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Wimpole Hall
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Wimpole Hall (North Elevation)
Photograph © National Trust |
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| The Hall, Wimpole Estate and Wimpole
Home Farm are open to the public. For general visitor information,
we suggest the National Trust's own site www.wimpole.org
as follows: |
Wimpole Hall
Title page with links to details on the Hall, Park, Home Farm and
Gardens, plus helpful information for visitors. |
Events
on the Wimpole Estate
Details of concerts and events held on the Wimpole Estate throughout
the year. |
Old
Laundry Gallery
Details of art exhibitions held at the Old Laundry Gallery throughout
the year. |
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If you are looking for local information and parish history associated
with Wimpole Hall, then you could try some of the following pages
and links:
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The Yorke Family
(New Page!)
This is a reference page giving basic biographical
details of the principal members of the Yorke Family, taking the
lineage down through the five Earls of Hardwicke who owned Wimpole
Hall from 1740 to 1894. Thirty members of the Yorke family are buried
in Wimpole Parish Church. This page links to portraits, accounts
of deaths, obituaries, monuments and monumental inscriptions.
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The Harwicke Family Vault
underneath the Chicheley Chapel |
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Hardwicke Family Vault
(Rebuilt Page)
A general description of the vault
which is located under the Chicheley Chapel. The page includes a
1985 photograph and a transcription of the nine coffin plates. Among
those interred in the vault are the Rt. Hon. Charles Philip Yorke
(4th Earl of Hardwicke), Admiral Sir Joseph Sydney Yorke, KCB, the
Ven. Henry Reginald Yorke, Archdeacon of Huntingdon and the
Rt. Hon. Charles Philip Yorke, First Lord of the Admiralty.
Although St Andrew's Parish Church stands
close to Wimpole Hall, the Church and the Hardwicke Family Vault
are wholly independent from the National Trust.
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Monuments in the Chicheley Chapel,
Wimpole. |
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Chicheley Chapel
(New Page!)
A history of the Chapel (or Chantry) and
descriptions of the main religious monuments. Famous people buried
at Wimpole include at least two Lord Mayors of London, two Lord
Chancellors, four Earls, Knights, an Admiral, an Archdeacon, the
daughter of Rudyard Kipling and Lady Savile who was the heroine
of the siege of Sheffield Castle during the English Civil War. Although
St Andrew's Parish Church stands close to Wimpole Hall, the Church
and the Chicheley Chapel are wholly independent from the National
Trust.
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| St Andrew's Parish Church |
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St Andrews Church, Wimpole |
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St Andrew's Parish Church
(Rebuilt Page)
A brief history of the building with some early
photographs, descriptions of the main monuments and a note on the
rare set of 'hound sejant' Communion Plate presented to the Church
in 1679.
Although St Andrew's Parish Church stands close to Wimpole
Hall, the Church is wholly independent from the National Trust.
It is a living Parish Church within the Orwell Group of Parishes,
and holds services on the first and third Sundays of each month.
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The Churchyard.
St Andrew's Parish Church |
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Parish
Churchyard (Rebuilt
Page)
Index of burials (1710-2003) and the location of known graves of those
buried in the churchyard of St Andrew's Parish Church, Wimpole (also
known as the 'Old Wimpole Cemetery'). Includes monumental inscriptions,
details of unmarked graves and those buried in the church vaults.
Although St Andrew's Parish Church stands close to Wimpole Hall, the
Church and Churchyard are wholly independent from the National Trust. |
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Wimpole Rectory c1925 |
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"Wimpole
As I Knew It"
A wonderful and nostalgic essay written in 1914 by
Alexander Campbell Yorke, Rector of Fowlmere, 5th son of H R Yorke
(brother of the 4th Earl of Hardwicke); the author was then a man
of 62 and remembering his childhood at Wimpole Rectory (above)
from 1852 to 1871. An absolute gem. The feature includes a biographical
note written by David Ellison. |
| Queen Victoria's Visit 1843 |
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Queen Victoria aged 24 |
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"When Queen Victoria
Visited"
A short adaptation by David Ellison of reports
about the visit of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert to Wimpole Hall
as published in the "Cambridge Chronicle" (issues for
28 October and 4 November 1843).
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Wimpole
Park (Arrington Site)
There is a large flat area of arable
pasture on the Wimpole Estate situated just inside the Arrington Gates.
From 1944 to 1960, Wimpole Park as it became named, was host in turn
to an American Hospital treating army casualties of war, an experimental
teacher training college, a squatters camp, a community school, emergency
local authority housing, and lastly a US Air Force Hospital best remembered
for being the 'place-of-birth' for hundreds of Americans. This is
just some of the story.... |
| 323rd Bomb Squadron Memorial |
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(right) "Delta Rebel No 2"
and crew
Includes a certain Mr Clark Gable who flew "a couple"
of missions from the base on this aircraft. |
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323rd Bomb
Squadron Memorial (Rebuilt Page)
Between 1942 and 1945, American B-17 'Flying Fortress'
bombers from the Bassingbourn airbase were parked and concealed within
the 'South Avenue', a wide double row of mature elm trees that stretched
for two miles across the Wimpole estate. The memorial at the 'base'
of the avenue is dedicated to the airmen and aircraft of the 323rd
Bomb Squadron. The page includes a transcription of the Memorial and
photographs of some of the aircraft and a wartime view of the Avenue. |
Early
Photographs
A small selection of early photographs of Wimpole Hall and the Estate
1900-1920. |
| Recent Estate Photographs |
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Wimpole Hall c1855 |
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Wimpole
Hall Print (Rebuilt Page)
A c1875 engraving showing Wimpole Hall around 1855. Includes
text from the illustrated book "A Series of Picturesque Views of Seats
of the Noblemen & Gentlemen of Great Britain and Ireland" by F.O.
Morris (pub c1860). |
| Wimpole Hall Bibliography |
| Charles Philip Yorke - A Memoir |
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Charles Philip Yorke
A Memoir by his Daughter the Lady Biddulph of Ledbury |
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"A
Memoir" (Free ebook)
"Charles Philip Yorke - Fourth Earl Of Hardwicke - Vice-Admiral
R.N. - A Memoir by his Daughter [Elizabeth] the Lady Biddulph of
Ledbury - dedicated to his grandchildren" is now available
online as a free ebook from Project Gutenberg at Fourth
Earl of Hardwicke. If you have problems with this direct link
go to http://www.gutenberg.net
and run a title word search on 'Hardwicke'. The book is something
of an idealised and uncritical biography (perhaps the significant
clue here is "daughter" and "grandchildren")
but the book includes a fascinating and detailed account (mainly
in his own words) of the 4th Earl's active life in the Royal Navy.
You can read the book online or download for study.
A download into "Word" will take up about 650 KB and it
opens in approximately 214 pages.
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