History of Nostell

Expert curated

Oil painting on canvas of Sir Rowland Winn and his wife Sabine Louise d'Hervart in the library at Nostell Priory, by Hugh Douglas Hamilton RHA — Oil painting on canvas, Sir Rowland Winn, 5th Bt (1739 - 1785) and his Wife Sabine Louise d'Hervart (1734 -1798) by Hugh Douglas Hamilton RHA (Dublin 1739/40) | © National Trust Images/John Hammond

Nostell is built on the site of a small, ancient Roman settlement. It became an important medieval priory but closed in 1540 during the Dissolution of the Monasteries. In the 18th century, the Winn family transformed Nostell, commissioning leading architects and designers to create a new house befitting their social ambitions. Today, Nostell is celebrated for its Palladian architecture, interiors by James Paine and Robert Adam, and rich collection of furniture by Thomas Chippendale.

Early History

Nostell’s parkland contains traces of human activity stretching back many centuries. Archaeological excavations suggest there may have been a Roman settlement here. Later, the site became a Christian sanctuary, evolving during the early Middle Ages into an Augustinian priory dedicated to St Oswald, an Anglo-Saxon king of Northumbria and Christian martyr. At its peak, the priory was rich and powerful, owning extensive estates. Today, almost nothing of this building is visible.

Nostell Hall

Nostell Priory was closed in 1540 as part of the Dissolution of the Monasteries by Henry VIII. It passed to Dr Thomas Leigh (c.1511–55) who converted the main building into a new manor house. In 1567, Sir Thomas Gargrave (1495–1579) bought Nostell Hall. From Wakefield, Gargrave was one of the most powerful men in the north of England and a trusted servant of Elizabeth I.

The next generation of Gargraves were less successful. Thomas’s eldest son was hanged in York for murder and his younger brother gambled away the family fortune.

In 1654, the Winn family purchased Nostell after it had been in the ownership of two other families.

Ambitions for a new Nostell

Originally from North Wales, the Winns made their fortune as textile merchants in London. They invested money in land in North Lincolnshire before buying the Nostell estate in West Yorkshire.

By 1733, Sir Rowland Winn, 4th Baronet (1706–65), had the wealth to start building a new Nostell. His income came from his estates, his investments in the South Sea Company, and from the sale of land acquired from his mother, Letitia Harbord (1656–1722), and wife, Susannah Henshaw (d.1742).

Local architect Colonel James Moyser provided initial designs for the new house, which was built next to the old hall. Young architect James Paine oversaw the work and continued working on the stop-start project for over 30 years. Paine’s influence can be seen in the elaborate plasterwork, executed by Joseph Rose the elder, on the staircases and rooms such as the Dining Room.

Winn, who aspired to become Member of Parliament for Yorkshire, intended Nostell to be a grand house in which he could entertain and impress. Winn was never elected MP and the cost of the building work meant the house was far from complete by the time he died in 1765.

Robert Adam and Thomas Chippendale

Sir Rowland Winn, 5^th Baronet (1739–85) inherited Nostell in 1765 and lived there with his Swiss wife, Sabine d'Hervart (1734–98). With political ambitions of his own, the 5^th Baronet picked up the incomplete work of transforming Nostell with new vigour. He commissioned fashionable architect Robert Adam to oversee expanded plans for the house, and to introduce Neo-classical designs to the house, stables and wider parkland.

The Winns also employed leading craftsmen to work on Nostell’s interiors, including Antonio Zucchi, Joseph Rose the Younger and Thomas Chippendale. Chippendale’s work for Nostell is one of the most comprehensive and best documented collections to survive in England.

The 5^th Baronet borrowed heavily to realise his vision. He was politically unsuccessful and cashflow was an increasing problem. Progress was erratic and came to a halt with his sudden death in 1785.

Interior of the Top Hall at Nostell Priory, showing a high ceiling, chandelier, wooden floor and fireplace. — Detail of the Top Hall at Nostell Priory and Parkland, West Yorkshire. | © National Trust Images/Paul Barker

Charles Winn and the love of the past

At the turn of the 19^th century, Nostell was left a grand, but unfinished vision. Many rooms were undecorated and closed. A plan by Robert Adam for four new wings had got no further than the empty shell of one.

Rowland and Sabine’s daughter, Esther (1768-1803), eloped with the estate baker and was cut off by her mother. However, when her brother died unmarried in 1815, Esther’s sons inherited in turn.

Esther’s younger son, Charles Winn (1795–1874), was able to complete the existing house’s interior decoration, but had neither the money nor desire to complete the more ambitious plans of the previous century. Indeed, he described Nostell as ‘overgrown’ and a ‘burden’.

Charles’s real interest was in history. He bought much of the furniture, books, paintings and objects of antiquarian interest which are still a major feature of the house today. Charles also added ‘Priory’ to the name of the house, a reference to the monastery that had been on the site.

Money troubles once again caused problems, made worse by Charles’s spending and unsound land investments. By the 1850s, the family was earning over £10,000 a year from their estates, but their debts were ten times this and rising.

Rowland Winn, 1st Lord St Oswald and wealth from mining

Fortunately for the Winns, Charles’s son, Rowland (1820–93), was more of a businessman than his predecessors. He saw that underground assets – in particular ironstone in farmland around Scunthorpe – might be a valuable source of income in the industrial age. From the 1860s onwards, mining and its associated processes saved the family finances. This income also helped fund expensive investment in new transport links and deep coal mining around Nostell during the 1880s.

Rowland Winn’s business success finally brought the political success that had eluded the family for so long. In 1868 he was elected as Conservative MP for North Lincolnshire, later becoming Chief Whip and Chairman of the Yorkshire Conservative Associations. In 1885, as a reward for his services, he was made 1st Baron St Oswald, taking the name of the old priory.

Rowland used Nostell as an important social and political hub. He hosted influential guests in the house and political rallies and social events in the parkland. The house and stables were extensively upgraded, which included the introduction of electricity.

From home to heritage attraction

Rowland Winn was succeeded by his son, Rowland Winn, 2nd Lord St Oswald (1857–1919). In 1892 he married Mabel Forbes (1817–1919), whose family ran a banking and shipping firm based in India.

While the Winns remained wealthy by most standards, Nostell was an expensive house to maintain. There were significant social and economic changes after the Second World War, including the nationalisation of Nostell colliery in 1947 and increased taxation on the transfer of inherited wealth.

In 1951, Nostell’s house and garden opened to the public. Three years later, the house was transferred to the National Trust. In the 2010s, thanks to government aid, generous support from the National Lottery and other funders, and the cooperation of the Winn family, much of the house’s remaining contents came to the National Trust. The family archive transferred to Wakefield Archives.

Ownership of the stables, parkland and gardens also passed to the National Trust at this time, creating a country park that has become a much-loved community green space.