Mentmore Towers
Mentmore Towers, historically known simply as "Mentmore", is a 19th-century
Mentmore was the first of what were to become virtual Rothschild estates in the Vale of Aylesbury. Baron Mayer de Rothschild began purchasing land in the area in 1846.[7] Later, other members of the family built houses at Tring in Hertfordshire, Ascott, Aston Clinton, Waddesdon and Halton.[8]
Much of the estate was sold in 1944, but the mansion, its grounds, formal gardens several farms and the majority of the village of Mentmore remained in the ownership of Harry Primrose, 6th Earl of Rosebery, until his death in 1974. The Earl's executors explored the possibility of Mentmore Towers along with its contents being preserved intact as a heritage property and opened to the public, as has been the case with some other
Mentmore Towers is a Grade I listed building, with its park and gardens listed Grade II*.[10]
Architecture
Baron Rothschild commissioned Sir Joseph Paxton, who was then designing and supervising construction of the much-admired Crystal Palace, to design Mentmore. Paxton was responsible for the ridge and furrow glass roof which covered the central hall, designed to imitate the arcaded courtyard of a Renaissance palazzo, while Stokes was co-architect and clerk of works.[11][12][13] The builder was the London firm George Myers, frequently employed by members of the Rothschild family.[14]
In keeping with the contents intended to be displayed within, the interiors take their inspiration principally from the Italian Renaissance, although the house also contains drawing rooms and cabinets decorated in the gilded styles of late 18th-century France.[15] The external design is closely based on that of Robert Smythson's Wollaton Hall.[16]
Earls of Rosebery
Baron Mayer de Rothschild and his wife enjoyed the house for over twenty years before their deaths, his in 1874 and the Baroness's some eighteen months later. The house and estate were then inherited by their daughter
Both earls bred numerous winners of classic
Second World War
The second wife of the sixth Earl,
The royal coach was stored in the "battery room" subsequently nicknamed the "refuge", part of the "gas house", a group of outbuildings where gas and electricity had once been produced for the estate.[20] Four men guarded the refuge at night, and two during the day.[18]
Sale and dispersal
The possible purchase of Mentmore for the nation through the government's
After three more years of fruitless discussion, the executors of the estate sold the contents by
Several family portraits, sculptures and furnishing were relocated from Mentmore prior to the sale by the Roseberys to their ancestral Scottish home,
Maharishi Foundation
Mentmore became the headquarters for
Simon Halabi
This section needs to be updated.(March 2022) |
Under the ownership of Halabi, the property was renamed Mentmore Towers Ltd, with the intention of converting it into a luxury hotel with 171 suites, including 122 in a new wing on the slope below the house.[31] However, in September 2004, Jonathan Davey, a local resident, won a last-minute injunction in the High Court to halt work on the hotel while a judicial review investigated whether the planning permission granted had followed the correct procedures. In March 2005, the High Court ruled that Aylesbury Vale District Council's decision to grant planning permission to the developers was "unimpeachable" and legally sound.
Halabi's property company, Buckingham Securities Holdings, was also proposing to develop the In & Out Club at 79–81 Piccadilly, London, also known as Cambridge House, before it became the
The last proposal, after the sister Piccadilly property was sold to the Rueben Brothers in 2009, was to renovate the original Mentmore Towers building and not construct the new extension containing guest-room suites, conference facilities and a large spa. However, with Halabi's property empire in serious trouble due to the housing market's collapse, the project stalled, and the property was in decline. By April 2022, a report described it as "abandoned" and "left to rot".[32]
"At risk" condition
The house needs urgent work on the roof and chimneys. There is concern that weather will penetrate to the interiors, considered among the finest examples of Victorian design and craftsmanship in Britain. Historic England (previously English Heritage) has placed Mentmore Towers on the "At Risk" register, listing it in "poor" condition with "immediate risk of further rapid deterioration or loss of fabric", explaining that "the service wing roof is in very poor condition and the deterioration of the main house is accelerating with areas of water ingress into the main hall and adjacent reception rooms".[33] By 2022, the need for restoration was classified as priority A (up from priority B in 2016-2021). The report states "immediate risk of further rapid deterioration or loss of fabric: no solution agreed' in spite of a restoration plan that had been previously completed".[34][35]
A video published at the end of 2021 confirmed the extent of the deterioration.[36]
Golf courses
Much of the historic estate[10] was sold off in 1944[37] and reverted to agricultural use before becoming the Mentmore Golf and Country Club, established in 1992, which had two eighteen-hole golf courses designed by Bob Sandow, the Rothschild Course and the Rosebery Course. The club ceased trading in 2015.[38]
Film location
The house has appeared in many films,
In addition, it has been used as a location for music videos, including the Roxy Music video for "Avalon" (1982), "Magic Touch" by Mike Oldfield (1987), Enya's "Only If..." (1997), "Until the Time Is Through" by Five (1998) and "Goodbye" by the Spice Girls (1998).
See also
- Rothschild properties in Buckinghamshire
- Rothschild family
- Rothschild banking family of England
- Château de Ferrières
- Fitzroy Robinson Ltd. v Mentmore Towers Ltd., a High Court case raising a claim of fraudulent misrepresentation
References
- ^ Hall, p16.
- ^ Hall (Waddesdon Manor), p31, refers to them as the architectural team.
- Henry Russell Hitchcock(1958) Architecture: Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries (Pelican History of Art), London, Penguin Books, p.73
- ^ Historic England. "Mentmore House (1117863)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 19 September 2011.
- ^ Hall (Waddesdon Manor), p37, makes this assertion
- ^ Hall (The Victorian Country House), p153
- ^ SAVE Britain's Heritage.
- ISBN 08600-7206-1.
- ^ Robinson, p. 5.
- ^ a b Historic England. "Mentmore Towers (1000319)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 10 July 2015.
- ^ Hall (Waddesdon Manor), p37.
- ^ The Builder Magazine 1852.
- ^ Hall (The Victorian Country House), p153, names Stokes and Paxton as joint architects.
- ^ Hall (The Victorian Country House), p16.
- ^ Crewe, Vol, p116
- ^ Mark Girouard, The Victorian Country House, Yale 1978
- ^ ISBN 0-7195-6586-3.
- ^ a b c Martin-Robinson 2014, pp. 128
- ^ Martin-Robinson 2014, pp. 130
- ^ Martin-Robinson 2014, pp. 129
- ^ ISBN 978-0-300-07869-5.
- ^ Fenton, James; The New Statesman, "No more than an imposing folly": James Fenton at Mentmore. 20 May 1977.
- ^ a b Patrick Wright (2009). On Living in an Old Country: The National Past in Contemporary Britain. Oxford University Press. p. 28-33.
- ^ Patrick Wright (2009). On Living in an Old Country: The National Past in Contemporary Britain. Oxford University Press. p. 29.
- ^ Sotheby's (1977). Mentmore Volume I -V. London: Sotheby, Parke, Bernet & Co.
- ISBN 978-0-313-31850-4.
- ISBN 978-1-85669-106-2.
- ISBN 978-1-85669-106-2.
- ^ a b Jury, Louise (13 May 1997). "Stately home for sale: could suit yogic flyer or maharishi". The Independent.
- ^ "Revealed: Buyer of the In and Out Club". Sunday Business. 12 November 2000.
- ^ EPR Architects, Mentmore Towers Archived 1 October 2006 at the Wayback Machine – accessed 22 September 2006.
- ^ "Inside the huge abandoned mansion 50 miles from London that used to be 'Batman's home' and has been left to rot". My London. 19 April 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
- ^ "Heritage at risk: Mentmore Towers, Mentmore - Buckinghamshire". Retrieved 24 November 2022.
- ^ "Melrose Abbey, the Scottish Borders: The spectacular ruin where Robert the Bruce's heart is buried". Country Life. 8 February 2023. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
- ^ "Building record 1067000000 - MENTMORE TOWERS". Buckinghamshire's Heritage Portal. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
- ^ "Abandoned £31 million mansion". @places_forgotten, TikTok. 24 December 2021.[Video]. Retrieved 24 November 2022.
- ^ Mentmore Towers Archived 1 January 2014 at the Wayback Machine Di Camillo Companion
- ^ Shefferd, Neil (8 June 2015). "Golf course folds as business becomes unsustainable". The Bucks Herald. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
- ^ "Mentmore Towers: The historic 19th-century mansion has been featured in many Hollywood films". 31 August 2017. Abandoned Spaces. 31 August 2017. Retrieved 24 November 2022.
- ^ "Filming Locations of Ali G Indahouse". www.movieloci.com.
- ^ Dark Knight Location Guide. Empire Online. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
- ^ "The Database of Houses". Archived from the original on 1 January 2014. Retrieved 22 August 2012.
- Hall, Michael (2002). Waddesdon Manor. new York: Harry N Abrams. ISBN 0-8109-3239-3.
- Crewe, Marquess of (1931). Lord Rosebery. London: John Murray.
- Hall, Michael (2009). The Victorian Country House, from the archives of Country Life. London: Aurum Press. ISBN 978-1-84513-457-0.
- Martin-Robinson, John (2014). Requisitioned: The British Country House in the Second World War. London: Arum. ISBN 978-1-781-31095-3.
External links
- Media related to Mentmore Towers at Wikimedia Commons
- Mentmore Golf and Country Club
- Mentmore Towers in The Rise & Decline of Rothschildshire