Harewood House, Leeds, England

The following is from the English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest.

LOCATION, AREA, BOUNDARIES, LANDFORM, SETTING

Harewood House lies immediately west of the village of Harewood in a rural and agricultural area. The approximately 350 hectare site is on rolling land which slopes down from the north-east to a point near the centre of the site and the lake, and then rises to the south. The north and north-east boundaries are formed by the A659, the north-west boundary is formed by Weardly Lane, and the remaining boundaries by fences dividing the site from agricultural land.

ENTRANCES AND APPROACHES

The principal entrance is from Harewood village where there is a gateway with lodges and linking walls (based on a design by Humphry Repton 1802-4, all listed grade II) from which a drive leads west to the north front of the House. This entrance was constructed following the realignment of the Otley to Tadcaster Turnpike in 1796-1800 when it was re- routed to the north side of Harewood Castle. North of this entrance there is a separate entrance leading to Church Lane which runs westwards to All Saints church. This was the former line of the turnpike and it continues as Sandy Gate, which connects with a system of drives running to the High and Low Lodges, which are on the west side of the site in the adjacent hamlets of High and Low Weardley.

Lofthouse Lodge (gate piers, gates and railings dating from the late-18th century, listed grade II), on the A659 south of the village, leads to a drive which runs west to New Bridge (1837, listed grade II) and turns to run northwards through woodland, crossing Rough Bridge (early-19th century, listed grade II), giving views of the house and lake before joining the main entrance drive north-east of the House. This approach was under construction in 1774 and was probably laid out by Lancelot Brown (1716-83). Humphry Repton (1752-1818) proposed some areas of new planting alongside it, shown as additions to a map of 1796, around 1800. Alwoodley Lodge (mid-late 18th century, with a pair of lodges, gates and flanking walls listed grade II together) lies on the south side of the site and a drive runs north from it through High Wood to join with a network of other drives and tracks through the site.

PRINCIPAL BUILDING

Harewood House (listed grade I) was designed by John Carr (1723-1807) for Edwin Lascelles in 1759. Robert Adam (1728-92) designed much of the interior and the building was altered by Charles Barry (1795-1860) in 1843. The House has some of the finest interiors in the region with work by Joseph Rose, Angelica Kaufmann, Antonio Zucchi and Biagio Rebecca. It stands on a platform overlooking falling land to the south, and slightly rising land to the north, at the far end of a spur of land which extends west from the village. This position was chosen to take advantage of the qualities of aspect and prospect afforded by the elevated site. Some 200 metres south-west of the house the stable complex (John Carr 1755- 8, listed grade I) is in use as a restaurant, shops and related visitor facilities (1998).

The principal house of the estate in the mid-18th century was called Gawthorp Hall, which was a medieval manor house altered in the 17th century which lay at the bottom of the valley south of the present house and was demolished between 1770 and 1773.

Harewood Castle (listed grade I) lies in the north-east corner of the site around 1.4 km north-east of the house. It is of mid-14th century date and William Aldburgh received a licence to crenellate in 1366. Despite its semi-ruinous condition it is considered to be the best example of a 14th-century fortified tower house in Yorkshire. The Castle, with its twin towers rising above the trees which surround it, forms an incident in the landscape and was painted by J M W Turner in 1797.

All Saints church (listed grade I) lies around 400 metres north-east of the house on the west side of a sub-rectangular churchyard. The building is largely 15th century and the west front was altered in 1793. It was restored 1862-3 by Sir G G Scott and is notable for a fine collection of medieval alabaster monuments.

REFERENCES

J Jewell, History and Antiquities of Harewood (1819)

J C Loudon, Country Residences 2, (1806), pl 16

Country Life, 51 (25 February 1922), pp 243-8

G & S Jellicoe et.al, The Oxford Companion To Gardens (1986), p 245

G Sheeran, Landscape Gardens in West Yorkshire 1680-1880 (1990), pp 60-5, 105-7

S Piebenga, Harewood House Terrace Garden, (IOAAS, University of York 1992)

M Hay, The Northern Pleasure Ground at Harewood, (unpub MA dissertation, IOAAS,University of York 1993)

Harewood House, guidebook, (c 1995)

Maps

T Jefferys, County Map, 1771

J Teal, A Plan of Parts of the Townships of Harewood..., 1796 [copy held by P Goodchild]

OS 6" to 1 mile: 1st edition published 1851

OS 25" to 1 mile: 2nd edition published 1908

Archival items

P Goodchild, Typescript notes on the landscape at Harewood, 1994 [with author]