HISTORY OF GUNTHORPE HALL
LISTED GRADE II
1789
JOHN SOANE (LATER TO BECOME SIR JOHN SOANE WHO DESIGNED THE BANK OF ENGLAND AND DULWICH PICTURE GALLERY…) WAS COMMISSIONED TO DESIGN A CLASSIC, PALLADIAN-INSPIRED, GENTLEMAN’S RESIDENCE TO REPLACE AN EXISTING, TUDOR MANSION – RETAINING PARTS OF THE OLD HALL AT THE BACK.
FROM SOANE’S JOURNAL: “WORK WAS IN HAND BY JULY 1790. FOUNDATIONS WERE DUG IN AUGUST AND ALTHOUGH THE WORKMEN HAD TO BREAK OFF FOR FOUR DAYS IN SEPTEMBER TO GIVE A HAND AT THE HARVEST, THE FRAMING OF THE ROOF WAS NEARING COMPLETION BY EARLY OCTOBER. THE HOUSE WAS COVERED WITH GLAZED TILES.”
DISTINCTIVE, SOANE FEATURES REMAIN TODAY, INCLUDING HIS REMODELED KITCHEN AND THE APSED ROOM WITH RADIUSED DOORS ON THE FIRST FLOOR. THIS CAN BE SEEN IN THE DRAWING ROOM IN SOANE’S OWN HOME IN LINCOLN’S INN FIELDS, NOW THE SOANE MUSEUM, WHERE THE PLANS FOR GUNTHORPE HALL ARE STORED.
1830
CANON JOHN HENRY SPARKE, SON OF THE BISHOP OF ELY, PURCHASED GUNTHORPE HALL FROM THE COLLIER FAMILY, STARTING THE FAMILY’S LONG OWNERSHIP WHICH CONTINUED UNTIL THE EARLY 1970’S. THE FAMILY MOTTO ‘SCINTILLA FIT IGNIS’ (SPARK MAKES FIRE) STILL ADORNS THE FIREPLACE IN DITCHBURN BEDROOM.
1850–1860
THE HOUSE IS REMODELED AND ALTERED (IN PHASE ONE) BY ARCHITECT WILLIAM BUTTERFIELD – ENCASING IT IN RED BRICK WITH STONE FACINGS AND A SLATE ROOF.
HE ADDED A BAY TO THE WEST RECEPTION ROOM, AND A LOW-COLUMNED, BRICK AND STONE GARDEN WALL.
THIS CREATED THE PARTERRE GARDEN AREA OUTSIDE THE DRAWING ROOM WINDOW.
CIRCA 1880
THE PREVIOUSLY ALTERED HOUSE IS NOW EXTENDED BY BUTTERFIELD (IN PHASE TWO). OWNER AND ARTIST, CHARLES BOYER SPARKE, COMMISSIONED THE THREE-STOREY TOWER OVER THE MAIN ENTRANCE FOR HIS STUDIO ALONG WITH THE DINING ROOM AND THE WEST WING. GUNTHORPE HALL BECOMES RECOGNISABLE AS IT STANDS TODAY. A GALLERY OF SPARKE’S PAINTINGS NOW HANGS IN THE BILLIARD ROOM.
TWO CIRCULAR FAMILY CRESTS ARE CARVED IN STONE, AND PROUDLY DISPLAYED EITHER SIDE OF THE ENTRANCE DOOR.
1918
PEACE CELEBRATIONS OUTSIDE THE HALL. GUNTHORPE HALL ENTERS THE 20TH CENTURY AS A TRADITIONAL GEORGIAN/VICTORIAN MANOR, WITH A LARGE HOUSEHOLD OF FAMILY AND SERVANTS, SURROUNDED BY RICH FARMLAND BELONGING TO THE ESTATE.
1940’s
LARGELY SELF-SUFFICIENT DURING WORLD WAR TWO, THANKS TO ITS KITCHEN GARDENS AND GREENHOUSES, GUNTHORPE HALL WELCOMED CHILDREN EVACUATED TO SAFETY FROM THE LONDON BLITZ AND WAS THEN REQUISITIONED BY THE US AIR FORCE. SOME OF THE YOUNG EVACUEES CONTINUED TO REVISIT THE HOUSE MANY YEARS LATER, WITH MEMORIES OF THE OLD CLASSES IN THE SCHOOL ROOM – NOW WELLARD BEDROOM IN WING HOUSE.
EARLY 1970’s
THE SPARKE FAMILY SELL THE ESTATE TO SUN ALLIANCE INSURANCE CO.
1979
AFTER SEVEN YEARS OF LYING EMPTY, WITH AN OVERGROWN GARDEN, LEAKING ROOFS AND DRY ROT THROUGHOUT, THE HOUSE REQUIRED MAJOR RESTORATION TO MAKE IT HABITABLE AND COMFORTABLE.
BEFORE EVER SPENDING THE NIGHT IN GUNTHORPE HALL, THE CURRENT OWNERS TRAVELLED IN MEXICO ENDING UP IN THE JUNGLE OF CHIAPAS – STAYING IN A PROPERTY OWNED BY ANTHROPOLOGISTS STUDYING LOCAL CULTURE.
MEALS WERE SHARED WITH THE LOCALS PASSING THROUGH, AND STUDENTS AND TRAVELLERS SPENT TIME VOLUNTEERING – GATHERING AND SHARING VALUABLE LIFE EXPERIENCE. EVERYONE LEARNING FROM EACHOTHER…
IT WAS THIS INSPIRATIONAL STAY THAT FORMED THE IDEA TO CREATE A SIMILAR SITUATION WITH THE RESTORATION OF GUNTHORPE HALL. MORE THAN ANYTHING IT NEEDED TO BE LIVED-IN AND SHARED BY MORE THAN AN INDIVIDUAL FAMILY.
IN THE PAST IT HAD BEEN OCCUPIED BY OWNERS AND MANY WORKERS. IN OUR PHASE – WE WERE ALL TO BE WORKERS…
UPON OUR RETURN WE ADVERTISED FOR ARTISTS AND WRITERS TO LIVE AND WORK IN THE HOUSE AS A CREATIVE COMMUNITY – DIVIDING TIME BETWEEN THEIR OWN PROJECTS AND THE RESTORATION OF THE HOUSE AND GARDENS, ASSISTING PROFESSIONAL, LOCAL TRADESMEN.
THESE CONTRIBUTIONS ARE CELEBRATED IN THE NAMES OF MANY OF THE ROOMS. IT IS THIS COMBINATION OF INSPIRATION, CREATIVITY, COMMUNITY, LIVING WITH THE LAND AND LOVE FOR THE HOUSE THAT CONTINUES TO UNDERPIN THE SPIRIT OF GUNTHORPE HALL TODAY.