Pierrepont / Manvers and the third Thoresby Hall.

Above: Thoresby Hall in 1894, surrounded by a much different terrain than we see today.

THE STORY SO FAR…

Charles Meadows Pierrepont, 1st Earl Manvers, died in 1816. He had engaged Humphry Repton to make improvements to the second Thoresby Hall in 1791. However, his son Charles Herbert, 2nd Earl Manvers, remained dissatisfied.

READ ON…

In 1860 the second son of Charles Herbert, Sydney William Herbert Pierrepont (1825 - 1900), became the 3rd Earl Manvers and it was he that demolished the second Hall in 1864, and commissioned Anthony Salvin to design the third and final Thoresby Hall. 

Sited on higher ground at a better distance from the lake, building the new and third Thoresby Hall took place between 1865 and 1875. It soon established itself as one of the finest baronial homes in the land. 
Measuring 180 feet across the front, it comfortably accommodated 50 important guests plus their servants. Drinking water at first came from a natural spring below Budby Castle, but due to poor water pressure a well was sunk at the rear. One review stated "inside one is dazzled by much magnificence, and leaves the house with confused memories of satin-covered walls, tapestry curtains, statutory mantelpieces, gilded ceilings, and a plethora of large exquisite time pieces".

The 3rd Earl Manvers and his family lived in the west wing for half the year. He suffered from hay fever and spent summer amongst the fashionable set of London or the Western Isles. When he was away tourists were allowed to view the house and its magnificent contents. The west wing had two bathrooms, and all the main rooms in the house were gas lit. The smaller rooms continued to rely on oil lamps until 1930. The guest rooms relied on “hip baths”, for which the servants would carry the water. The impressive iron gates at the entrance to the front courtyard, also gas lit, were made by Brown & Downing of Birmingham.

The 3rd Earl Manvers inherited much of his considerable wealth but also held investments in mining, a fact which would prove ironic when the structure of the Hall began to suffer in future decades as a consequence of this industry. However, as the person who had built the present church, the school, and many other significant modifications to both land and buildings, he probably did more than anyone else to define what we know as Thoresby Park today.

Sydney William Herbert Pierrepont would be succeeded by:

Charles William Sydney Pierrepont, 4th Earl Manvers (1854-1926)
Evelyn Robert Pierrepont, 5th Earl Manvers (1888-1940)
Gervas Evelyn Pierrepont, 6th Earl Manvers (1881-1955)

After 1955 all titles were extinct.

TO BE CONTINUED...