak staircase of the house in the twilight.
Additions
The Hall at Raynham was begun in 1619 with indications that it may have been designed by Inigo JonesInigo Jones
Inigo Jones is the first significant British architect of the modern period, and the first to bring Italianate Renaissance architecture to England...
. Later extensions and interiors were designed by William Kent
William Kent
William Kent , born in Bridlington, Yorkshire, was an eminent English architect, landscape architect and furniture designer of the early 18th century.He was baptised as William Cant.-Education:...
, the one-time coach-painter who turned his talents to designing houses and furniture. To add the North wing to Raynham and decorate the interior, the 2nd Viscount Townshend
Charles Townshend, 2nd Viscount Townshend
Charles Townshend, 2nd Viscount Townshend Bt, KG, PC was a British Whig statesman. He served for a decade as Secretary of State, directing British foreign policy...
called in William Kent, later to be one of the architects of nearby Holkham. Much of Kent's finest work can be seen at Raynham, especially in the elaborately carved chimney-pieces, the mosaic paintings and decorated doorways. The impressive and beautiful ceiling of' the Marble Hall with its motif of Lord Townshend's coat of arms (see picture on right) is famous.
Paintings
Many fine portraits still adorn Kent's splendid rooms at Raynham. Hanging beside his lovely black and white marble chimney-piece in the Princess' Room is a painting which is believed to be a preliminary sketch for the famous Van DyckAnthony 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...
portrait "Children of Charles I." Until 1904, there were many more paintings at Raynham, including several fine family portraits by Kneller
Godfrey Kneller
Sir Godfrey Kneller, 1st Baronet was the leading portrait painter in England during the late 17th and early 18th centuries, and was court painter to British monarchs from Charles II to George I...
and Reynolds
Joshua Reynolds
Sir Joshua Reynolds RA FRS FRSA was an influential 18th-century English painter, specialising in portraits and promoting the "Grand Style" in painting which depended on idealization of the imperfect. He was one of the founders and first President of the Royal Academy...
. The most famous and valuable was "Belisarius " by Salvator Rosa
Salvator Rosa
Salvator Rosa was an Italian Baroque painter, poet and printmaker, active in Naples, Rome and Florence. As a painter, he is best known as an "unorthodox and extravagant" and a "perpetual rebel" proto-Romantic.-Early life:...
, which was presented to the 2nd Viscount Townshend by King Frederick William I of Prussia
Frederick William I of Prussia
Frederick William I of the House of Hohenzollern, was the King in Prussia and Elector of Brandenburg from 1713 until his death...
. This was valued at £5,000 in 1804, but was disposed of a hundred years later for £273.
Charles Townshend, 8th Marquess Townshend
Charles Townshend, 8th Marquess Townshend
Charles George Townshend, 8th Marquess Townshend is the elder son of George Townshend, 7th Marquess Townshend, and his first wife Elizabeth Pamela Audrey , daughter of Thomas Luby. He was styled Viscount Raynham until he succeeded his father on 23 April 2010.He has two full sisters and a half...
, is the present owner of the Hall.