Although initially, I had no intention of having a theme for this week’s blog entries, the Internet Sites for Local Historians: a directory is literally such an outstanding publication, I just cannot stop sharing my finds with you!
Monday and Tuesday have had a ‘name’ theme so today, my attention has turned to buildings, in particular, lost English country houses. The Lost Heritage website lists 1,909 significant English country houses which have either been demolished entirely or severely reduced, with the main focus being on those lost since 1800. The majority of those listed would now be classified as Grade I, Grade II* or II but others have been also included where they were likely to be of importance within a local area.
The man behind the research and the website, Matthew Beckett, states that: “The properties range in style from the smaller manor houses to the Classical mansions to the vast Victorian Gothic palaces. The aim is to list and provide an ‘architectural biography’ comprising a full history including who built the house, when and why it was demolished and to have an image of the house – be it a photo or a print.”
And, he has done an amazing job – as a hobby – for which he receives no remuneration. With information and images relating to nearly 2,000 houses, the ‘featured houses’ tab is a good place to start in order to delve deeper into the detail available for houses listed. For example, Lindridge, near Bishopsteignton in Devon:
The complete list is separated into counties with the date of demolition and a useful key provided so users can see at a glance why the country house has been lost.
Volunteer work at its best – thank you, Matthew Beckett! If you can add to Matthew’s information and images, I am sure he would be delighted to hear from you! Now, what to feature tomorrow….?
