In 1740 Lord Hardwicke Philip Yorke purchased Wimpole. The architect Henry Flitcroft was employed to convert Harley’s cabinet rooms into the long gallery. The Long Gallery exists today, although it is not an exact time capsule of Lord Hardwicke, as there are columns that have been added by a later owner. The church, built during the time of Hardwicke is not part of the National Trust, but stands as a time capsule of that period. His professional landscape designer Robert Greening created a large green lawn bordered by clumps of trees and shrubs. The 1st Earl of Hardwicke also created the Gothic Tower, which is an exact time capsule of the 1st Earls period of time.
In 1764 the 1st Earl’s son, also called Philip Yorke became the 2nd Earl of Hardwicke. During his period of ownership the gardens were transformed by Lancelot “Capability” Brown into a more “natural” landscape. He dug up areas and moved them to different sites on the estate, to create a natural hilly landscape This has been a lasting legacy of that time. The National Trust has been especially successful in preserving Brown’s look.
In 1790 the 2nd Earl died and he had no sons, so his nephew inherited Wimpole.
The 3rd Earl of Hardwicke employed the architect Sir John Soane, who had one of the greatest influences on Wimpole. He created a Home Farm with its thatched buildings, recently restored by the National Trust. As a time capsule it is highly successful, apart from modern machines essential for modern day farming. Inside the hall Soane also created the Yellow Drawing Room, with its magnificent dome. Today this is a perfect time capsule of The 3rd Earl. The bathhouse with its plunge pool, restored by the National Trust in 1980 is another perfect time capsule. The 3rd Earl made several changes to the gardens.
In 1834 the 4th Earl of Hardwicke succeeded his uncle. The South Front is an exact time capsule of this period, as he added the large chimney stack, front porch, and statue of Charity that all remain today. He employed Henry Kendall to add huge new wings with towers were added to the side, a conservatory to the west and a kitchen with a servant’s wing to the east. He also designed elaborate plaster ceilings for existing rooms. The conservatory and wings of the house were completely destroyed. The servants quarters still remain today, and are good time capsules of the 4th Earl, although they are not exact replicas, as they contain artefacts from another owner.
In 1873 the 5th Earl of Hardwicke inherited Wimpole. Charles Yorke (Champagne Charlie) led an extravagant lifestyle and gambled away most of his money. By the 1880's he was heavily in debt to the Agar Roberts Bank. In 1894 the 5th Earl of Hardwicke was forced to leave Wimpole, and the chairman of the Agar Roberts Bank took over The Estate. The 5th Earl is not represented because he made no changes, and sold everything in the house.
In 1938 George and Elsie Bambridge bought Wimpole Hall. Elsie was the daughter of Rudyard Kipling and used royalties from his books to pay for the refurbishment of the empty house. She got rid of Kendall’s Victorian wings. She collected many paintings, furniture and books, from her trips abroad, and these are displayed in the house today. For over forty years she was able to refurbish the house with pictures and furniture of her own choice based on travelling abroad, as well as objects associated with Wimpoles history. Most of the contents of the house today reflect Mrs Bambridges tastes and her bedroom and study are exact time capsules of her period of time. In 1976 Elsie Bambridge died leaving Wimpole Hall and it’s 2000-acre estate to the National Trust.
The National Trust has had major programmes of restoration on the house and stables. The Home Farm buildings were rescued and restored as centres of rare animal breeds. The Gothic Tower and Chinese Bridge were both rescued and cleaned. Many original pieces of furniture have been bought or donated from previous owners so it is not fully an interior time capsule of the Bambridges. Thorough investigations of the park have taken place revealing the layers of history, and contributions from every generation from the Chicheleys to the Bambridges.
Few rooms are exact time capsules of one particular owner, because each owner has left their mark in small ways, such as the paint on the ceiling or a change in the furniture. Most rooms have a variety of owners represented in them. For example The Great Staircase shows various legacies. The floral ceiling with garlands of fruit, was the original ceiling at the time of Chicheley. Lord Harley commissioned Gibbs to add the medallions of Roman philosophers to the walls. In about 1742 Flitcroft decorated the blank upper walls with more garlands. Then in the 1790s The 3rd Earl commissioned Soane to cut through the ceiling to make a domed skylight.
It is very difficult to recreate an exact time capsule of a room because the rooms have all been modified by later owners and changed through time. Only a few rooms really reflect one particular time and owner. An example is The Bath House, restored to about the 1790’s, designed by Soane for the 3rd Earl.
Many areas of Wimpole are time capsules for more than one owner of the estate. For example the Gothic Tower built by the 1st Earl existed during the ownership of all owners after the 1st Earl. So the Gothic Tower must also be a time capsule for the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th earl of Hardwicke and Elsie Bambridge.
It is not physically possible to have all the owners equally represented, as Wimpole can not be exactly split into nine separate parts. There are several reasons for this. There is a lack of evidence about what existed at the time of each owner. It is not possible to know exactly what was present during each time period, as it was not always recorded. An exception is Elsie Bambridge because Wimpole Hall was left to the National Trust exactly how she had left it. Also the 5th Earl of Hardwicke sold all the furniture of Wimpole, so much evidence was lost when he did this. Many valuable items were returned to the hall, but a lot of it was sold and never returned to Wimpole.
It is easier to create time capsules of the later owners of Wimpole, because it remains much the same as it was and few changes have been made to the estate since their time. It is a lot harder to create time capsules of the early owners of Wimpole because so many changes have been made to the hall and estate since they lived there. Furthermore some people such as the 3rd Earl of Hardwicke made many changes and alterations to the house and gardens, so it was easy to represent him in time capsules. However owners such as Lord Radnor made very few changes to the house so it is harder to represent time capsules of his period.
The National Trust is a charity and depends on the generosity of those who give it properties and donate money. Volunteers mainly run the trust. It has not been possible to achieve a perfect set of time capsules for Wimpole Hall, due to costs, time involved in research and evidence of previous times. The National Trust also has to consider health and safety regulations, as well as access for disabled visitors. Furthermore, to be able to recreate a piece of history from 200 years ago, you may have to destroy a piece of history from 100 years ago. Therefore it is often hard to decide which time period would be best to recreate, and often which time period would be easiest to recreate. It is difficult deciding whose fashion or style should be used.
In conclusion the National Trust has been quite successful in the time capsules already created, although few are exact. The public when visiting Wimpole Hall, have the opportunity to experience the influence of its owners at various points in time. The work of The National Trust goes on and they will in the future be able to develop further the balance they seem to have achieved in their recreation of historical times.
Sources of information I used to write my essay were The Wimpole Hall Guidebook, source sheets about Wimpole and The National Trust. A site visit and the Internet site; also helped me collect information for my essay.
Ellie Scofield