Londesborough Hall

The Londesborough estate belonged, in the 16th and early 17th century, to the Clifford family, the Earls of Cumberland. The original house was built by George Clifford, 3rd Earl of Cumberland, in 1589, created in the Elizabethan style.[1]

In 1643, the last Earl, Henry Clifford, 5th Earl of Cumberland died. His only child, Lady Elizabeth Clifford, had married Richard Boyle, 2nd Earl of Cork, and thus the property passed to the Boyle family.[2] In 1664, Richard Boyle was also created 1st Earl of Burlington. Robert Hooke was engaged to enlarge the house and lay out formal gardens, between 1679 and 1683. Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington, who was the principal patron of the Palladian movement in England, and himself a noted architect, had alterations made to Londesborough, undertaken by William Kent in the 1720s.

On the 3rd Earl's death without a male heir, in 1753, Londesborough passed to the Dukes of Devonshire, along with all his other properties, as his daughter, Lady Charlotte Boyle, had married William Cavendish, soon to be the 4th Duke of Devonshire.[3] In 1819, the 6th Duke of Devonshire, who had a superfluity of grand homes, a large running debt inherited from his father, and many other expensive interests to pay for, including his reconstruction of Chatsworth House, had Londesbrough demolished. He is said to have regretted this, and in 1839, he had a hunting box built on the estate, but in 1845, under mounting financial strain, he sold the whole Londesborough estate to the "Railway King", George Hudson. A private railway station (Londesborough Park) was built on the adjacent York to Beverley line for Hudson to use.[1]

Hudson's questionable financial practices soon brought about his ruin, and in 1849, he sold Londesborough to the politician, Albert Denison, who was created Baron Londesborough in 1850. Denison enlarged the hunting box to create a country house in the Victorian style. His son, William Denison, later became the Earl of Londesborough.

The Victorian house survives in the ownership of Dr and Mrs Ashwin, who also own the Londesborough estate. The Yorkshire Wolds Way long-distance footpath passes through Londesborough Park, which still has open pastureland described on the walk's official site as "a delight to walk through".

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Londesborough Park.

• Map sources for Londesborough Hall