Where
In the village of Brodsworth, near Doncaster.
What
A large mid-Victorian house and gardens, which English Heritage took over in 1990 after the death of Sylvia Grant-Dalton, the last occupant.
"Brodsworth Hall, which stayed within the same family from being completed in 1863 until the death of Grant-Dalton, is the story of the English country house, its contents and, by the mid-20th century, its dwindling income and how this decline affected how the occupants lived," says Crosby Stevens, one of the hall's two co-curators.
Opened
1995. The house was very dilapidated when they took over and the gardens overgrown, Stevens says. The garden has been restored but the house has been subject to an archaeological 'layers of time' approach. Nearly everything has been kept.
Collections
"The family threw away very little, so there is an amazingly complete inventory of Victorian and Edwardian possessions, which detail both family and servant life," says Stevens. "We have found drawers full of Victorian tassels, nails and dog bowls, dozens of empty Quality Street tins, stacks of Jacob's Cream Crackers."
Help at hand
Stevens shares the curatorship of the hall with Caroline Carr-Whitworth. There are also numerous volunteers and a full-time gardener.
Budget
Funded centrally by English Heritage, plus admission fees (£8.30 adult).
Visits
50,000 in 2008.
Highlights
"The hooves are quite fun," says Stevens, referring to the mummified feet of Rataplan, the champion racehorse belonging to a family member in the 19th century. "Over the years lots of people called to say that they had Rataplan's hooves, but it was only when an 82-year-old lady rang - her grandfather had been a stud groom - that we knew they were the real thing."
Stevens also likes two scrap screens made by the family on long winter nights. "They papered the screens with all kinds of cuttings, including one picture of a woman on a bicycle breast-feeding a baby. It looks like they had a lot of fun."
Survival tips
"Concerts and other special events are always popular," says Stevens. "It's not just about maximising our revenue: we also want the locals to feel that the hall is theirs."
Sticky moment
"The lift," says Stevens, without hesitation. "It's always been slightly iffy. Mrs Grant-Dalton used to get stuck in it so often that she had a telephone installed so she could call one of the estate workers to winch her to safety. She added a chair and pasted family photographs up the lift shaft so she would have something to look at while she waited." No visitor has yet been stranded in it.
Current projects
The hall has a collection of rare gramophone records - from Caruso to 1920s dance tunes. The curators hope to display the discs and re-record the music to play downstairs.
In the village of Brodsworth, near Doncaster.
What
A large mid-Victorian house and gardens, which English Heritage took over in 1990 after the death of Sylvia Grant-Dalton, the last occupant.
"Brodsworth Hall, which stayed within the same family from being completed in 1863 until the death of Grant-Dalton, is the story of the English country house, its contents and, by the mid-20th century, its dwindling income and how this decline affected how the occupants lived," says Crosby Stevens, one of the hall's two co-curators.
Opened
1995. The house was very dilapidated when they took over and the gardens overgrown, Stevens says. The garden has been restored but the house has been subject to an archaeological 'layers of time' approach. Nearly everything has been kept.
Collections
"The family threw away very little, so there is an amazingly complete inventory of Victorian and Edwardian possessions, which detail both family and servant life," says Stevens. "We have found drawers full of Victorian tassels, nails and dog bowls, dozens of empty Quality Street tins, stacks of Jacob's Cream Crackers."
Help at hand
Stevens shares the curatorship of the hall with Caroline Carr-Whitworth. There are also numerous volunteers and a full-time gardener.
Budget
Funded centrally by English Heritage, plus admission fees (£8.30 adult).
Visits
50,000 in 2008.
Highlights
"The hooves are quite fun," says Stevens, referring to the mummified feet of Rataplan, the champion racehorse belonging to a family member in the 19th century. "Over the years lots of people called to say that they had Rataplan's hooves, but it was only when an 82-year-old lady rang - her grandfather had been a stud groom - that we knew they were the real thing."
Stevens also likes two scrap screens made by the family on long winter nights. "They papered the screens with all kinds of cuttings, including one picture of a woman on a bicycle breast-feeding a baby. It looks like they had a lot of fun."
Survival tips
"Concerts and other special events are always popular," says Stevens. "It's not just about maximising our revenue: we also want the locals to feel that the hall is theirs."
Sticky moment
"The lift," says Stevens, without hesitation. "It's always been slightly iffy. Mrs Grant-Dalton used to get stuck in it so often that she had a telephone installed so she could call one of the estate workers to winch her to safety. She added a chair and pasted family photographs up the lift shaft so she would have something to look at while she waited." No visitor has yet been stranded in it.
Current projects
The hall has a collection of rare gramophone records - from Caruso to 1920s dance tunes. The curators hope to display the discs and re-record the music to play downstairs.
Links
www.english-heritage.org.uk
www.english-heritage.org.uk
