Temple Newsam House

FREE TRAIL GUIDE

Work & Play at Temple Newsam takes the form of a self - led three-part trail, or tour, which begins in the House (1 hour), continues in the Stables, Home Farm and Gardens (1 hour), and then takes the visitor into the two estate villages of Colton and Whitkirk (1 _ hours). All three may be taken at the same time, or in one, two or three separate occasions. A lavishly illustrated 32 page booklet, with fold-out map, will guide youto the various points of interest.

1. The House Tour

Displayed inside the house will be a wealth of historical documents, old photographs, paintings, prints, books and interesting ephemera on display. Included will be stunning 18th century View of Temple Newsam, seen in all its pre-industrial splendour, painted by Michaelangelo Rooker, never exhibited before and kindly lent by Lord Halifax.

Various themes will be explored including:

• The productive estate and the ornamental landscape
• The role of the different employees: agents or stewards, gardeners, gamekeepers, joiners, dairymaids
• Landlords and tenants; mines and mining
• Sport (especially shooting); ‘time off’; community celebrations
• Where else did the money come from to support the estate ?
• The estate in public ownership (from 1922)

The tour inside the house culminates in the Georgian Library with a large scale model of Capability Brown’s plan to re-landscape the park in 1762. Comparing the plan with the parkland today it will be seen that Brown’s plans were never fully carried out (and much was destroyed in the open cast coal mining during World War II). Nevertheless enough has survived to show Brown’s vision of an informal natural park. The model has been made by award – winning model maker Michael Dunk, of Frome Somerset.

2. The Stables, Home farm and Gardens Tour

The trail continues by exploring the original locations of the Dairy, Laundry, Coach House, Harness Rooms, Servants’ Dormitories, even the Fire Engine House. In the Home Farm the stories of the Great Barn, the Dovecote, the Farmyard and Poultry Yard and those who lived and worked in them will all be explored. The Joiners Workshops will be brought to life with an audio presentation describing the thrill it instilled in the young Francis Meynell in the 1890s, taken from his diaries.

In the Visitor Centre in the Stable Courtyard there will be

• an interactive computerised ‘fly through’ realisation of the estate as it was depicted in the famous ‘Bird’s Eye View’ of 1700, vividly bringing to light all the meticulously observed details of the old orchards, kitchen gardens, bowling greens, with long avenues stretching far into the horizons.
• the audio visual presentation of oral history testimonials. These give a wide range of reminiscences of the park and estate, ranging from a former miner of the Waterloo Colliery; a former vicar of Whitkirk and the playwright Alan Bennett who used to visit the house and park on his bicycle as a boy in the 1940s.

Visitors will then make their way through the famous azalea and rhododendron shrubberies to the 18th century Walled Garden, famous for producing some of the finest pineapples – the ultimate gardening status symbol - in England at the time. Now given over to National Collections of asters, phlox and chrysanthemums this is where the vegetables, fruits and cut flowers for the house were all produced. The pineapples and vines were saved from the ravages of the Yorkshire winters by clinging to walls especially heated by fires at the rear. The ruins of these ‘fire walls’ can still be seen today.

3. The Villages Trail

The intrepid visitor now walks out of the park and into the estate village of Colton taking in the site of the Deserted Mediaeval Village (the population displaced when the park was created in the early 16th century), and various tenanted farm houses. He will pass the Methodist Church, the Village Institute, the site of the old School and the Colliery.

He then continues the short distance to Whitkirk, looking in at the old Manor House, St Mary’s Church, the School, the corner shop, the Brown Cow pub, the agent’s house and various cottages.

He then walks up the Coach Road, the main approach to the house after the building of the Leeds – Selby turnpike in 1740, into the park once again at the North Lodges, through the Elm Walk and back to the house.

EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES

During the course of the exhibition there will be a continuous programme of free events including

• Living history (costumed interpretation) every Bank Holiday weekend. Figures from the estate’s history – real people whose lives are well documented - will engage with visitors. These will include: Capability Brown (landscape designer), Sarah Herbert (Victorian Dairy Maid), John Taylor (Victorian gardener), John Smith (20th century miner), Mrs Meynell Ingram (Victorian owner), Lady Irwin (Georgian owner), Francis Meynell (Edwardian shooting gent)
• Guided Tours of the exhibition (every Wednesday tbc)
• Concerts, including recently discovered C18th music associated with Temple Newsam on 30 September
• Flower Show, with flowers from the gardens August Bank Holiday week end. Organised by local Barwick in Elmet Flower Club
• Autumn Flower Show 22-23 September tbc
• Family events, including creative art, sculpture and embroidery workshops during holidays and half terms.
• Schools events including vegetable gardening, healthy eating, map-making and other curriculum based events.
• Plus community events, school, student and family events throughout the year.

Dates to be confirmed

For more information contact James Lomax at 0113 - 3901089

Events programmes may have limited capacity, or be subject to change. Please telephone to confirm availability to avoid disappointment.