Agecroft Hall
Agecroft | |
Location | 4305 Sulgrave Road, Richmond, Virginia |
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Coordinates | 37°33′10″N 77°30′23″W / 37.55278°N 77.50639°W |
Area | 23.1 acres (9.3 ha) |
Built | 1926 |
Architect | Henry G. Morse (restoration) Charles Gillette (landscape) |
Architectural style | Tudor-Tudor Revival |
NRHP reference No. | 78003186[1] |
VLR No. | 127-0223 |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | December 13, 1978 |
Designated VLR | July 18, 1978[2] |
Agecroft Hall is a
Thomas C. Williams, Jr. of Richmond, Virginia, a wealthy entrepreneur, purchased Agecroft Hall upon the advice of his architect, Henry G. Morse. During the Country Place Era, when many wealthy American families were building extensive country estates emulating those they had seen in Europe, Williams, whose business interests included tobacco, banking, and shipping, wished to build a true English manor house on his 23-acre estate overlooking the James River. Agecroft was dismantled, crated, transported across the Atlantic, and reconstructed in Richmond's Windsor Farms neighborhood – then a fashionable new neighborhood being developed by Williams on his family farm site, which had long been known as "Windsor".
The architect, Morse, was retained to oversee the reconstruction. The intention was not to replicate Agecroft as it had stood in Lancashire, but rather to create a functional and comfortable mansion reminiscent of its English predecessor. The original floor plan was abandoned and many 20th century conveniences were included. Reconstruction took two years and cost approximately $250,000, and the project was completed during the spring of 1928.
Williams died the following year, having stipulated in his will that upon his widow's death or relocation, Agecroft Hall would become a
History
The hall was one of three manor houses owned by the Prestwich family from 1292 when Edmund Crouchback, Earl of Lancaster, granted land on the banks of the River Irwell in Lancashire to Adam de Prestwich. In 1350, Johanna de Tetlow, daughter of Alice de Prestwich and Jordan de Tetlow, married Richard de Langley of Middleton after the deaths of her parents and brothers – possibly from the plague. The name "Agecroft", meaning "field of wild celery" (from ache and croft) was adopted circa 1376, the old name of Pendlebury being dropped for the manor but not for the village. Subsequently, the Langleys lived at Agecroft Hall until 1561 when the male line failed.[4] The Langleys were a powerful local family for several centuries with major land holdings across the area.
Robert Langley was the last male heir of the Langleys. The first Robert Langley (1379–1446) was a ward of
Richard Langley's brother, William (1315-1386) was Rector of Middleton. Another brother, was the grandfather of Bishop Thomas Langley who entered the service of John of Gaunt and became
In the 1662
At the end of the 19th century, industrialisation swept through the
Babes in the Wood
Cyril Bracegidle in his book Dark River: Irwell asserts that legend has it that the tale of the
Gallery
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Rear view
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Front entrance
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Sunken garden
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Elizabethan knot garden
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Courtyard
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Rear fountain
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Rear
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Side entrance
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Entrance courtyard
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Rear facade
See also
- Virginia House, a neighboring building also moved from England.
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Richmond, Virginia
References
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 13 March 2009.
- ^ "Virginia Landmarks Register". Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Archived from the original on 21 September 2013. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
- ^ "Rebuilding in America - Agecroft Hall, Richmond, Virginia". Agecrofthall.com. Archived from the original on 23 December 2016. Retrieved 25 February 2017.
- ^ The Story of Agecroft Hall, Home to the Lords of the Manor of Prestwich Archived 2013-12-19 at the Wayback Machine, Prestwich Guide. URL accessed December 18, 2006.
- ISBN 0-9537657-0-9.
- ^ 'Townships: Pendlebury', A History of the County of Lancaster. Vol. 4. 1911. pp. 397–404. Retrieved 19 December 2007.
- ^ "Home - Agecroft Hall, Richmond, Virginia". Agecrofthall.com. Retrieved 25 February 2017.
- ^ "Agecroft Hall Flower Garden". Myflowergardens.com. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 25 February 2017.
- ^ "The Story of Agecroft Hall". www.bleasdale.info. Archived from the original on 19 December 2013. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
- ^ "Norfolkcoast.co.uk". Archived from the original on 15 January 2005.
External links
- Media related to Agecroft Hall at Wikimedia Commons
- Agecroft Hall
- The Story of "Agecroft Hall", Home to the Lords of the Manor of Prestwich
- Photos of the Hall and gardens in Virginia