Harewood House

{{Short description|Country house in West Yorkshire, England}}

{{About|the house in West Yorkshire|the house in Cornwall|Harewood House, Calstock|Harewood Park in Herefordshire|Harewood Park}}

{{Use British English|date=September 2018}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}

{{Infobox building

| name = Harewood House

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| image = Harewood House, seen from the garden.JPG

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| caption = Harewood House from the garden

| building_type = Stately home

| architectural_style = Palladian

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| client = Edwin Lascelles, 1st Baron Harewood

| owner = Harewood House Trust

| current_tenants = Lascelles family

| location = Harewood, England

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| coordinates = {{coord|53|53|48|N|1|31|42|W|region:GB-LDS_type:landmark_source:dewiki|display=inline,title}}

| start_date = 1759

| completion_date = 1771

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| designations = Grade I listed

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| website = {{URL|http://www.harewood.org}}

}}

Harewood House ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|h|ɑ:r|w|ʊ|d}} {{respell|HAR|wuud}}, {{IPAc-en|ˈ|h|ɛər|-}} {{respell|HAIR|-}}){{#tag:ref|There is debate as to the exact pronunciation of the word 'Harewood'. In the 18th century, the customary pronunciation (and spelling) was Harwood and this pronunciation for both house and title is used by Harewood House and the Earl of Harewood. The pronunciation "hairwood" is generally used for the village.|group= n}}{{cite news |last1=Lyall |first1=Sarah |title=Great Brington Journal; Why Can't the English . . . ? It's Pronounced Clahss |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/05/31/world/great-brington-journal-why-can-t-the-english-it-s-pronounced-clahss.html |access-date=28 September 2018 |work=The New York Times |date=31 March 2000 |archive-date=8 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210208103624/https://www.nytimes.com/2000/05/31/world/great-brington-journal-why-can-t-the-english-it-s-pronounced-clahss.html |url-status=live }} is a country house in Harewood, West Yorkshire, England. Designed by architects John Carr and Robert Adam, it was built between 1759 and 1771, for Edwin Lascelles, 1st Baron Harewood, a wealthy West Indian plantation and slave owner. The landscape was designed by Lancelot "Capability" Brown and spans {{convert|1000|acre|ha|sigfig=1|abbr=off}} at Harewood.

Still home to the Lascelles family, Harewood House is a member of the Treasure Houses of England, a marketing consortium for ten of the foremost historic homes in the country. The house is a Grade I listed building and a number of features in the grounds and courtyard have been listed as Grade I, II* and II.

History

=Early history=

The Harewood estate was created in its present size by merging two adjacent estates, the Harewood Castle estate based on Harewood Castle and the Gawthorpe estate based on the Gawthorpe Hall manor house (not to be confused with the Gawthorpe Hall near Burnley in Lancashire). The properties were combined when the Wentworths of Gawthorpe, who inherited the estate from the Gascoignes, bought the neighbouring Harewood estate from the Ryther family. The combined estate was sold to the London merchant Sir John Cutler in 1696, after whose death it passed to the Boulter family. They in turn sold it to the Lascelles in 1721.{{cite book|title=The Civil, Ecclesiastical, Literary, Commercial, and Miscellaneous of Leeds etc|volume=1|page=215}}

=The Lascelles family=

In the late seventeenth century members of the Lascelles family purchased plantations in the West Indies, and the income generated allowed Henry Lascelles to purchase the estate in 1738; his son, Edwin Lascelles, 1st Baron Harewood, a wealthy plantation and slave owner,{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/abolition/building_britain_gallery_03.shtml|title=History – British History in depth: Slavery and the Building of Britain|publisher=BBC|access-date=15 February 2019|archive-date=16 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190216232224/http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/abolition/building_britain_gallery_03.shtml|url-status=live}} built the house between 1759 and 1771{{cite book|title=Architecture of England, Scotland, and Wales|last=Jones|first=Nigel R.|pages=133–135|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|year=2005|location=Westwood, CT, USA|isbn=0313318506}} to replace Gawthorpe Hall, the original manor house on the estate.

Edwin employed the services of John Carr, an architect practising in the north of England who had been employed by a number of prominent Yorkshire families, to design their new country houses. The foundations were laid in 1759 and the house was largely complete by 1765. Robert Adam submitted designs for the interiors, which were approved in 1765. Adam made a number of minor alterations to Carr's designs for the building's exterior including internal courtyards. The house remained largely untouched until the 1840s when Sir Charles Barry was employed by Henry Lascelles, 3rd Earl of Harewood, the father of thirteen children, to increase the accommodation. Barry added second storeys to each of the flanking wings to provide extra bedrooms, removed the south portico and created formal parterres and terraces.

=20th century=

In 1922, Henry Lascelles, Viscount Lascelles married Princess Mary, the only daughter of George V. Initially living in the nearby Goldsborough Hall, the couple moved permanently into Harewood House on the death of Henry's father in 1929.

During the Second World War, the house acted as a resident convalescent hospital{{cite web |title=Leeds Legacies |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/legacies/work/england/leeds/gallery_6.shtml |publisher=BBC |access-date=25 September 2019 |quote=During World War II Harewood House was used as a resident convalescent hospital. |archive-date=25 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190925070737/http://www.bbc.co.uk/legacies/work/england/leeds/gallery_6.shtml |url-status=live }} but by the late 1940s, the Princess Royal and her family had moved permanently back to Harewood, where the house and gardens were regularly opened{{cite news |title=Harewood House open on Monday |url=https://www.genesreunited.co.uk/searchbna/results?memberlastsubclass=none&searchhistorykey=0&keywords=harewood%20%20house%20%20gardens%20%20%20opened&county=yorkshire%2c%20england&from=1944&to=1949 |access-date=25 September 2019 |newspaper=Yorkshire Evening Post |location=Yorkshire, England |date=29 July 1949 |quote=Harewood House open on Monday – HAREWOOD House and gardens will open to the public on Monday from 11 a.m. to... |archive-date=8 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210208103550/https://www.genesreunited.co.uk/searchbna/results?memberlastsubclass=none&searchhistorykey=0&keywords=harewood++house++gardens+++opened&county=yorkshire%2C+england&from=1944&to=1949 |url-status=live }} to the public. The estate also hosted concerts connected with musical institutions including the Yorkshire Symphony Orchestra and the Leeds Musical Festival, of which the Princess was patron.

On 28 March 1965, the Princess was walking the grounds of Harewood when she suffered a fatal heart attack.{{cite news |last1=Newton |first1=Grace |title=The Queen's Lost Family: TV documentary tells the story of the royal letters found in a Yorkshire country house |url=https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/heritage-and-retro/heritage/queens-lost-family-tv-documentary-tells-story-royal-letters-found-yorkshire-country-house-1751595 |access-date=14 June 2020 |work=Yorkshire Post |date=14 August 2019 |archive-date=14 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200614175314/https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/heritage-and-retro/heritage/queens-lost-family-tv-documentary-tells-story-royal-letters-found-yorkshire-country-house-1751595 |url-status=live }} Her elder son, Lord Harewood, the 7th earl, succeeded his father in 1947, and resided at Harewood. He was director of the Royal Opera House and later of the English National Opera; nearer to Harewood, he was a member of the Leeds Music Festival's executive committee and a patron of the Yorkshire Symphony Orchestra's concerts.{{cite news |title=Several well-known musical authorities from Leeds tell of the opportunities afforded them to talk things musical to her Royal Highness |url=https://www.genesreunited.co.uk/searchbna/results?memberlastsubclass=none&searchhistorykey=0&keywords=harewood%20%20house%20%20musical%20%20festival%20%20triennial&county=yorkshire%2c%20england&from=1944&to=1949 |access-date=25 September 2019 |newspaper=Yorkshire Evening Post |location=Yorkshire, England |date=10 January 1949 |quote=....concert-going in Leeds recently as this week-end when attended the concert. "Music patron" – The Princess Royal is patron of the Leeds Triennial Musical Festival. During the last series – in October, 1947, – she attended most of the concerts. She was for many years patron ....Yorkshire Evening Post Yorkshire, England 19 Jul 1949...He [Lord Harewood] edits a magazine on ballet and opera, and is a member the Executive Committee of the Leeds Triennial Festival in which the Princess.... |archive-date=8 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210208103554/https://www.genesreunited.co.uk/searchbna/results?memberlastsubclass=none&searchhistorykey=0&keywords=harewood++house++musical++festival++triennial&county=yorkshire%2C+england&from=1944&to=1949 |url-status=live }}{{cite news |title=Leeds Reception to Lord and Lady Harewood |url=https://www.genesreunited.co.uk/searchbna/results?memberlastsubclass=none&searchhistorykey=0&keywords=lord%20%20harewood%20%20%20yorkshire%20%20symphony%20%20orchestra&county=yorkshire%2c%20england&from=1944&to=1949 |access-date=25 September 2018 |newspaper=The Yorkshire Post / Yorkshire and Evening Post |location=Yorkshire, England |date=23 November 1949 |page=1 [Front page of The Yorkshire Post – 23 November 1949] |quote=Chatting informally for nearly two hours with a large gathering of ...the Princess Royal wore rose pink velvet.....Among others presented were ...Sir William and Lady Cartwright...Mr R. Noel Middleton (Leeds Musical Festival Committee)...Mr Philip Fox (Leeds Director of the B.B.C.)....Y.S.O. concert – ...chairman of the Yorkshire Symphony Orchestra Committee had a long chat with the Earl and Countess regarding the orchestra, and invited them to attend the Saturday performance. They both expressed much interest in the orchestra and said they would like... Yorkshire Post 11 April 1950...A Concert by Members of the Yorkshire Symphony Orchestra at Harewood House...Before a large and appreciative audience, in which the Princess Royal and the Earl and Countess of Harewood....Mr Maurice Miles conducted a section of the Yorkshire Symphony Orchestra... |archive-date=8 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210208103623/https://www.genesreunited.co.uk/searchbna/results?memberlastsubclass=none&searchhistorykey=0&keywords=lord++harewood+++yorkshire++symphony++orchestra&county=yorkshire%2C+england&from=1944&to=1949 |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last1=B. |first1=E. |title=Significant Choice for Y.S.O. concert |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000687/19500220/131/0006 |access-date=11 April 2019 |newspaper=Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer |date=20 February 1950 |quote=[page 1/front page] – The Earl of Harewood has agreed to be patron of the concert, and he and the Countess have promised to attend. }}{{cite web |title=Bradbury |url=https://www.genesreunited.co.uk/searchbna/results?memberlastsubclass=none&searchhistorykey=0&keywords=harewood%20%20yorkshire%20%20symphony%20%20orchestr%20a&county=yorkshire%2C%20england&from=1940&to=1949&page=5 |work=Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer |location=Yorkshire, England |date=21 March 1949 |access-date=24 November 2018 |quote=....besides visit Leeds yesterday, the Yorkshire Symphony Orchestra's concert at Leeds Town Hall on Saturday night was devoted to the music from the operas of Mozart and Puccini. Among the audience was the Earl of Harewood. |archive-date=8 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210208103555/https://www.genesreunited.co.uk/searchbna/results?memberlastsubclass=none&searchhistorykey=0&keywords=harewood++yorkshire++symphony++orchestr+a&county=yorkshire%2C+england&from=1940&to=1949&page=5 |url-status=live }}{{cite book |last1=Whitaker |first1=J. |title=An Almanack for the Year of Our Lord 1955, Volume 87 |date=1955 |publisher=J. Whitaker |page=1003 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FFMQAAAAIAAJ&q=Yorkshire+Symphony+Orchestra+Harewood+House |access-date=8 October 2019 |quote=The London Symphony Orchestra, the Leeds Philharmonic and Symphony Orchestras, the Yorkshire Symphony ... Hex was performed, with Peter Pears and Hclenc Bouvier, and, at a morning concert In the Picture Gallery of Harewood House... |archive-date=8 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210208103550/https://books.google.com/books?id=FFMQAAAAIAAJ&q=Yorkshire+Symphony+Orchestra+Harewood+House&dq=Yorkshire+Symphony+Orchestra+Harewood+House |url-status=live }}

Since 1947 the estate's Dower House, which lies outside the estate boundaries, has been leased out for use as an independent school.Gateways Educational Trust Limited, [https://www.gatewaysschool.co.uk/about-gateways/ About Gateways] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114143834/https://www.gatewaysschool.co.uk/about-gateways/ |date=14 January 2021 }}, accessed 21 December 2020

=21st century=

The house is the family seat of the Lascelles family, and home of David Lascelles, the eighth Earl. The house and grounds have been transferred into a trust ownership structure managed by Harewood House Trust and are open to the public for most of the year. Harewood won a Large Visitor Attraction of the Year award in the 2009 national Excellence in England awards.Harewood House website. Harewood Card Newsletter. Autumn/Winter 2003–04 [http://www.harewood.org.uk/newsletter/newsletter4.pdf Harewood.org] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928142157/http://www.harewood.org.uk/newsletter/newsletter4.pdf |date=28 September 2007 }}. Retrieved 1 December 2006.

Harewood houses a collection of paintings by masters of the Italian Renaissance, family portraits by Sir Joshua Reynolds, John Hoppner and Sir Thomas Lawrence, and modern art collected by the 7th Earl and Countess. Changing temporary exhibitions are held each season in the Terrace Gallery. Catering facilities in the house include Michelin-starred fine dining.[http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/community/michelin-star-restaurant-moves-into-stately-home-to-offer-tasty-posh-nosh-1-4776971 "Michelin star restaurant moves into stately home to offer tasty posh nosh"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120731052609/http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/community/michelin-star-restaurant-moves-into-stately-home-to-offer-tasty-posh-nosh-1-4776971 |date=31 July 2012 }}, Yorkshire Evening Post. Retrieved 2 August 2013

As well as tours of the house and grounds, Harewood has more than {{convert|100|acre}} of gardens, including a Himalayan garden and its stupa, an educational bird garden (closed February 2023),{{cite web |publisher=Harewood House Trust |url=https://harewood.org/harewood-statement/ |title=Harewood Statement |accessdate=24 May 2023 |archive-date=9 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231209053037/https://harewood.org/harewood-statement/ |url-status=dead }} an adventure playground and the historic All Saints' Church with its alabaster tombs. From May 2007 to October 2008 the grounds contained Yorkshire's first planetarium, the Yorkshire Planetarium.{{cite news|url=https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/leeds-planetarium-a-meteoric-failure-1-2240476|title=Leeds planetarium – a meteoric failure|access-date=31 March 2018|archive-date=1 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180401005153/https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/leeds-planetarium-a-meteoric-failure-1-2240476|url-status=live}}

The Leeds Country Way passes through the Harewood Estate, to the south of the house and lake, as does the route of The White Rose Way.

In a 2005 documentary, David Lascelles spoke about his ancestors' links with the slave trade,{{cite web|url=https://www.leeds-live.co.uk/news/leeds-stately-home-exposing-links-25227805|title=Leeds stately home exposing its links to the slave trade to educate others|website=Leeds Live|first=Jaimie|last=Kay|date=11 October 2022|access-date=14 May 2023|archive-date=14 May 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230514083852/https://www.leeds-live.co.uk/news/leeds-stately-home-exposing-links-25227805|url-status=live}} and in 2007, as part of the BBC Look North programme, actor David Harewood visited the house and interviewed Lascelles, as his ancestors in Barbados had been enslaved by the Earls of Harewood.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_yorkshire/6487229.stm|title=Actor quizzes Viscount on slavery|work=BBC News|date=23 March 2007|access-date=15 April 2015}} In March 2023, it was announced that a portrait of Harewood had been commissioned and would be hung in Harewood house.{{cite web|url=https://harewood.org/about/blog/missing-portraits/missing-portraits-david-harewood-obe/|title=MISSING PORTRAITS: David Harewood OBE|website=Harewood House Blog|date=6 March 2023|access-date=14 May 2023}}{{cite news |last1=Kolirin |first1=Lianne |title=David Harewood's portrait will hang in stately home owned by family that enslaved his ancestors |url=https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/david-harewood-portrait-gbr-scli-intl-gbr/index.html |access-date=9 March 2023 |work=CNN |date=6 March 2023 |archive-date=9 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230309025451/https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/david-harewood-portrait-gbr-scli-intl-gbr/index.html |url-status=live }}{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2023/mar/06/complex-emotions-harewood-house-commissions-portrait-of-david-harewood|title='Complex emotions': Harewood House commissions portrait of David Harewood|newspaper=The Guardian|first=Aamna|last=Mohdin|date=6 March 2023}}{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/03/06/david-harewood-portrait-hung-home-family-who-enslaved-ancestors/|title=David Harewood portrait to be hung at home of family who enslaved his ancestors|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=6 March 2023|archive-date=14 May 2023|access-date=14 May 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230514083839/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/03/06/david-harewood-portrait-hung-home-family-who-enslaved-ancestors/|url-status=live}}

Harewood Bird Garden & Farm Experience

{{Infobox zoo

|zoo_name= Harewood Bird Garden & Farm Experience

|image=

|image_width=

|image_caption=

|date_opened=March 1970

|date_closed= 2023

|location=Harewood House, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England

|coordinates=

|num_animals=

|num_species=

|members=BIAZA,{{ZooOrg|biaza|zoos|access-date=26 July 2012}}

|exhibits=Small collection of exotic birds and farm animals

|website={{URL|www.harewood.org/grounds/grounds-bird-garden}}

}}

The Bird Garden at Harewood House had a small collection of exotic bird species, of which more than 5 were listed as vulnerable or endangered by the IUCN. It was a member of the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA).

Birds that could be seen in the garden included Humboldt penguins, Chilean flamingos, Duyvenbode's lories and macaws.

In January 2023 the trustees of Harewood announced their decision to close the Bird Garden: the exact date would be announced later in the year. The Farm Experience would remain open. The area occupied by the Bird Garden would be redeveloped as a new woodland garden, including reinstating some historic walks. New homes would be found for all the birds. The trustees said that the last inspection had "identified many problems with the site's physical infrastructure" which would require £4 million to be spent, and they "had to make the incredibly difficult decision to close this part of the Harewood experience".{{cite news |last1=Newton |first1=Grace |title=Harewood House in Yorkshire announces closure of Bird Garden attraction after 50 years – after concerns it had become 'out of date' |url=https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/heritage-and-retro/heritage/harewood-house-in-yorkshire-announces-closure-of-bird-garden-attraction-after-50-years-after-concerns-it-had-become-out-of-date-3981250 |access-date=25 January 2023 |date=10 January 2023}}{{cite web |title=Harewood Statement |url=https://harewood.org/harewood-statement/ |website=Harewood House |publisher=Harewood |access-date=25 January 2023 |date=January 2023 |archive-date=9 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231209053037/https://harewood.org/harewood-statement/ |url-status=dead }}

Gallery

File:Harewood House is open today. - geograph.org.uk - 1578547.jpg|The main entrance to the Park

File:Harewood Castle 01.jpg|The entrance front

File:Harewood House - West Yorkshire, England - DSC01576.jpg|The centre of the entrance front

File:Entrance Hall - Harewood House - West Yorkshire, England - DSC01580.jpg|The Entrance Hall

File:Harewood House The Old Library.jpg|The Old Library

File:China Room - Harewood House - West Yorkshire, England - DSC01615.jpg|The China Room (Originally Study)

File:Princess Mary's Dressing Room - Harewood House - West Yorkshire, England - DSC01713.jpg|Princess Mary's Dressing Room

File:Harewood House The East Bedroom (34788973284).jpg|The East Bedroom

File:Harewood House Lord Harewood's Sitting Room (35518118191).jpg|Lord Harewood's Sitting Room

File:Harewood House The State Bedroom.jpg|The State Bedroom

File:Harewood House The Spanish Library (34841193814).jpg|The Spanish Library

File:Harewood House The Main Library (35314769140).jpg|The Library

File:Yellow Drawing Room - Harewood House - West Yorkshire, England - DSC01902.jpg|The Yellow Drawing Room

File:Cinnamon Drawing Room - Harewood House - West Yorkshire, England - DSC01908.jpg|The Cinnamon Drawing Room

File:Gallery - Harewood House - West Yorkshire, England - DSC01996.jpg|The Gallery

File:Harewood House The State Dining Room (35685450376).jpg|The Dining Room

File:Harewood House The Music Room.jpg|The Music Room

File:Main Staircase - Harewood House - West Yorkshire, England - DSC02060.jpg|The Main Staircase

File:Bathroom - Harewood House - West Yorkshire, England - DSC01714.jpg|A bathroom

File:Harewood House-14302673050.jpg|The Kitchen

File:Harewood House IMG 1802 - panoramio.jpg|The terrace and parterre in front of the south façade

File:The Old Stables.JPG|The Old Stables

File:Harewood Lake.JPG|The lake

File:Harewood cascade.JPG|Harewood House cascade

File:Harewood stepping stones.JPG|Stepping stones below the cascade

File:Harewood Castle.jpg|The recently preserved Harewood Castle, as seen from the northeast

File:Emmerdale village by John Turner.jpg|Exterior purpose-built village set built by ITV Studios in 1997, used for the production of Emmerdale since 1997.

See also

Notes

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References

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