Victorian Treasure saved for Nation
A Victorian stately home outside Bristol described as "magical" has been saved for the nation by the National Trust at a knockdown price of £24m for the house, its remarkable contents and land.
Tyntesfield, a spectacular Victorian Gothic extravaganza has been a closely guarded secret until the death of its late owner, reclusive bachelor Lord Wraxall, descendent of William Gibbs who made a fortune in the 19th century importing guano from Peru as a fertilizer and built the house in 1875. He stocked the 43 bedroom mansion and family chapel with priceless Victorian art, artifacts and fabrics which have remained in situ over the past 125 years held as if in a time warp. Auction house Christies, which had been called in to organize a sale of the contents, spent months cataloguing over 3,000 items of art and antiques on behalf of the 19 heirs listed in Lord Wraxall's will.
The National Trust, which negotiated the acquisition of Tyntesfield on behalf of the nation with the financial help of the National Heritage Memorial Fund, two anonymous philanthropist backers, and public subscription, will open the house and its contents to the public for the first time after completing some £3.5 million worth of repairs and investing a further $6.5 million in public access facilities.
Charles Nunneley, chairman of the National Trust, said: "The house has a sort of magic that is impossible to describe unless you go there. It is hugely exciting for us."
Liz Forgan National Heritage Memorial Fund chairperson was fulsome in praise of the acquisition. She said: "What marks out Tyntesfield is the remarkable completeness of the estate, the house and its contents." The house and its contents are regarded by art historians as a virtual time capsule of Victorian taste; a living museum of Victoriana and Edwardiana from the apogee of Empire. The deal struck by the National Trust ensures that this priceless collection will not be split up under the auctioneer's hammer.
The house and its collection were created by Gibbs to reflect his standing as one of the West Country's wealthiest merchants operating out of Bristol and its port. He commissioned the architect John Norton, a follower of Augustus Pugin, (co-designer of the Houses of Parliament and its exuberant interior), to create a house and chapel of monumental proportions in the romantic gothic revival style of that period and then lavished a fortune in furnishings art and artifacts which remain untouched to this day.
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