Toddington Manor, GloucestershireGloucestershire
England
History /
Gardens & Park / Movies
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| Toddington House was a Jacobean mansion (early 17th century), last occupied by Charles Hanbury-Tracy, after his marriage in 1798 to his cousin - the owner's daughter (Viscount Tracy of Rathcoole). It was partly destroyed by fire in 1800 and subsequently renovated, but was then attacked by dry rot. It was pulled down by Hanbury-Tracy once he moved into Toddington Manor (built nearby on higher ground to avoid the damp), but the central part of the gatehouse remains as a ruin and is listed as Grade II*. | ||||
| House Replaced By | ||||
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| Charles Hanbury-Tracy, 1st Lord Sudeley
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| House & Family History | ||||
| Built 1819-35 by and for Charles Hanbury-Tracy, 1st Lord Sudeley (1778-1858), who Chaired the Commission in 1836 that chose the design by Sir Charles Barry (1795-1860) for rebuilding the Houses of Parliament (supposedly based on the Toddington). Toddington was originally attributed to the architect Sir Charles Barry, but now the view is that Hanbury-Tracy was his own architect. Toddington cost £150,000 to build (equivalent to approximately £10 million in 2005 inflation-adjusted values). In 1798 Charles Hanbury married his cousin, Henrietta Tracy, only child and heiress of 8th (and last) Viscount Tracy of Rathcoole, owner of the Toddington estates, whereupon he changed his name to Hanbury-Tracy. The Sudeley family sold the house in 1901, after going bankrupt in 1894. During World War II Toddington housed soldiers. The Order/Congregation of Christian Brothers owned it from 1948 to 1972, as a noviciate and administrative headquarters. David Wickens (car auction entrepreneur) owned it from 1972-76, purchasing the Manor for about £3 million. The Avicenna Foundation (owner 1976-89) operated it as a £5,000-a-year school for students from the Middle East and Africa in the 1980s (until 1985). Between 1989 and 2005 Toddington was owned by an offshore investment company, Toddington Investments Ltd. (believed to be a Middle Eastern syndicate), which allowed it to fall into disrepair. The Manor (including the House, the Service Wing, and the Stables/Coach House, the later surrounded by a unique indoor vaulted horse riding track), together with 124 acres and 3 cottages, was listed for sale in September 2000 for £3.2 million. A planned purchase and £30 million redevelopment of Toddington into a luxury hotel (including a 200-bedroom modern extension and parking for 300 cars) by Warner Hotels was called off in August 2004 after opposition by local residents and conservationists. The 300-room Gothic-revival manor was purchased by 40-year-old British contemporary artist Damien Hirst in August 2005 for £3 million. Hirst intends to work, in cooperation with English Heritage, to restore the house to its former glory as a family home and museum to house his extensive collection of his own and other artists' work. The estimated cost of the restoration is £10 million. In June 2006 Hirst announced that the House was covered in scaffolding and had been treated for dry rot, and was to be left for 2 years, when the old roof will come off. The interior will need a lot of work, which could take 5 to 10 years, after which it will be opened to the public as a museum housing his art collection (currently 200 to 300 pieces). Hirst received £11,132,180 from Sotheby’s London auction of his closed Pharmacy restaurant's contents (Notting Hill Gate, London) on October 18, 2004. He came to prominence in 1995, when he won the Turner Prize for works including his 1993 "Mother and Child Divided," a half-sliced cow and calf in two formaldehyde-filled tanks. (We are grateful to Andrew Triggs and to Adam Stanford for the information on his Website [www.adam-stanford.co.uk] for contributing substantial information to this history of Toddington). | ||||
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Collections
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| A set of tapestries of the 4 seasons made for old Toddington House in 1611 by Ralph Sheldon of Warwickshire was purchased by the 2nd Marquess of Salisbury and is today in the collection of Hatfield House, where they are considered the finest English tapestries of their period. Heraldic stained glass from Lord Sudeley's collection was sold at auction in Munich on October 4, 1911. A collection of approximately 580 architectural drawings and related images for the construction of Toddington Manor, 1820-49 and 1862-76 (the property of Lord Sudeley, a descendant of the builder of Toddington) was auctioned at Christie's on Nov 16, 2005; the drawings sold for £33,600 to Damien Hirst, who purchased Toddington Manor itself in August of 2005. | ||||
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| Gardens
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| Garden, Park, Follies and Outbuildings | ||||
| Chapel & Church | ||||
| St. Andrew's Church (previously called St. Leonard's) is on the grounds of the Estate. | ||||
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| Movies
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| Location for Movies / TV | ||||
