100-586: Harewood House ( / ˈ h ɑːr w ʊ d / HAR -wuud , / ˈ h ɛər -/ HAIR - ) 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 1,000 acres (400 hectares) at Harewood. Still home to
200-734: A bar and cloakroom. The Linbury is most notable for hosting performances of experimental and independent dance and music, by independent companies and as part of the ROH2, the contemporary producing arm of the Royal Opera House. The Linbury Studio Theatre regularly stages performances by the Royal Ballet School and also hosts the Young British Dancer of the Year competition. The venue was constructed as part of
300-491: A benefit concert for him after Covent Garden refused. In 1817, bare flame gaslight had replaced the former candles and oil lamps that lighted the Covent Garden stage. This was an improvement, but in 1837 Macready employed limelight in the theatre for the first time, during a performance of a pantomime, Peeping Tom of Coventry . Limelight used a block of quicklime heated by an oxygen and hydrogen flame. This allowed
400-512: A concert for their Face to Face Tour supporting their album Face to Face . Harewood House was used as a filming location for the 2019 Downton Abbey film in November 2018. The house was the location for BBC's Mary Berry's Country House at Christmas with Mary Berry , broadcast on Christmas Day 2018. 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
500-492: A costume-making facility for the Royal Opera House and a training centre for students of costume-making from South Essex College . The building also houses the Royal Opera House's collection of historically important costumes. Other elements at High House, Purfleet, include The Backstage Centre, a new technical theatre and music training centre which is currently run by the National College for Creative Industries and
600-428: A fortunate few; it was the centre of its own world, providing employment to hundreds of people in the vicinity of its estate . In previous eras, when state benefits were unheard of, those working on an estate were among the most fortunate, receiving secured employment and rent-free accommodation. At the summit of this category of people was the indoor staff of the country house. Unlike many of their contemporaries prior to
700-489: A loan to the Culture Recovery Fund . In 2023 members of the orchestra were selected to play at the coronation of Charles III and Camilla . In 2024, the public branding of the venue and its associated online and media presence was changed from the Royal Opera House to Royal Ballet and Opera to reflect the combined companies that call the physical building their home. The physical building itself remains
800-485: A main public area for performances in the main auditorium, the Paul Hamlyn Hall is also used for hosting a number of events, including private functions, dances, exhibitions, concerts, and workshops. The Linbury Studio Theatre is a flexible, secondary performance space, constructed below ground level within the Royal Opera House. It has retractable raked seating and a floor which can be raised or lowered to form
900-641: A major overhaul. In 1975 the Labour government gave land adjacent to the Royal Opera House for a long-overdue modernisation, refurbishment, and extension. In the early 1980s the first part of a major renovation included an extension to the rear of the theatre on the James Street corner. The development added two new ballet studios, offices, a Chorus Rehearsal Room and the Opera Rehearsal room. Dressing rooms were also added. By 1995, sufficient funds from
1000-529: A mixture of high architecture , often as interpreted by a local architect or surveyor, and determined by practicality as much as by the whims of architectural taste. An example of this is Brympton d'Evercy in Somerset, a house of many periods that is unified architecturally by the continuing use of the same mellow, local Ham Hill stone . The fashionable William Kent redesigned Rousham House only to have it quickly and drastically altered to provide space for
1100-657: A new studio theatre, the Linbury, as well as more public space was created. The inclusion of the adjacent old Floral Hall, which had fallen into disrepair and was used as a scenery store before redevelopment, created a new and extensive public gathering place. The venue is now claimed by the ROH to be the most modern theatre facility in Europe. Surtitles , projected onto a screen above the proscenium, have been used for all opera performances since they were introduced for school matinees in
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#17327809527181200-532: 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. In 1922, Henry Lascelles, Viscount Lascelles married Princess Mary ,
1300-563: A scenery-making facility for their operas and ballets at High House, Purfleet , Essex, on 6 December 2010. The building was designed by Nicholas Hare Architects. The East of England Development Agency, which partly funded developments on the park, notes that "the first phase includes the Royal Opera House's Bob and Tamar Manoukian Production Workshop and Community areas". The Bob and Tamar Manoukian Costume Centre, also designed by Nicholas Hare Associates, opened in September 2015, and provides
1400-490: A studio floor, a raised stage, or a stage with orchestra pit. The theatre can accommodate up to 400 patrons and host a variety of different events. It has been used for private functions, traditional theatre shows, and concerts, as well as community and educational events, product launches, dinners and exhibitions, etc., and is one of the most technologically advanced performance venues in London with its own public areas, including
1500-480: Is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house . This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these people, the term distinguished between town and country. However, the term also encompasses houses that were, and often still are, the full-time residence for the landed gentry who dominated rural Britain until
1600-510: Is called a castle, but not all buildings with the name "castle" are fortified (for example Highclere Castle in Hampshire ). The term stately home is subject to debate, and avoided by historians and other academics. As a description of a country house, the term was first used in a poem by Felicia Hemans , "The Homes of England", originally published in Blackwood's Magazine in 1827. In
1700-424: Is consistent with the maintenance of the best possible standards ..." The Royal Opera House reopened on 20 February 1946 with a performance of The Sleeping Beauty in an extravagant new production designed by Oliver Messel . Webster, with his music director Karl Rankl , immediately began to build a resident company. In December 1946, they shared their first production, Purcell 's The Fairy-Queen , with
1800-473: Is politics; they talk politics; and they make politics, quite spontaneously. There are no written terms for distinguishing between vast country palaces and comparatively small country houses; the descriptive terms, which can include castle , manor and court , provide no firm clue and are often only used because of a historical connection with the site of such a building. Therefore, for ease or explanation, Britain's country houses can be categorised according to
1900-566: Is separately Grade II heritage listed. The redevelopment had gone ahead on the strength of a pledge of £10m from the philanthropist Alberto Vilar and for a number of years, it was known as the Vilar Floral Hall; however Vilar failed to make good his pledge. As a result, the name was changed in September 2005 to the Paul Hamlyn Hall, after the opera house received a donation of £10m from the estate of Paul Hamlyn , towards its education and development programmes. As well as acting as
2000-577: Is the ITV series Downton Abbey . Royal Opera House The Royal Ballet and Opera , formerly the Royal Opera House ( ROH ), is a historic opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden , central London . The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden , after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal Opera , The Royal Ballet , and
2100-401: Is the third theatre on the site, following disastrous fires in 1808 and 1856 to previous buildings. The façade , foyer , and auditorium date from 1858, but almost every other element of the present complex dates from an extensive reconstruction in the 1990s. The main auditorium seats 2,256 people, making it the third largest in London, and consists of four tiers of boxes and balconies and
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#17327809527182200-638: 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. In March 2023, it was announced that a portrait of Harewood had been commissioned and would be hung in Harewood house. Artist J. M. W. Turner visited the house and painted the outdoor landscape in watercolour around 1797–8. The house
2300-620: The First World War , the theatre was requisitioned by the Ministry of Works for use as a furniture repository. From 1934 to 1936, Geoffrey Toye was managing director, working alongside the artistic director Sir Thomas Beecham . Despite early successes, Toye and Beecham eventually fell out, and Toye resigned. During the Second World War the ROH became a dance hall. There was a possibility that it would remain so after
2400-597: 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
2500-508: The Reform Act 1832 . Frequently, the formal business of the counties was transacted in these country houses, having functional antecedents in manor houses . With large numbers of indoor and outdoor staff, country houses were important as places of employment for many rural communities. In turn, until the agricultural depressions of the 1870s , the estates, of which country houses were the hub, provided their owners with incomes. However,
2600-668: 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. Since 1947 the estate's Dower House , which lies outside the estate boundaries, has been leased out for use as an independent school . The house is the family seat of the Lascelles family, and home of David Lascelles ,
2700-704: The amphitheatre gallery. The proscenium is 14.80 metres (48 ft 7 in) wide, with the stage of the same depth and 12.20 metres (40 ft 0 in) high. The main auditorium is a Grade I listed building . The Royal Opera House was rebranded as the Royal Ballet and Opera in 2024. The foundation of the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden lies in the letters patent awarded by Charles II to Sir William Davenant in 1662, allowing Davenant to operate one of only two patent theatre companies ( The Duke's Company ) in London. The letters patent remained in
2800-727: The pantomime clown Joseph Grimaldi ( The Garrick of Clowns ) had performed his greatest success in Harlequin and Mother Goose; or the Golden Egg at Covent Garden, and this was subsequently revived, at the new theatre. Grimaldi was an innovator: his performance as Joey introduced the clown to the world, building on the existing role of Harlequin derived from the Commedia dell'arte . His father had been ballet-master at Drury Lane, and his physical comedy, his ability to invent visual tricks and buffoonery , and his ability to poke fun at
2900-536: The 'spectacular', including live horses on the stage and very loud music. Critics considered it a complete failure and Jullien was ruined and fled to America. Costa and his successors presented all operas in Italian, even those originally written in French, German or English, until 1892, when Gustav Mahler presented the debut of Wagner's Ring cycle at Covent Garden. The word "Italian" was then quietly dropped from
3000-459: The 1850s, with the English economy booming, new mansions were built in one of the many revivalist architectural styles popular throughout the 19th century. The builders of these new houses were able to take advantage of the political unrest in Europe that gave rise to a large trade in architectural salvage. This new wave of country house building is exemplified by the Rothschild properties in
3100-419: The 18th century with houses such as Castle Howard , Kedleston Hall and Holkham Hall . Such building reached its zenith from the late 17th century until the mid-18th century; these houses were often completely built or rebuilt in their entirety by one eminent architect in the most fashionable architectural style of the day and often have a suite of Baroque state apartments, typically in enfilade , reserved for
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3200-407: The 1971 Portrait of Sir David Webster by David Hockney , which had hung in the opera house for several decades, was put up for auction at Christie's . It eventually sold for £12.8 million. The funds raised from the sale were needed to ensure the survival of the institution. "Significant redundancies " and an appeal for public donations were also made. In addition, the opera house applied for
3300-464: The 1983/4 season. Since the reopening of the theatre in 1999 an electronic libretto system provides translations onto small video screens for some seats, and additional monitors and screens are to be introduced to other parts of the house. In 2014 design work, known as the Open Up Project, began with the aim of opening the theatre's building to the public during the day, as well as improving
3400-488: The 20th century, the term was later popularised in a song by Noël Coward , and in modern usage it often implies a country house that is open to visitors at least some of the time. In England, the terms "country house" and "stately home" are sometimes used vaguely and interchangeably; however, many country houses such as Ascott in Buckinghamshire were deliberately designed not to be stately, and to harmonise with
3500-474: The 20th century, they slept in proper beds, wore well-made adequate clothes and received three proper meals a day, plus a small wage. In an era when many still died from malnutrition or lack of medicine, the long working hours were a small price to pay. As a result of the aristocratic habit of only marrying within the aristocracy, and whenever possible to a sole heiress, many owners of country houses owned several country mansions, and would visit each according to
3600-468: 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. As well as tours of the house and grounds, Harewood has more than 100 acres (40 ha) of gardens, including a Himalayan garden and its stupa , an educational bird garden (closed February 2023), an adventure playground and
3700-608: The 90s redevelopment of the Royal Opera House. It is named in recognition of donations made by the Linbury Trust towards the redevelopment. The Trust is operated by Lord Sainsbury of Preston Candover and his wife Anya Linden , a former dancer with the Royal Ballet. The name Linbury is derived from the names Linden and Sainsbury. It was opened in 1999 with a collaboration from three Croydon secondary schools (including Coloma Convent Girls' School and Edenham High School ) in an original performance called About Face . In 2008
3800-476: The Arts Lottery through Arts Council England and private fundraising had been raised to enable the company to embark upon a major £213 million reconstruction of the building by Carillion , which took place between 1997 and 1999, under the chairmanship of Sir Angus Stirling . This involved the demolition of almost the whole site including several adjacent buildings to make room for a major increase in
3900-536: 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". English country house An English country house
4000-522: The Boulter family. They in turn sold it to the Lascelles in 1721. 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, built the house between 1759 and 1771 to replace Gawthorpe Hall,
4100-835: 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
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4200-573: 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. The Harewood estate was created in its present size by merging two adjacent estates, the Harewood Castle estate based on Harewood Castle and
4300-483: The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House. The first theatre on the site, the Theatre Royal (1732), served primarily as a playhouse for the first hundred years of its history. In 1734, the first ballet was presented. A year later, the first season of operas, by George Frideric Handel , began. Many of his operas and oratorios were specifically written for Covent Garden and had their premieres there. The current building
4400-687: The Royal Opera House and Manchester City Council began planning stages a new development known as Royal Opera House, Manchester . The proposal would have seen the Palace Theatre in Manchester refurbished, to create a theatre capable of staging productions by both the Royal Ballet and the Royal Opera. It was intended that the Royal Opera House would take residence of the theatre for an annual 18-week season, staging 16 performances by
4500-409: The Royal Opera House whilst the branding and business operations change their title to reflect this adjustment. The Paul Hamlyn Hall is a large iron and glass structure adjacent to, and with direct access to, the main opera house building. The hall now acts as the atrium and main public area of the opera house, with a champagne bar, restaurant and other hospitality services, and also providing access to
4600-474: The Royal Opera, 28 performances by the Royal Ballet and other small-scale productions. A year later The Lowry sent an open letter to the then Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport , Ben Bradshaw , Arts Council England, Manchester City Council and the ROH, calling for the scheme, in its current form, to be scrapped. In 2010 it was announced that the project was being shelved as part of larger arts-funding cuts. The Royal Opera House opened
4700-497: The Theatre Royal (designed by Edward Shepherd ) at the site of an ancient convent garden. Inigo Jones had developed part of this property in the 1630s with a piazza and St Paul's church (now known colloquially as the actors' church). In addition, a Royal Charter had created a fruit and vegetable market in the area, a market which survived in that location until 1974 . At the opening of the theatre on 7 December 1732, Rich
4800-425: The audience were extraordinary. Early pantomimes were performed as mimes accompanied by music, but as Music hall became popular, Grimaldi introduced the pantomime dame to the theatre and was responsible for the tradition of audience singing. By 1821 dance and clowning had taken such a physical toll on Grimaldi that he could barely walk, and he retired from the theatre. By 1828, he was penniless; Drury Lane held
4900-559: The ballet company. On 14 January 1947, the Covent Garden Opera Company gave its first performance of Bizet 's Carmen . Before the grand opening, the Royal Opera House presented one of the Robert Mayer Children's concerts on Saturday, 9 February 1946. Several renovations had taken place to parts of the house in the 1960s, including improvements to the amphitheatre but the theatre clearly needed
5000-467: The best-known examples of the showy prodigy house , often built with the intention of attracting the monarch to visit. By the reign of Charles I , Inigo Jones and his form of Palladianism had changed the face of English domestic architecture completely, with the use of turrets and towers as an architectural reference to the earlier castles and fortified houses completely disappearing. The Palladian style, in various forms, interrupted briefly by baroque ,
5100-482: The child performer Master Betty ; the great clown Joseph Grimaldi made his name at Covent Garden. Many famous actors of the day appeared at the theatre, including the tragediennes Sarah Siddons and Eliza O'Neill , the Shakespearean actors William Macready , Edmund Kean and his son Charles . On 25 March 1833 Edmund Kean collapsed on stage while playing Othello , and died two months later. In 1806,
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#17327809527185200-524: The circumstances of their creation. The great houses are the largest of the country houses; in truth palaces, built by the country's most powerful – these were designed to display their owners' power or ambitions to power. Really large unfortified or barely fortified houses began to take over from the traditional castles of the crown and magnates during the Tudor period, with vast houses such as Hampton Court Palace and Burghley House , and continued until
5300-523: The country saw the building of the first of the unfortified great houses. Henry VIII 's Dissolution of the Monasteries saw many former ecclesiastical properties granted to the King's favourites, who then converted them into private country houses. Woburn Abbey , Forde Abbey and many other mansions with abbey or priory in their name became private houses during this period. Other terms used in
5400-428: The design of the wing around the next corner. These varying "improvements", often criticised at the time, today are the qualities that make English country houses unique. Wealthy and influential people, often bored with their formal duties, go to the country in order to get out of London, the ugliest and most uncomfortable city in the world; they invented the long week-end to stay away as long as possible. Their métier
5500-427: The early 1970s, hundreds of country houses were demolished . Houses that survived destruction are now mostly Grade I or II listed as buildings of historic interest with restrictions on restoration and re-creation work. However such work is usually very expensive. Several houses have been restored, some over many years. For example at Copped Hall where the restoration started in 1995 continues to this day. Although
5600-611: 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 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
5700-578: The entrances, lobby areas and the Linbury Theatre. As part of the Open Up Project, IQ Projects were tasked with the renovation of the upper floor bar area and restaurant utilising various elements of bespoke glazing. In October 2020, the BBC reported that the Royal Opera House had lost 60% of its income as a result of restrictions implemented in response to the COVID-19 pandemic . As a consequence,
5800-475: The existing shell of the building. Rebuilding began in December 1808, and the second Theatre Royal, Covent Garden (designed by Robert Smirke ) opened on 18 September 1809 with a performance of Macbeth followed by a musical entertainment called The Quaker . The actor-manager John Philip Kemble , raised seat prices to help recoup the cost of rebuilding and the cost of an increased ground rent introduced by
5900-569: 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 . 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, and in 2007, as part of
6000-479: The home counties and Bletchley Park (rebuilt in several styles, and famous for its code-breaking role in World War II). The slow decline of the English country house coincided with the rise not just of taxation, but also of modern industry, along with the agricultural depression of the 1870s. By 1880, this had led some owners into financial shortfalls as they tried to balance maintenance of their estates with
6100-435: The household. These houses were always an alternative residence to a London house. During the 18th and 19th centuries, for the highest echelons of English society, the country house served as a place for relaxing, hunting and running the country with one's equals at the end of the week, with some houses having their own theatre where performances were staged. The country house, however, was not just an oasis of pleasure for
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#17327809527186200-556: The immediately preceding war then in World War I, were now paying far higher rates of tax, and agricultural incomes had dropped. Thus, the solution for many was to hold contents auctions and then demolish the house and sell its stone, fireplaces , and panelling . This is what happened to many of Britain's finest houses. Despite this slow decline, so necessary was the country house for entertaining and prestige that in 1917 Viscount Lee of Fareham donated his country house Chequers to
6300-438: The income they provided. Some relied on funds from secondary sources such as banking and trade while others, like the severely impoverished Duke of Marlborough , sought to marry American heiresses to save their country houses and lifestyles. The ultimate demise began immediately following World War I . The members of the huge staff required to maintain large houses had either left to fight and never returned, departed to work in
6400-472: The landowner, the Duke of Bedford, but the move was so unpopular that audiences disrupted performances by beating sticks, hissing, booing and dancing. The Old Price Riots lasted over two months, and the management was finally forced to accede to the audience's demands. During this time, entertainments were varied; opera and ballet were presented, but not exclusively. Kemble engaged a variety of acts, including
6500-491: The landscape, while some of the great houses such as Kedleston Hall and Holkham Hall were built as "power houses" to dominate the landscape, and were most certainly intended to be "stately" and impressive. In his book Historic Houses: Conversations in Stately Homes , the author and journalist Robert Harling documents nineteen "stately homes"; these range in size from the vast Blenheim Palace and Castle Howard to
6600-415: The late 19th and early 20th centuries were the swansong of the traditional English country house lifestyle. Increased taxation and the effects of World War I led to the demolition of hundreds of houses ; those that remained had to adapt to survive. While a château or a Schloss can be a fortified or unfortified building, a country house, similar to an Ansitz , is usually unfortified. If fortified, it
6700-544: The latter two are ducal palaces, Montacute, although built by a Master of the Rolls to Queen Elizabeth I, was occupied for the next 400 years by his descendants, who were gentry without a London townhouse , rather than aristocracy. They finally ran out of funds in the early 20th century. However, the vast majority of English country houses, often owned at different times by gentlemen and peers , are an evolution of one or more styles with facades and wings in different styles in
6800-566: The main auditorium at all levels. The building was formerly known as Floral Hall . It was originally built by the Opera House to house a flower market (also selling fruits and vegetables), hence the name. It was designed by Edward Middleton Barry and opened in 1860. After being used as a concert hall, it became part of the Covent Garden Market in 1887. A fire broke out in the building in 1956, after which it sat derelict. It
6900-655: The minuscule Ebberston Hall , and in architecture from the Jacobean Renaissance of Hatfield House to the eccentricities of Sezincote . The book's collection of stately homes also includes George IV's Brighton town palace, the Royal Pavilion . The country houses of England have evolved over the last five hundred years. Before this time, larger houses were usually fortified, reflecting the position of their owners as feudal lords , de facto overlords of their manors . The Tudor period of stability in
7000-416: The most eminent guests, the entertainment of whom was of paramount importance in establishing and maintaining the power of the owner. The common denominator of this category of English country houses is that they were designed to be lived in with a certain degree of ceremony and pomp. It was not unusual for the family to have a small suite of rooms for withdrawing in privacy away from the multitude that lived in
7100-399: The munitions factories, or filled the void left by the fighting men in other workplaces. Of those who returned after the war, many left the countryside for better-paid jobs in towns. The final blow for many country houses came following World War II ; having been requisitioned during the war, they were returned to the owners in poor repair. Many estate owners, having lost their heirs, if not in
7200-490: The name of the opera house. The conjuror John Henry Anderson , who had exposed the Davenport brothers , leased the theatre to stage his shows which were critical of mediums and spiritualism . After a gala performance and bal masqué organised by Anderson, the theatre caught fire in the early hours of 5 March 1856 and was destroyed. Work on a third theatre, designed by Edward Middleton Barry , started in 1857, and
7300-468: The names of houses to describe their origin or importance include palace , castle , court , hall , mansion , park , house , manor , and place . It was during the second half of the reign of Elizabeth I , and under her successor, James I , that the first architect-designed mansions, thought of today as epitomising the English country house, began to make their appearance. Burghley House , Longleat House , and Hatfield House are among
7400-454: The nation for the use of a prime minister who might not possess one of his or her own. Chequers still fulfills that need today as do both Chevening House and Dorneywood , donated for sole use of high-ranking ministers of the Crown. Today, many country houses have become hotels, schools, hospitals and museums, while others have survived as conserved ruins, but from the early 20th century until
7500-428: The new building, which still remains as the nucleus of the present theatre, was built by Lucas Brothers and opened on 15 May 1858 with a performance of Meyerbeer's Les Huguenots . The Royal English Opera company under the management of Louisa Pyne and William Harrison , made their last performance at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane , on 11 December 1858 and took up residence at Covent Garden on 20 December 1858 with
7600-537: 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 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 to
7700-404: 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
7800-468: The owner of a "power house" or a small manor, the inhabitants of the English country house have become collectively referred to as the ruling class, because this is exactly what they did in varying degrees, whether by having high political influence and power in national government, or in the day-to-day running of their own localities or "county" in such offices as lord/deputy lieutenant , magistrates , or occasionally even clergy. The Country house mystery
7900-529: The owner's twelve children. Canons Ashby , home to poet John Dryden 's family, is another example of architectural evolution: a medieval farmhouse enlarged in the Tudor era around a courtyard, given grandiose plaster ceilings in the Stuart period , and then having Georgian façades added in the 18th century. The whole is a glorious mismatch of styles and fashions that seamlessly blend together. These could be called
8000-512: The ownership or management of some houses has been transferred to a private trust , most notably at Chatsworth , other houses have transferred art works and furnishings under the Acceptance in Lieu scheme to ownership by various national or local museums, but retained for display in the building. This enables the former owners to offset tax, the payment of which would otherwise have necessitated
8100-477: The possession of the patentees' heirs until the 19th century. Their whereabouts were unknown for some time, but as of 2019 they are held in the Rosenbach Museum & Library , Philadelphia . In 1728, John Rich , actor-manager of the Duke's Company at Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre , commissioned The Beggar's Opera from John Gay . The success of this venture provided him with the capital to build
8200-414: The premiere of Michael Balfe 's Satanella – the first opera to have its world premiere at the new theatre – and continued there until 1865. The theatre became the Royal Opera House (ROH) in 1892, and the number of French and German works offered increased. Winter and summer seasons of opera and ballet were given, and the building was also used for pantomime, recitals and political meetings. During
8300-462: The private sale of the art works. For example, tapestries and furniture at Houghton Hall are now owned by the Victoria and Albert Museum . In addition, increasing numbers of country houses hold licences for weddings and civil ceremonies . Another source of income is to use the house as a venue for parties, a film location or a corporate entertainment venue. While many country houses are open to
8400-472: The public and derive income through that means, they remain homes, in some cases inhabited by the descendants of their original owners. The lifestyles of those living and working in a country house in the early 20th century were recreated in a BBC television programme, The Edwardian Country House , filmed at Manderston House in Scotland. Another television programme which features life in country houses
8500-625: The public and regularly holding concerts connected with musical establishments including the Yorkshire Symphony Orchestra and the Leeds Musical Festival , of which the Princess was patron . On 28 March 1965, she was walking the grounds of Harewood when she suffered a fatal heart attack. Her elder son, Lord Harewood , the 7th earl, succeeded his father in 1947, and resided at Harewood. He was director of
8600-464: The season: Grouse shooting in Scotland , pheasant shooting and fox hunting in England. The Earl of Rosebery , for instance, had Dalmeny House in Scotland, Mentmore Towers in Buckinghamshire, and another house near Epsom just for the racing season. For many, this way of life, which began a steady decline in 1914, continued well into the 20th century, and for a few continues to this day. In
8700-444: The second category of Britain's country houses are those that belonged to the squirearchy or landed gentry . These tend either to have evolved from medieval hall houses, with rooms added as required, or were purpose-built by relatively unknown local architects. Smaller, and far greater in number than the "power houses", these were still the epicentre of their own estate, but were often the only residence of their owner. However, whether
8800-514: The size of the complex. The auditorium itself remained, but well over half of the complex is new. The design team was led by Jeremy Dixon and Edward Jones of Dixon Jones BDP as architects. The acoustic designers were Rob Harris and Jeremy Newton of Arup Acoustics. The building engineer was Arup with Stanhope as developer. The new building has the same traditional horseshoe-shaped auditorium as before, but with greatly improved technical, rehearsal, office, and educational facilities. Additionally,
8900-404: The theatre; many of his operas and oratorios were written for that venue or had their first London performances there. He bequeathed his organ to John Rich, and it was placed in a prominent position on the stage. It was among many valuable items lost in a fire that destroyed the theatre on 20 September 1808. In 1792 the architect Henry Holland rebuilt the auditorium; he expanded its capacity within
9000-493: The true English country house. Wilton House , one of England's grandest houses, is in a remarkably similar vein; although, while the Drydens, mere squires, at Canons Ashby employed a local architect, at Wilton the mighty Earls of Pembroke employed the finest architects of the day: first Holbein , 150 years later Inigo Jones, and then Wyatt followed by Chambers. Each employed a different style of architecture, seemingly unaware of
9100-476: The two companies, competition was intense, and the companies often presented the same plays at the same time. Rich introduced pantomime to the repertoire, performing himself, under the stage name John Lun , as Harlequin . A tradition of seasonal pantomime continued at the modern theatre until 1939. In 1734, the theatre presented its first ballet, Pygmalion . Marie Sallé discarded tradition and her corset and danced in diaphanous robes. George Frideric Handel
9200-475: The use of spotlights to highlight performers on the stage. The Theatres Act 1843 broke the patent theatres' monopoly of drama. At that time Her Majesty's Theatre in the Haymarket was the main centre of ballet and opera but after a dispute with the management in 1846 Michael Costa , conductor at Her Majesty's, transferred his allegiance to Covent Garden, bringing most of the company with him. The auditorium
9300-448: The war but, following lengthy negotiations, the music publishers Boosey & Hawkes acquired the lease of the building. David Webster was appointed General Administrator, and Sadler's Wells Ballet was invited to become the resident ballet company. The Covent Garden Opera Trust was created and laid out plans "to establish Covent Garden as the national centre of opera and ballet, employing British artists in all departments, wherever that
9400-520: Was a popular genre of English detective fiction in the 1920s and 1930s; set in the residence of the gentry and often involving a murder in a country house temporarily isolated by a snowstorm or similar with the suspects all at a weekend house party. Following the Industrial Revolution of the 18th century, a third category of country houses was built as newly rich industrialists and bankers were eager to display their wealth and taste. By
9500-535: Was acquired by the Opera House in 1977 and used as storage space. The redevelopment of the Floral Hall as part of the 1990s redevelopment project involved lifting up the cast iron structure to accommodate new public areas for the opera house underneath. The southern side of the hall now connected with another building, so the cast iron south portico was dismantled and rebuilt in Borough Market , where it
9600-550: Was carried by his actors in procession into the building for its inaugural production of William Congreve 's The Way of the World . During its first century, the theatre was operated primarily as a playhouse, with the Letters Patent granted by Charles II giving the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden and Theatre Royal, Drury Lane exclusive rights to present spoken drama in London. Despite the frequent interchangeability between
9700-569: Was completely remodeled after an 1856 fire, during the following 1856–57 seasons, the company performed at the Lyceum Theatre . The theatre reopened as the Royal Italian Opera on 6 April 1857 with a performance of Rossini 's Semiramide . In 1852, Louis Antoine Jullien the French eccentric composer of light music and conductor presented an opera of his own composition, Pietro il Grande . Five performances were given of
9800-488: Was named musical director of the company at Lincoln's Inn Fields in 1719, but his first season of opera for the theatre was not presented until 1734. His first opera was Il pastor fido , followed by Ariodante (1735), and the première of Alcina , and Atalanta the following year. In 1743 there was a royal performance of Messiah ; its success resulted in a tradition of Lenten oratorio performances. From 1735 until his death in 1759, Handel gave regular seasons at
9900-422: Was to predominate until the second half of the 18th century when, influenced by ancient Greek styles, it gradually evolved into the neoclassicism championed by such architects as Robert Adam . Some of the best known of England's country houses were the work of only one architect/designer, built in a relatively short, particular time: Montacute House , Chatsworth House , and Blenheim Palace are examples. While
10000-504: Was used as a filming location for the 1991 comedy film King Ralph . Since 1996, part of the estate has been developed as the village in the ITV soap opera Emmerdale , which had been based in two different Yorkshire villages since its inception 24 years earlier. Rock musician Elton John performed two concerts in the grounds in 1999. The popular show Victoria from ITV starring Jenna Coleman and Tom Hughes has filmed at Harewood House. On 1 July 2006, Irish vocal pop band Westlife held
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