Dunham Massey was re-built in the early 18th century by George Booth, 2nd Earl of Warrington. He had inherited an older mansion from his father, which was in a terrible state of repair.
There were significant alterations, especially internally, at the start of the 20th century. It has historic
'Old' Sir George Booth, 1st Baronet built the first mansion on the site in the early 17th-century.[4][5][6] However, the house remained uncompleted by the time of his death and was only completed after the Civil War in the later 17th century by his grandson, 'Young' George Booth, 1st Baron Delamer. He inherited family debts, and spent a considerable amount of energy investing in the future of Dunham Massey Hall; he planted trees to sell for timber, and worked to recoup unpaid debts.[7] The mansion's service courtyard dates from c. 1721.[2] The clock tower is inscribed with that date, suggesting that was when improvements were made to the stables. In the 1730s, John Norris was brought in to redesign the whole mansion by the 2nd Earl of Warrington, with a design of brick façade accentuated by bays and a stone centrepiece.[8]
The 6th Earl died in 1845, and his grandson, George Harry Grey, inherited and became the 7th Earl of Stamford. He married twice, first to Elizabeth (Bessie) King Billage, a shoemaker's daughter from Cambridge; the second to Catherine Cocks, a circus performer. However, the local gentry rejected his choices of wife, which led him to leave Dunham Massey and move to Enville Hall. The house was managed by Robert Cox, Catherine's nephew, and rented to tenants for periods in the subsequent fifty years.[7] The descendants of Catherine's niece Sarah Letitia Cox, still occupy Enville Hall today.[9][failed verification]
The 7th Earl died in 1883, and his cousin, the Reverend Harry Grey inherited the title of 8th Earl of Stamford, but never lived at Dunham. At the time of his inheritance, he was living in South Africa, having left England due to alcohol and gambling addictions.[7] He married three times: his first wife Susan Gaydon died in 1869; his second wife Annie Macnamara died in 1874.[10] His third wife, Martha Grey, Countess of Stamford, a Khoekhoe woman, was the daughter of a freed, formerly enslaved, woman.[11] She and the 8th Earl married in 1880. They had two children already, John and Frances, and their third, Mary, was born after they married.[12] Despite their marriage being recognised by South African law at the time, it was not recognised under English law. This meant that at the 8th Earl's death in 1890, his son, John, could not inherit, and the title passed to William Grey, 9th Earl of Stamford, who was the nephew of the 7th Earl.[13] He inherited the title, but no assets, until the death of the 7th Countess, Catherine Cox, in 1905.[10] With his wife, Penelope Theobald, they led a programme of restoration for the house.[7]
The house was modified in 1905–1908 by architect Compton Hall, and by interior designer Percy Macquoid, in preparation for its reoccupation by William Grey, 9th Earl of Stamford. However, the 9th Earl died in 1910, just as the family was due to move in. Until these modifications, the southern front of the building had 11 three-storey bays; in order to make the building look more 17th-century in style, the third, fourth, eighth, and ninth bays were reduced to two stories with dormers, and a centrepiece of three bays was added, with columns each side of the central bay as well as stone pediments.[2]
William Grey died in 1910 and was succeeded by his son, Roger Grey, 10th Earl of Stamford, who donated the house, its contents, and the 3,000-acre (1,200 ha) estate to the National Trust at his death in 1976. At the time it was the trust's most generous bequest in its history.[7]
From 1 March 2014 until 11 November 2016, the main ward at Stamford Military Hospital (known as "Baghdad"), along with the operating theatre, nurses' station and the recreation room were recreated to commemorate the 100-year anniversary of the start of World War I,[15] along with actors playing the role of characters who worked, lived and recovered at the hospital.[16][9]
Collections
Dunham Massey contains one of the most significant collections of
Huguenot silver, largely collected by George Booth, 2nd Earl of Warrington. During his 64 years at Dunham Massey, he accumulated over 1000 pieces of silver. One sixth of the original plate remains at Dunham Massey, with much of the collection being dispersed by the Countess of Stamford and Warrington (who died in 1905), widow of George Harry Grey, 7th Earl of Stamford and Warrington (died 1883).[17] The 10th Earl, Roger Grey, expended much money and effort in returning family heirlooms originally from Dunham Massey.[18]
There is a fine collection of
watercolours. The relief wood-carving of the Crucifixion by Grinling Gibbons, which hangs in the Library, is the earliest known work by the 17th-century wood carver. It is on this piece of work he was working when he was discovered by John Evelyn in 1671. A group of paintings of the house and estate, known as the Harris Views, showing the 1730s mansion, were described by Simon Jenkins as "the most remarkable topographical survey of any country house and its grounds to remain in situ." There is also one painting is from 1690 by Adrien van Diest showing the earlier Elizabethan mansion. Another significant work in the art collection is an Allegory of Time by Guercino.[19]