Surviving Treasures

Wentworth Woodhouse is a stately home like no other. Architecturally it's without doubt one of the grandest country houses in Britain and it has the longest façade of any of them. The enormous Palladian façade is double the length of Buckingham Palace. The Palladian house was used primarily for entertaining but behind this frontage is another house in the baroque style which is where the families who lived here had their private living accommodation. Inside this vast palace visitors can experience some of the finest Georgian interiors ever created, particularly in the state rooms on the first floor of the Palladian house. Here the scale and beauty of the marble saloon has people in awe even to this day. But unless we're hosting an exhibition or event in these spaces the rooms are largely empty. The furniture, porcelain and art collections that once graced these rooms have long since been dispersed. Some items remain with members of the family while others can be found in museums and private collections across the globe. So you could be forgiven for thinking that nothing remains of the interior furnishings and artworks that the Rockingham and Fitzwilliam families once enjoyed but actually many treasures still survive at Wentworth Woodhouse. And one of them is here, the green dining room in the baroque part of the house. The decorative scheme in here is a survivor from around 1790. The family used this room in many other ways over the centuries including as a drawing room, a breakfast room and a billiard room. The history of these fabulous wall coverings is fascinating. You can find out more in our film Arsenic and Old Lead using the link below. In the vast Palladian part of the house the state rooms on the first floor retain all their original architectural treasures including fireplaces, plasterwork and floors. But some of the more personal treasures can be found in the smaller rooms on the ground floor. The most ornate room here is the beautiful painted drawing room still with its original Georgian decoration intact. The whole room is lined by painted canvases which may have been created by Andrian de Clermont or his brother Jean-Francois, both of whom worked in England in the first half of the 18th century. The rural scenes represent the five senses, smell, taste, hearing, sight and touch. In addition to the wall coverings there are two beautiful paintings in this room. The larger of the two shows Thomas Watson Wentworth and his wife Lady Mary, 1st Marquess and Marchioness of Rockingham. This was painted by Sir Godfrey Nella, a leading portrait artist in the Stuart and early Georgian periods. The portrait was painted sometime between their marriage in 1716 and Nella's death in 1723. Across the room and facing the painting of the 1st Marquess and Marchioness is a delightful work of art showing two children. There is Charles, Lord Hyam, the only son who survived to adulthood. He later became the 2nd Marquess of Rockingham, a prominent Whig statesman who served twice as Prime Minister. Alongside him is his younger sister Lady Charlotte. The painting also shows a small bird in a cage which we believe to be a bullfinch, a nod to their mother's maiden name. Before her marriage she had been Lady Mary Finch. This is one of a number of fine portraits of the 1st Marquess's children here at the house. They were painted by Philippe Mercier, a French artist of Huguenot descent who moved to York in 1739 working for various Yorkshire aristocratic families. Looking at the ages of the children we believe the series of individual portraits were painted around 1740 to 1741 but sadly they are all in need of cleaning and restoration. We're very excited to announce that thanks to a generous grant from the Aldama Foundation this painting is about to be cleaned and conserved. We'll cover its removal and the entire restoration process in a series of videos on this channel so please don't forget to subscribe for free so that you never miss a new video release. The room next door known as the Ship Room is a simple room with panelled walls, a decorative plasterwork ceiling and a fine marble fireplace. The real treasure though is the overmantel painting set into a wooden frame. Here is Lady Mary, another daughter of the 1st Marquess and older sister to Charles. Just look at the detail of the dress she wears. Two other rooms along the chapel corridor aren't on the visitor route currently but this is where we find the other Mercier paintings. In the ante room is the delightful portrait of Lady Henrietta, the youngest of the Watson Wentworth children and if you want to find out more about her and her scandalous elopement with a footman check out the link to a video we made covering this fascinating story in the description below. Our final artistic treasure can be found here in the Low Drawing Room. In itself this room is a bit of a treasure with its very finely carved detailing resembling the work of Grinling Gibbons, the celebrated woodcarver of the late 17th and early 18th century. The last family painting over the fireplace is Lady Anne, the oldest of the five surviving children of the 1st Marquess and Marchioness. Even through the dirt and grime the detail captured on the gown she wears is extraordinary. If you'd like to be a part of this exciting project to restore all of the portraits in the series please give what you can by scanning the QR code on the screen now or by using the link in the description below. Every donation will help safeguard these irreplaceable artworks and you'll be helping to protect a unique piece of the house's history ensuring that this family's legacy and their portraits remain part of the story of Wentworth Woodhouse for generations to come. Watch out too for a new film, The Children in the Portrait, which will tell you more about the human story of the family of the 1st Marquess and Marchioness of Rockingham. Thank you.