BRACEWELL VILLAGE 2
We left Bracewell in the hands of Thomas Weddell in 1717 and I went out looking for more information about him. I'm afraid it's thin on the ground. What I did discover was that he had another connection with the Tempests. In 1267 Roger de Tempest of Bracewell acquired the Lordship of the manor of Waddington and built Waddow Hall. Following Richard Tempest's death in debtor's prison in 1657, the land and buildings of the Waddow estate were acquired by Christopher Wilkinson, an out-bailiff and Member of Parliament for Clitheroe. Wilkinson bequeathed the Waddow estate to a Weddell of Waddington and the Weddell family kept it from 1673 until 1778 when Thomas Weddell bequeathed them to Sir John Ramsden.
Waddow doesn't interest us here but what we learn from this is that the Weddell family came from Waddington and Thomas Weddell died in 1778 so this is when the next owner of the Bracewell Estate took over. I have no direct evidence for the next owner but I do know that in 1780, Thomas Lister of Gisburn who later became Lord Ribblesdale (the title was created on 26 October 1797), bought an isolated house and lands at Malham Tarn. Again, Malham doesn't interest us but it indicates that Thomas was buying land at the time and it seems to be a fair bet that he took over Bracewell Estate after the death of Thomas Weddell. Thomas Lister, the third baronet, died in 1876. I have a reference which suggests that the estate was sold some time prior to 1869 because this is the date when the new owner, James Turner Hopwood, demolished the old hall and built the Sottish Baronial Pile which survived until the 1950s, at the same time rebuilding the Home Farm and renaming it Hopwood House.
Although Hopwood was a partner in the music publishing house of Hopwood Crew of London, the family wealth came originally from cotton manufacturing in Blackburn where the family owned the Nova Scotia Mills, a large textile manufacturing complex. He never went into the family firm, his bent was towards music. One of his main interests was the baroque organ and in 1868 he ordered a large three-manual organ of forty-four stops from Cavaille-Coll of Paris, one of the leading continental makers. In April 1870, this organ, with a French Gothic case designed by the architect Simil, was delivered to Bracewell, where it was erected and voiced (the process of fine tuning tone and pitch) by Felix Reinberg, one of Cavaille-Coll's most trusted foremen and voicers. The Franco-Prussian war (19 July 1870 – 10 May 1871) broke out while Reinberg was working at Bracewell and no doubt he thought himself lucky to escape the Siege of Paris! The organ was inaugurated on 7 November 1870, the great occasion being described by Hopwood in a letter to Cavaille-Coll dated 10 February 1871. The organ was played by William Spark, who is said to have given a whole series of subsequent recitals at the hall. There is a myth that Queen Victoria attended this recital but I am reliably informed that she didn't. In 1874 Hopwood commissioned Cavaille-Coll to move the organ to his new residence, Ketton Hall, Rutland, and three more stops were added to the pedal. In 1926 the organ was dismantled and rebuilt in the Parr Hall, Warrington, where it remains to this day.
I have a copy of the sale document of 1874/75 which contains a full description of the hall and estate and Hopwood had spared no expense in his rebuild. Here's an extract from the description:
“With a capital, stone built Gothic Mansion containing an elegant suite of reception rooms with parqueterie [sic] floors and pitch pine fittings and including a fine baronial hall, or music and ballroom; numerous principal and secondary bed and dressing rooms, night and day nurseries, two bath rooms; servant’s apartments; convenient domestic offices, good cellarage, laundries and a handsome conservatory. It occupies an elevated and commanding position with southern aspect overlooking well arranged pleasure grounds and an ornamental sheet of water. The estate consists altogether of rich old pastures, well watered and covering an area of 1,596 acres divided into eleven compact farms with good homesteads in the occupation of a highly respectable class of tenants at moderate rents, amounting, with the small estimated rental of the mansion, sporting, and lands in hand to upwards of £3,720 per annum. Free from all outgoings except £6-7s-4d per annum. Together with the manor of Bracewell, the advowson and next presentation to the vicarage of Bracewell.”
There is much more in the sale document and if you are interested you can find it under 'Rare Texts' on the Oneguyfrombarlick website. Like all large estates many of the notable families of the district get a mention in the recitations of the various titles. Roundells of Gledstone, the Listers and many other families get a mention usually through previous ownership of lands bought in by the estate, many of them when Hopwood became owner and was evidently tidying up and consolidating his holdings. Plenty of scope in there for more detailed research if you're interested.
We can get a good indication of Hopwood's standards even though the hall has gone. Hopwood Farm is built to a very high standard and I think that the present house behind the church is partially a remnant of the original build. He left the remains of King Henry's Parlour as it was using it as a barn for the farm. If you examine the building carefully there are still some indications of great age in the foundations and the surviving tracery of the 14th/15th century window. The original drive into the hall survives next to the church and the last time I saw it the wrought iron gate was still there but in very bad condition.
Hopwood was in residence for less than ten years but he certainly left his mark when the estate was sold after he left. I have no firm evidence but I think that the new owner of the estate was a Mr Riley of Richmond and that shortly afterwards the hall was rented for use as a private school for boys for many years. This school was so successful that they had to move out to bigger premises.
This is a good place to end. The hall was to have another lease of life and we'll dig into that when I return next week.
Hopwood's Scottish Baronial rebuild of the old hall when it was used as a country club.
