The history of Peckover

The back of Peckover House and Garden, Cambridgeshire | © National Trust Images/Jemma Finch

Peckover House in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire was built about 1722 in one of the great streetscapes of Georgian England: the North Brink. Set in a surprisingly large walled garden, rich in rare species, behind the house’s handsome but plain façade lies an elaborate and elegant interior of fine panelled rooms, ornate carving and plasterwork. The commercial and charitable activities of the Peckover family, who resided at the house for over 150 years, remain at the heart of the National Trust’s community partnership work to serve the people of Wisbech today.

Early History of Wisbech

Wisbech was part of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of East Anglia, and was recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in 656. The settlement grew around the tidal River Nene and became a prosperous inland port and market town. The streets to the north and south of the river, called North and South Brink, were gradually developed around mercantile and commercial activities.

Early History of Peckover House

In 1722, the house now known as Peckover House was built in three storeys of local amber and red brick. The identity of its builder is unknown – the first owner may have been Thomas Lake, a merchant declared bankrupt in 1727 – and it passed through various hands before its acquisition by the Southwell family, landowners and merchants, in 1752. Henry Southwell (1695–1763), left the house to his son, John (d. 1771), who in turn bequeathed it to his sister Mary (d. 1825), who married Sir James Eyre, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas (1734–99) in 1791. The Southwells were responsible for the outstanding plasterwork and carving of the interior.

The Peckovers of Wisbech

The Peckovers originated in Fakenham, Norfolk and were Quakers (the Religious Society of Friends), a Protestant Christian denomination which arose in mid-17th century England and emphasised the individual’s relationship with God and the equality of all people before God. In 1777, Jonathan Peckover (1754–1833) moved to Wisbech, establishing a grocery business on the High Street. In 1782, Jonathan was part of a partnership which established a local branch of Gurney, Birkbeck, Peckover and Buxton Bank. He married Susannah Payne (1762–1852) in 1787, and the couple bought the house on North Brink from the Southwells in 1794. The Bank occupied a purpose-built wing on the side of the house, which then became known as Bank House. Jonathan was responsible for the founding of the Wisbech Literary Society in 1781 and other philanthropic work in the town.

Wisteria on the front of Peckover House and Garden Cambridgeshire | © Louise Gardner

The next generation

This work continued in the next century, when the Peckover family fervently supported education, prison reform and the anti-slavery campaign of Wisbech local Thomas Clarkson. In addition, they contributed to the founding and upkeep of many of the town’s institutions, including local schools and hospitals.

Two of Jonathan’s sons, William (1790–1877) and Algernon (1801–93), continued the family banking business and their father’s involvement in Wisbech society. William, a bachelor, remained at Bank House until his death and was Treasurer of the Borough of Wisbech and a co-founder of the Wisbech and Fenland Museum in 1835. Algernon, who lived with his wife Priscilla Alexander (c. 1803–83) and eight children on the Brink in Sibalds Home, designed what is now Wisbech Grammar School and the Quaker Society of Friends’ Meeting House on the same street.

The Peckovers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries

Algernon’s eldest son, Alexander (1830–1919) was the next heir, and he and his wife Eliza (d. 1862) moved to Bank House on the death of his uncle. Alexander was created Baron Peckover of Wisbech in 1907, a title which died with him. He had retired from the banking business in 1894 (the bank was merged two years later with several other private banks to form Barclays Bank) and devoted his time to the study and acquisition of ancient manuscripts. He partly demolished the wing which had housed the Bank, replacing it in 1878 with two new wings, one of which housed a new library for his growing collection of early bibles, atlases and printed books. Alexander’s brother, Jonathan (1835–82), founded the Wisbech Social Club and Institute in 1864, which still exists today.

Priscilla Hannah (1833–1931), Alexander and Jonathan’s sister, was the longest-lived and arguably the most remarkable of that generation. She brought up her three nieces and travelled extensively with them, Algernon and Alexander across Britain, Europe and the Middle East. Like her father and brother she was a keen watercolourist and their collective albums are on display in the house today. Priscilla spoke 16 languages and played an active role in the ‘Peace Society’, editing a journal and funding, with her sister Algerina (1841–1927), the publication of The Bible in ‘Esperanto’. She was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize four times.

The Gardens

It was in the 19th century that the house’s gardens were developed in what is known as the ‘gardenesque’ style, which are now celebrated as one of the most important 19th century town gardens to survive. It retains its Victorian character and is surrounded by high walls and divided internally by walls, hedges and shrubs, creating distinct garden areas with their own character and name – such as the Rose Garden, Orangery and Orchard Lawn – that are linked by a serpentine walk and also feature the thatched Reed Barn. Several unusual and important trees including a Trachycarpus fortunei (Chusan palm) and a Gingko biloba (Maidenhair tree), are among the earliest of those species introduced into the country, and reflect the family’s travels and interest in botany.

a picture of the fruiting orange trees in the orangery at Peckover House. — Orange tree in the gardens at Peckover House | © National Trust Images/Mike Selby

The last generation

Electricity was introduced to Bank House in 1920 by the last family member - Baron Alexander’s daughter, Alexandrina (1860–1948) - to live there. Like the rest of her family, she supported charities, was a watercolourist, and was an intrepid traveller who is said to have climbed The Alps. In 1943, she gave land for playing fields before bequeathing the house and remaining estate to the National Trust.

The National Trust

The National Trust renamed the property Peckover House and, the house being largely empty, set about refurnishing it with furniture and objects bequeathed by generous benefactors, bought at auction or found in other National Trust furniture stores, mainly in the 18th century style. In recent years, this has been superseded by a desire to make the house more representative of the Peckover family’s taste across the full 150 years of their ownership. In 1998–9 the National Trust reconstructed one of the 19th century book presses in the Library and replicated the hand-blocked wallpaper with which the room was once lined. Significant loans and gifts of some of the original contents have gone some way to making the story of the learned, philanthropic and deeply religious Peckover family more explicit. Most recently, the Trust has transformed Reed Barn into a safe and welcoming environment for Community Groups.