|
When John Tollemache started work on Helmingham in 1480,
it was built in traditional half-timbered style with
an overhang to the upper floor both outside and inside
the courtyard. There have been a number of changes in
external appearance, hut the basic form of a courtyard
manor house has never altered, and many of the brick
chimneys arc original, although all have had to be repaired
over the last two centuries.
In about 1760 a number of exterior changes to the Hall
were made. The Tudor gables, with the exception of those
at the corners, were removed; and in addition to other
Georgian alterations, the existing half-timbered walls
were concealed, the lower walls being covered with brick
and the upper ones with tiles. To the casual observer
these tiles may appear to be bricks, but they are in
fact only about a quarter of an inch thick and hung
by wooden pegs. About 1800, the well-known Regency architect
John Nash covered the whole exterior of the house with
a coating of cement on the instructions of Wilbraham
Tollemache, 6th Earl of Dysart, who thought that grey
stucco and battlements would make Helmingham more of
a castle. This stucco was fortunately removed in 1821.
Helmingham has been extremely lucky over the centuries
in that whenever the Hall has been in danger of falling
into disrepair, another generation of Tollemaches has
come along, who by their energy and love for the place
have rebuilt and restored their family home. Two in
particular were both called John Tollemache. In 1840
the 1st Lord Tollemache, on his succession, found the
house in a deplorable condition, and a great deal of
restoration, particularly on the garden front, had to
be done; the courtyard overhang was bricked in at this
time. Anthony Salvin is believed to have been the architect
for this work, and it was he who was made responsible
by Lord Tollemache for the design and building of Peckforton
Castle on his Cheshire estate. Sadly, all correspondence,
estimates and bills for the work at Helmingham have
been lost.
Just over a hundred years later, John, 4th Lord Tollemache,
came to Helmingham in 1953 and again found the Hall
sadly neglected. There was no electric light, no bathrooms
and no running water - in fact, until this time, drinking
water had come from the moat. There were many holes
in the roof, and wall tiles and bricks were lying everywhere.
Without the vigour and enthusiasm of my father and mother,
Helmingham and the heritage which it brings with it
would have joined the ranks of so many other family
homes which have been pulled down and have disappeared
forever.
The two drawbridges are pulled up every night as they
have been since 1510, and the Hall thus becomes an island,
protected by its wide moat which is stocked with many
kinds of fish, including pike - the heaviest being just
over 25 lbs.
|
|
|
Queen Elizabeth I is said to have come twice to
Helmingham: first in 1561, and later to attend
the christening of Lionel Tollemache as her godchild,
one of ten consecutive generations of the family
with that name. Helmingham has been privileged
to receive Her Majesty The Queen and other members
of the Royal Family on many occasions over the
last few years.
In 1611 King James
I instituted the title of Baronet and the Lionel
Tollemache of the time was one of the first created.
During the Civil War and before the Restoration
in 1660, Helmingham was one of the headquarters
of the secret Society of the Sealed Knot, which
was instrumental in bringing Charles II back to
the throne. In the Hall there are several letters
from him, written whilst in exile in Paris, to
Elizabeth Tollemache. Her father had been 'whipping
boy' to James I's son, later Charles I, and had
earned his Earldom of Dysart, together with the
beautiful Ham House in Richmond Park, by being
beaten for the misdemeanours perpetrated by the
young prince. Elizabeth was a somewhat notorious
lady, who on the death of her father became Countess
of Dysart in her own right; whilst she and her
husband were involved with the Sealed Knot, she
maintained at the same time a close friendship
with Cromwell. When her husband Lionel Tollemache
died, she married again, her second husband being
the Duke of Lauderdale, the 'L' of the 'CABAL'
government. On the death of Elizabeth, Ham House
was inherited by Lionel Tollemache, her son, who
thus became the 3rd Earl of Dysart. He brought
more property into the family by marriage with
a Wilbraham heiress, who owned the Cheshire property
of Woodhey and Peckforton. He was also brother
to General Thomas Tollemache, the third Colonel
of the Coldstream Guards, who was killed fighting
the French at Brest in 1694. The last three generations
of the family have also served in the Coldstream
Guards.
At the beginning of the nineteenth century on
the death of Wilbraham Tollemache, 6th Earl of
Dysart, who had no male heir, his sister Louisa
inherited the title together with Ham House and
Buckminster, near Grantham. Ham House was made
over to the National Trust in 1948, whilst her
descendants still live at Buckminster. Her younger
sister Jane inherited Helmingham and the Cheshire
property, and it was her grandson, John Tollemache,
who was made a peer in 1876 for his services to
agriculture and the welfare of his tenants.
His great-great-grandson is the present Lord Tollemache,
who, with his wife and children, continue the
love of Helmingham which has been its hallmark
for almost 500 years.
We hope that the previous eighteen generations
of the family would be pleased to see that their
home, built so long ago and protected by its sixty-foot-wide
moat, still has its two drawbridges pulled up
every night and lowered each morning.
|
|
|
|
