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Belton House

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Architecture

   Belton House, Lincolnshire, The South facade.
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   Belton House, Lincolnshire, The South facade.

   Belton House is a country house near Grantham, Lincolnshire, England.
   The mansion is surrounded by formal gardens and a series of avenues
   leading to follies within a greater wooded park. Belton has been
   described as a compilation of all that is finest of Carolean
   architecture, the only truly vernacular style of architecture that
   England had produced since the time of the Tudors. The house has also
   been described as the most complete example of a typical English
   country house; the claim has even been made that Belton's principal
   facade was the inspiration for the modern British motorway signs (
   Image:HH icon.png ) which give directions to stately home. Only
   Brympton d'Evercy has been similarly lauded as the perfect English
   country house.

   For three hundred years, Belton House was the seat of the Brownlow and
   Cust family, who had first acquired land in the area in the late 16th
   century. Between 1685 and 1688 the young Sir John Brownlow and his wife
   had the present mansion built. Despite great wealth they chose to build
   a modest country house rather than a grand contemporary Baroque palace.
   The contemporary, if provincial, Carolean style was the selected choice
   of design. However, the new house was fitted with the latest
   innovations such as sash windows for the principal rooms, and more
   importantly completely separate areas for the staff. As the Brownlows
   rose from baronets to barons upward to earls and then once again became
   barons, successive generations made changes to the interior of the
   house which reflected their changing social position and tastes, yet
   the fabric and design of the house changed little.

   Following World War I (a period when the Machine Gun Corps was based in
   the park), the Brownlows, like many of their peers, were faced with
   mounting financial problems. In 1984 they gave the house away —
   complete with most of its contents. The recipients of their gift, the
   National Trust, today fully opens Belton to the public. It is in a good
   state of repair and visited by many thousands of tourists each year.

Early history

   Clarendon House, London, designed by Roger Pratt, was the inspiration
   for Belton House. Clarendon House is in the same vogue, though less
   Baroque in ornament, as Vaux-le-Vicomte built in France just a few
   years earlier.
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   Clarendon House, London, designed by Roger Pratt, was the inspiration
   for Belton House. Clarendon House is in the same vogue, though less
   Baroque in ornament, as Vaux-le-Vicomte built in France just a few
   years earlier.
   The 17th-century stable block at Belton House is known to be entirely
   by William Stanton, and is less accomplished in design than the main
   house.
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   The 17th-century stable block at Belton House is known to be entirely
   by William Stanton, and is less accomplished in design than the main
   house.

   The Brownlow family, a dynasty of lawyers, began accumulating land in
   the Belton area from approximately 1598. In 1609 they acquired the
   reversion of the manor of Belton itself from the Pakenham family, who
   finally sold the manor house to Sir John Brownlow I in 1617. The old
   house was situated near the church in the garden of the present house
   and remained largely unoccupied, since the family preferred their other
   houses elsewhere. John Brownlow had married an heiress but was
   childless; he was attached to his only two blood relations, a
   great-nephew, also called John Brownlow, and a great-niece, Alice
   Sherard. The two cousins married in 1676; three years later, the couple
   inherited the Brownlow estates from their great uncle together with an
   income of £9,000 per annum and £20,000 in cash. They immediately bought
   a townhouse in the newly fashionable Southampton Square in Bloomsbury,
   and decided to build a new country house at Belton.

   Work on the new house began in 1685. The architect thought to have been
   responsible for the initial design is William Winde, although the house
   has also been attributed to Sir Christopher Wren, while others believe
   the design to be so similar to Roger Pratt's Clarendon House, London,
   that it could have been the work of any talented draughtsman. The
   assumption popular today, that Winde was the architect, is based on the
   stylistic similarity between the completed Belton and Coombe Abbey by
   Winde. Further evidence is a letter dated 1690, in which Winde
   recommends a plasterer and gives advice about the completion of the
   interiors.

   Whoever the architect, Belton follows closely the design of Clarendon
   House, completed in 1647. This great London townhouse (demolished circa
   1683) has been one of the most admired buildings of its era due to "its
   elegant symmetry and confident and commonsensical design". Sir John
   Summerson has described Clarendon House as "the most influential house
   of its time among those who aimed at the grand manner" and Belton as
   "much the finest surviving example of its class." It is known that John
   and Alice Brownlow assembled one of the finest teams of craftsmen
   available at the time to work on the project. This dream team was
   headed by the master mason William Stanton who oversaw the project. His
   second in command John Thompson, had worked with Sir Christopher Wren
   on several of the latter's London churches, while the chief joiner John
   Sturges had worked at Chatsworth under William Talman. The
   wrought-ironworker John Warren worked under Stanton at Denham Place,
   Buckinghamshire, and the fine wrought iron gates and overthrow at
   Belton may be his. So competent were the builders of Belton that Winde
   may have done little more than provide the original plans and drawings,
   leaving the interpretation to the on-site craftsmen. This theory is
   further demonstrated by the external appearance of the adjoining stable
   block. More provincial, and less masterful in proportion, it is known
   to have been entirely the work of Stanton.

Architecture

Ethos

   Belton House, the north facade. The 17th-century double room design
   enabled greater symmetry between facades, while allowing the house to
   be compact and under the one roof.
   Enlarge
   Belton House, the north facade. The 17th-century double room design
   enabled greater symmetry between facades, while allowing the house to
   be compact and under the one roof.
   The west facade. Many of the windows are false (see plan below), and
   are so placed as to provide symmetry. The Baroque wrought-iron gate
   screen (possibly by John Warren) closes a courtyard between house and
   stables, thus creating the effect of a cour d'honneur to the house's
   west entrance (C on plan below).
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   The west facade. Many of the windows are false (see plan below), and
   are so placed as to provide symmetry. The Baroque wrought-iron gate
   screen (possibly by John Warren) closes a courtyard between house and
   stables, thus creating the effect of a cour d'honneur to the house's
   west entrance (C on plan below).
   The approach to the house through the courtyard to the west entrance (C
   on plan below). This is the entrance which would have been used most
   often by the family, who lived privately in the west wing. The clock
   tower is designed on an axis with, and to complement, the cupola on top
   of the mansion itself.
   Enlarge
   The approach to the house through the courtyard to the west entrance (C
   on plan below). This is the entrance which would have been used most
   often by the family, who lived privately in the west wing. The clock
   tower is designed on an axis with, and to complement, the cupola on top
   of the mansion itself.
   Belton House first floor plan. Key: A: Upper storey of kitchen, (now
   Hondecoeter Room); B: Service room (now Breakfast Room); C: Back stairs
   and West Entrance; D: Closet; E:School Room; F:Withdrawing room (now
   Red Drawing Room; G:Little Parlour (now Tapestry Room); H:Great Parlour
   (now Saloon); J: Marble Hall; K: Withdrawing Room (now Tyrconnel Room);
   L: Great Staircase; M: Upper storey of chapel; N: Gallery of private
   pew overlooking chapel; O: Ante Room (now Chapel Drawing Room);P: Back
   stairs & east Entrance; Q: Sweetmeat closet; R Bed chamber (now Blue
   Room). Please note: This is an unscaled plan for illustrative purposes
   only.
   Enlarge
   Belton House first floor plan. Key: A: Upper storey of kitchen, (now
   Hondecoeter Room); B: Service room (now Breakfast Room); C: Back stairs
   and West Entrance; D: Closet; E:School Room; F:Withdrawing room (now
   Red Drawing Room; G:Little Parlour (now Tapestry Room); H:Great Parlour
   (now Saloon); J: Marble Hall; K: Withdrawing Room (now Tyrconnel Room);
   L: Great Staircase; M: Upper storey of chapel; N: Gallery of private
   pew overlooking chapel; O: Ante Room (now Chapel Drawing Room);P: Back
   stairs & east Entrance; Q: Sweetmeat closet; R Bed chamber (now Blue
   Room). Please note: This is an unscaled plan for illustrative purposes
   only.

   The late 17th century in England was a time of great progress in
   design. Following the austere years of Commonwealth rule, a great
   flourishing and development in both architecture and the arts began
   after the restoration of the monarchy in 1660. Royalist exiles and
   wealthy young men who made the Grand Tour, returned home with new ideas
   — often extravagant variations on classical themes. This was, for
   England, the dawn of the Baroque era. The new wave of architects such
   as Roger Pratt, John Webb, and Sir Christopher Wren were not just
   building vast edifices in Renaissance-inspired styles, but also
   transforming existing older houses. Representative of the utilisation
   of older houses is Coleshill House in Berkshire, where Pratt
   transformed the medieval, but now redundant, great hall into a
   classically inspired entrance hall complete with an imperial staircase.
   The reason the Great Hall was redundant was that employers now wished
   to live separately from their servants, no longer eating together in a
   Great Hall, and banishing from the principal parts of the house all
   evidence and odours of cooking and staff. Employers began to live in
   fine airy rooms, above the ground floor, with privacy from their
   servants, who were now confined, unless required, to specifically
   delegated floors — often the ground and uppermost attic floors. This
   was a period of great social change in British history, and the
   educated prided themselves on enlightenment and elegance. While Belton
   is not in the Baroque style, it displays all the traits typical of the
   new tendencies.

   Belton was designed in a restrained, almost Palladian-inspired
   architecture, popular immediately before the ornate Baroque style
   emerged in England. The general form this architecture took was of
   severely symmetrical, often rectangular houses, with a pediment over
   the central bays. This almost rigid concept was to influence the design
   of innumerable houses, including Belton. Later to be known as the
   "Carolean" style (from "Carolus," the Latin name for the reigning
   monarch Charles II), it was popular with the minor aristocracy and
   gentry for both their town and country houses until long after Charles
   II's death.

   Belton is built of the local Ancaster stone, with a lighter ashlar from
   Ketton for the quoining. The "H"-shaped plan was a design which became
   popular in the late Elizabethan period. However, by the late 16th
   century, domestic architecture had evolved further than the "one room
   deep" ranges of the earlier "H" plan houses, such as Montacute House.
   The new layout placed rooms back to back, creating a house two rooms
   deep. This became known as "double pile". As at Belton, this permitted
   rooms to be not just better lit and heated but also better accessed and
   related to each other, and with the greatest advantage of all — greater
   privacy. On the construction side, the double room depth allowed the
   house to be more compact and under one, more easily constructed, roof,
   thus lowering building costs. Houses now had the appearance of being
   more solid, with more than just one or two facades.

   The exterior of the house, as well as other outbuildings on the
   property, inspired the design of Edith Wharton's house, The Mount, in
   Lenox, Massachusetts.

Design

   The plan of the rooms at Belton was passé for a grand house of its
   time. Following the Restoration and the influx of European ideas, it
   had become popular for large houses to follow the continental fashion
   of a suite of state rooms consisting of a withdrawing room, dressing
   room, and bedroom proceeding from either side of a central saloon or
   hall. These rooms were permanently reserved for use by a high ranking
   guest, such as a visiting monarch. While Belton does have a saloon at
   its centre, enfilades of state rooms of lessening grandeur do not flank
   it. The possible reason for this unusual layout is that, while the
   Brownlows possessed great wealth, their title was only a baronetcy, and
   their fortune was barely a century old. They would have been regarded
   as gentry, not aristocracy. As a result, building a suite of state
   rooms would have been in hope rather than anticipation of a royal
   guest. However, the lack of a fashionable and formal suite of state
   apartments and the Brownlows' lack of social credentials did not
   prevent a visit from King William III to the newly completed house in
   1695. The King occupied the "Best bedchamber," a large room with an
   adjoining closet, directly above the saloon, leading directly from the
   second floor Great Dining Chamber.

   This design followed the older style of having reception rooms and
   bedrooms scattered over the two main floors. The layout used followed
   Roger Pratt's theory that guest and family rooms should be quite
   separate. As a consequence of this philosophy, the family occupied the
   rooms on the first and second floors of the west wing, while the great
   staircase rose to the east side of the house, with the best guest
   bedrooms in the east wing. The staircase was thus designed to be grand
   and imposing, forming part of the guest's state route from the Hall and
   Saloon on the first floor to the principal dining room and bedroom on
   the second. This older concept is more clearly exemplified at the
   Elizabethan Hardwick Hall in neighbouring Derbyshire.

   The principal entrance hall, reception and family bedrooms were placed
   on the first floor above a low semi-basement containing service rooms.
   The two principal entrances to the mansion in the centre of both the
   north and south facades were accessed by external staircases,
   originally a single broad flight on the north side and a double
   staircase on the south. These staircases have since been replaced by
   the simpler designs illustrated on the plan (right).

   The second floor has a matching fenestration, with windows of equal
   value to those on the first floor below. The very latest innovation,
   sash windows, was used on both floors. The semi-basement and attic
   storey used the more old-fashioned mullioned and transomed windows,
   indicating the lower status of the occupants of these floors. It was
   clearly emphasised from without that the two main floors of the house
   were purely for state and family use, and the staff and service areas
   were confined to the semi-basement and attic floors. This concept of
   keeping staff and domestic matters out of sight (when not required) was
   relatively new and had first been employed by Pratt in the design of
   Coleshill House in Berkshire. The contemporary social commentator of
   the day Roger North lauded back stairs, of which Belton has two
   examples (C and P on plan), as one of the most important inventions of
   his day.

   The principal room is the large Marble Hall (J) at the centre of the
   south front; this hall is the beginning of a grand procession of rooms,
   and corresponds to the former great Parlour or Saloon on the north
   front. The Marble Hall is flanked by the former Little Parlour (G, now
   the Tapestry Room) and the Great Staircase Hall (L), while the Saloon
   (H) is flanked by two withdrawing rooms (F, K). While the Marble Hall
   and Saloon were at the centre of a small enfilade of reception rooms,
   they were not intended to form the heart of a suite of state rooms in
   the Baroque fashion. Indeed, one of the most important rooms, the Great
   Dining Room (now the library), was quite separate on the floor above,
   directly above the Marble Hall. The bedrooms are arranged in individual
   suites on both floors of the two wings (E, R, etc.) which flank what is
   sometimes called the "state centre" of the house. The main staircase,
   set to one side of the Marble Hall, is one of the few things at Belton
   which is asymmetrically placed. It has a robust plaster-work ceiling
   incorporating the Brownlow crest by the London plasterer Edward Goudge,
   "now looked on as ye best master in England in his profession," William
   Winde reported in 1690.

   Bodily and spiritual needs were balanced symmetrically within the
   mansion: the kitchen (A) and the chapel (M) were both large two-storied
   halls, rising from the semi-basement to the first floor. This design
   not only provided a great and lofty space, but also allowed the
   servants to worship in the chapel without leaving the service floor,
   while their employers would worship from a private gallery (N),
   complete with fireplace, overlooking the chapel on the first floor.
   The rooftop belvedere and cupola.
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   The rooftop belvedere and cupola.

   One of the most Carolean features of the house is the balustrade and
   cupola surmounting the roof, another element introduced to English
   architecture by Roger Pratt. The cupola at Belton does not light a
   lofty domed hall, as is often the case in Europe, but houses a
   staircase which gives access to a large viewing platform on top of a
   lead roof, concealed from the ground by the balustrade which tops the
   more conventional and visible hipped roof. From this vantage point, the
   owners of Belton could admire the perfect symmetry of their avenues and
   formal gardens spreading from the house. This feature of the house was
   removed by the architect James Wyatt when he was modernising the house
   in the eighteenth century. It was restored to its original form in the
   1870s by the 3rd Earl Brownlow.

Interior and contents

   One of the three large canvasses by Melchior d'Hondecoeter in the room
   named after him at Belton House. The paintings were acquired in 1873 by
   the 3rd Earl Brownlow. They had been already cut to fit their previous
   setting. There was insufficient space at Belton for a fourth canvas of
   the set. This is now in the US.
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   One of the three large canvasses by Melchior d'Hondecoeter in the room
   named after him at Belton House. The paintings were acquired in 1873 by
   the 3rd Earl Brownlow. They had been already cut to fit their previous
   setting. There was insufficient space at Belton for a fourth canvas of
   the set. This is now in the US.

   Some of Belton's many rooms have been altered over the last 300 years
   both in use and design. One of the principal rooms, the Marble Hall
   (J), the first of the large reception rooms, serves as an entrance hall
   from the south entrance. By the time of Belton's conception, the great
   hall was no longer a place for the household to eat, but intended as a
   grand entrance to the house. The hall was originally hung with 28
   portraits of Kings, Queens, and Emperors, from William the Conqueror to
   William III, intended to give the house an air of dynastic importance.
   The less numerous and far newer Brownlow family portraits were hung in
   the Great Dining Room immediately above. The room takes its name from
   the chequer board patterned floor of black and white marble tiles. The
   room is fully paneled in lime wood, and parts of the paneling contain
   embellishments attributed to Grinling Gibbons. In the early 19th
   century, this room, and some others, was re-modelled by Jeffry
   Wyatville, who in addition to graining and painting the panelling to
   imitate oak inserted fake doors in the panelling to balance real doors
   already in place.
   Adelaide, wife of the 3rd Earl Brownlow. She and her husband restored
   many of the Carolean features to Belton, and are largely responsible
   for the interior as it appears today. The Brownlows were members of The
   Souls a fashionable salon made up of aesthetic aristocrats. This
   portrait by Leighton hangs on the staircase at Belton.
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   Adelaide, wife of the 3rd Earl Brownlow. She and her husband restored
   many of the Carolean features to Belton, and are largely responsible
   for the interior as it appears today. The Brownlows were members of The
   Souls a fashionable salon made up of aesthetic aristocrats. This
   portrait by Leighton hangs on the staircase at Belton.

   The second of the principal reception rooms, the Saloon (H), opens from
   the Marble Hall. This large paneled room is on an axis to the avenues
   of the formal north gardens. Originally known as the Great Parlour,
   this has always been the chief reception room of the house. It retains
   its original marble fireplace and has an ornate plaster ceiling which
   is a Victorian copy of the original ceiling by the Carolean plasterer
   Edward Goudge. Today, the room is furnished with family portraits and
   furniture which date back to the ownership of the house by Lord
   Tyrconnel (1721–1754), Sir John Brownlow II's nephew. The centrepiece
   of the room is a large Aubusson carpet made in 1839 for the 1st Earl
   Brownlow.

   Either side of the Saloon are two smaller drawing rooms (F, K), which
   would originally have served as private withdrawing rooms from the more
   public activities which would have taken place in the Marble Hall and
   Saloon. One of these withdrawing rooms was transformed into the
   principal or state bedroom during the occupancy of Lord Tyrconnel in an
   attempt to create a more fashionable suite of Baroque state rooms.
   Ironically, when a queen ( Adelaide, widow of William IV) did next stay
   at Belton in 1840, the state bedroom was put back in its original
   location in the chamber above the Saloon now known as the Queen's Room.

   The final large reception room on the first floor is the Hondecoeter
   Room (A), so named because of the three huge oil paintings by Melchior
   d'Hondecoeter (1636–1695), depicting scenes of birds in courtyards,
   which are fitted into the neo-Carolean panelling. The paneling was
   introduced to the room by the 3rd Earl Brownlow in 1876. This room,
   furnished as the principal dining room of the mansion, was formed in
   1808 from the upper part of the earlier kitchen which had originally
   risen two storeys.

   The staircase hall (L) to the east of the marble hall is unusually
   placed at Belton, as in a house of this period one would expect to find
   the staircase in the hall. The stairs rise in three flights around the
   west, north, and east walls to the former Great Dining Room above the
   marble hall. Thus the staircase served as an important state procession
   link between the three principal reception rooms of the house. The
   Great Dining Room, now the Library, has been greatly altered and all
   traces of Carolean decoration removed, first by James Wyatt in 1778
   when it was transformed into a drawing room with a vaulted ceiling, and
   again in 1876, when its use was again changed, this time to a library.
   The room contains some 6000 volumes, a superb examples of book
   collecting over 350 years. When Lord Tyrconnel died in 1754 a catalogue
   of his library identified almost 2,300 books. Almost all of these
   remain in the Belton library today.

   Leading from the Library is the Queen's Room, the former "Best Bed
   Chamber." This paneled room was redecorated in the early 19th century
   for the visit of Queen Adelaide. It contains the great canopied Rococo
   style bed in which the Queen slept, complete with the royal monogram
   "AR" (Adelaide Regina) embroidered on the bedhead. Other rooms on the
   second floor are mostly bedrooms, which include the Chinese Room with
   its original hand painted 18th century Chinese wallpaper, the yellow
   bedroom, and the Windsor Bedroom, so called following its use by the
   Duke of Windsor on his visits to Belton during the 1930s with his
   mistress Wallis Simpson. The 6th Baron Brownlow, the King's
   Lord-in-waiting became heavily involved in the abdication crisis of
   1936. Today Belton has a permanent exhibition devoted to that event.

Gardens and the park

   The "Italian garden", Orangery and Church. The Orangery and "Italian
   garden" were designed by Jeffry Wyatville in the early 19th century.
   The church contains the tombs of the Browlow and Cust owners of Belton
   House.
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   The "Italian garden", Orangery and Church. The Orangery and "Italian
   garden" were designed by Jeffry Wyatville in the early 19th century.
   The church contains the tombs of the Browlow and Cust owners of Belton
   House.
   The Italian garden from the Orangery looking towards the "Lion Exedra"
   (a semi-circular screen) designed by Jeffry Wyatville
   Enlarge
   The Italian garden from the Orangery looking towards the "Lion Exedra"
   (a semi-circular screen) designed by Jeffry Wyatville
   Looking from the east front of the house, along the Eastern Avenue,
   through the park towards Viscount Tyrconnel's Belmount Tower, a
   belvedere built circa 1750. During World War I Belton's park was home
   to the Machine Gun Corps and in World War II the Royal Air Force
   Regiment were stationed in the park.
   Enlarge
   Looking from the east front of the house, along the Eastern Avenue,
   through the park towards Viscount Tyrconnel's Belmount Tower, a
   belvedere built circa 1750. During World War I Belton's park was home
   to the Machine Gun Corps and in World War II the Royal Air Force
   Regiment were stationed in the park.

   In 1690, Sir John Brownlow was granted permission to enclose an area of
   1000  acres (4 km²) to transform into a park, with a grant to keep
   deer. There is evidence to suggest that some of this area had been a
   park since at least 1580. The park was laid out with avenues, including
   the still surviving Eastern Avenue which led east from the house.
   Brownlow also had a large pond or lake dug and planted 21,400 ash
   trees, 9,500 oak trees, and 614 fruit trees. It is thought that William
   Winde may have advised on the layout of the gardens. Closer to the
   house were a series of more formal gardens, including canal ponds
   bordered by plantations containing symmetrical walks resembling the "
   rond-points" introduced by the landscape gardener André Le Nôtre.

   Sir John Brownlow was succeeded at Belton first by his brother, who was
   content to permit Brownlow's widow, Alice, to remain in occupation. She
   spent the remainder of her life at Belton arranging advantageous
   marriages for her five daughters. On her death in 1721, the house
   passed to her husband's nephew (and also his son-in-law) Sir John
   Brownlow III (late Viscount Tyrconnel). Tyrconnel, a dilettante of no
   great intellect, was responsible for many of the architectural features
   which survive in the park and garden. Between 1742 and 1751, he had
   constructed a series of follies, including a Gothic ruin, a cascade,
   and a prospect or belvedere known as the Belmount Tower. As built, the
   tower had a small wing flanking each side.

The twentieth century

   In the last three decades of the nineteenth century the 3rd Earl
   Brownlow spent much time and money restoring Belton, and consequently
   the house entered the twentieth century in a good state of repair and
   preservation. However, the 20th century was to present Belton and its
   estate with serious problems. These included the introduction of income
   tax and death duties which would leave the finances of the Brownlow
   family severely depleted.

   At the beginning of World War I, like many other British landowners,
   the 3rd Earl Brownlow offered his house and park to the Government for
   war service. The offer was accepted, and the largest and most drastic
   changes were made in the park since the time of Viscount Tyrconnel's
   folly building. In 1915 the home depôt and training ground of the
   Machine Gun Corps were established in the southern part of Belton park.
   The lie of the land there, where the River Witham passes between the
   Lower Lincolnshire Limestone and the Upper Lias mudstone, lent itself
   to the development of the necessary firing ranges close to good
   communications by way of the Great North Road and the East Coast main
   line railway station at Grantham. The depôt was closed in 1919, the
   site cleared and the land restored to Lord Brownlow in 1920. Little
   sign of the Machine Gun Corps's stay remains in the park, but links in
   the form of plaques and inscriptions can be followed from the south
   gate of Belton park to the memorial gate on the way from there to the
   town centre and in the north aisle of Grantham parish church.

   Belton again saw war service during World War II, when the park became
   home to the Royal Air Force Regiment, a newly formed unit within the
   RAF. Initially formed in 1942, the regiment soon moved to Belton where
   it was housed in nissen huts in the park.

Late twentieth century

   The years following World War I were severely testing for the owners of
   many great estates. The staff both indoor and outdoor, which had
   previously been plentiful, essential, and cheap, was now in short
   supply. Millions of men had left private service to join the army, and
   very few returned. Female domestic staff had been called up for war
   service in factories, and now realised there was an easier and better
   paid existence outside of the gates of the great country houses. With
   both fortunes and staff depleted many owners of country houses now
   fought a losing battle to retain them.

   Belton House remained relatively untouched during this period, largely
   owing to the failing fortunes of the Brownlow family. The 3rd Earl
   Brownlow (1844–1921) and his Countess lived for only a few months of
   the year at Belton, where they came for the fox-hunting, and divided
   the remainder of their time between their house in London and Ashridge,
   another country house in Hertfordshire. Ashridge, a huge Gothic revival
   pile, had come to the Brownlows in the nineteenth century through the
   Eggerton family. It was sold, with its art collection and furnishings,
   to pay the death duties arising on the death of the 3rd Earl in 1921.
   Hence Belton became the Brownlow's sole country home. Further death
   duties were incurred in 1927 on the death of the 3rd Earl's successor,
   his second cousin Adelbert Cust, 5th Baron Brownlow.

   In the ensuing period many thousands of country houses of great
   architectural value were demolished, or had whole wings razed to the
   ground. In 1955, a house was demolished every five days. In this
   respect Belton was fortunate to survive at all, as in addition to the
   family's problems, the house was now deteriorating to such an extent
   that in 1961 the 6th Baron employed the architect Francis Johnson to
   oversee a large restoration program lasting three years. Not only was
   the roof repaired but much of the paneling taken down and repaired, and
   new cornices installed. Also attempts were made to curtail serious
   infestations of dry rot. By the time of the death of the 6th Baron in
   1978, and the again resultant death duties, coupled with the rising
   costs of the upkeep, Belton became too much for the Brownlow family.

The National Trust

   The seventh Baron attempted to retain the house and estate by opening
   to the public. He successfully implemented an adventure playground in
   the nearby woods to attract families to the house as a tourist
   attraction. However, the financial difficulties were too great and in
   January, 1984, he transferred ownership of the house to the National
   Trust, a charitable body experienced in the management of such
   properties. The National Trust further purchased at a cost of eight
   million pounds the 1,317 acres (5.33 km²) of parkland and much of the
   contents of the house. This was made possible by a grant from the
   National Heritage Memorial Fund

   The Trust quickly produced a guide book for the 1984 season and opened
   to the public. A priority was the establishment of a restaurant, which
   would not only augment the estate's income, but also encourage people
   to spend more time at Belton, and travel greater distances to visit.
   Though the house, its contents and out-buildings were in an adequate
   state of repair at the time of the gift, they have since become part of
   an ongoing program of conservation and restoration. At the same time
   the National Trust has introduced new features and attractions such as
   a silver exhibition which displays a collection of silver amassed by
   the Brownlow family, dating from 1698. Further revenue is raised from
   the use of the property as a filming location, and from licensing the
   Marble Hall and Tapestry Room for civil weddings, with receptions being
   held in the stables. The house is featured in BBC's 1988 adaptation of
   Moondial. and also as "Rosings Park" in the BBC's 1995 television
   version of Pride and Prejudice. Thus Belton House has entered the
   twenty first century well equipped for its continued survival while
   still reflecting the glories of its historic past.

Owners of Belton House

   The tomb of Sir John Brownlow I and his wife Alice Pulteney. "...marble
   hands clasped everlastingly in mutual consolation for their childless
   marriage".
   Enlarge
   The tomb of Sir John Brownlow I and his wife Alice Pulteney. "...marble
   hands clasped everlastingly in mutual consolation for their childless
   marriage".
   The funerary chapel of the owners of Belton House, in the parish church
   adjacent to the mansion's garden.
   Enlarge
   The funerary chapel of the owners of Belton House, in the parish church
   adjacent to the mansion's garden.

   Until its acceptance by the National Trust, Belton House was in the
   ownership of the family of its builder, albeit often through tortuous
   descent following the failure of three generations to produce a son and
   heir. This caused the ownership to pass sideways and sometimes
   backwards through the female line.

   The owners of Belton are buried in the village of Belton's parish
   church close to the house. Their tombs are collectively one of the most
   complete sets of family memorials in England — continuous generation to
   generation for almost 350 years. The earliest Brownlow buried here is
   the founder of the family fortune the lawyer Richard Brownlow
   (1555–1638), and one of the most recent is the 6th Baron Brownlow
   (1899–1978).

   The owners of Belton House have been:
     * Sir John Brownlow I (1594–1679) Bequeathed Belton to his great
       nephew John Brownlow II.
     * Sir John Brownlow II (1659–1697). Builder of Belton House
     * Sir William Brownlow (1665–1702). Brother of Sir John Brownlow II,
       permitted his widowed sister-in-law to retain Belton.
     * Sir John Brownlow III (1690–1754). Created Viscount Tyrconnel in
       1718. Nephew and son-in-law of Sir John Brownlow II.
     * Sir John Cust (1718–1770). Speaker of the House of Commons and
       nephew of Tyrconnel.
     * Sir Brownlow Cust (1744–1807). Created Baron Brownlow in 1776. Son
       of Sir John Cust.
     * John, 2nd Baron Brownlow (1779–1853). Created 1st Earl Brownlow in
       1815. Son of Sir Brownlow Cust.
     * John, (Eggerton-Cust), 2nd Earl Brownlow (1842–1867) Grandson of
       John, 2nd Baron Brownlow.
     * Adelbert, 3rd (and last) Earl Brownlow (1844–1921). Brother of
       John, 2nd Earl Brownlow.
     * Adelbert Salusbury Cockayne Cust, 5th Baron Brownlow (1867–1927).
       Second cousin of Adelbert, 3rd Earl Brownlow.
     * Perigrine Cust, 6th Baron Brownlow (1899–1978).
     * Edward Cust, 7th Baron Brownlow (born 1936).
     * The National Trust (1984 onwards).

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