Yorkshire Philosophical Society

Event Information

Wentworth Castle and Wentworth Woodhouse: Georgian rivals united through 21st-century restoration and public access.

Dr Patrick Eyres, Editor of the New Arcadian Journal

The family rivalry was both dynastic and political. Until the mid-1740s, the Wentworth Castle dynasty was superior in aristocratic rank and cultural display. It was once the Hanoverian monarchy was securely embedded, that the Whigs at Wentworth Woodhouse began to eclipse their Tory cousins in social status and estate embellishment. We are fortunate that the rivals are being united by the endeavours of charitable trusts to conserve as a public amenity this magnificent legacy of competitive country house building and landscape gardening.

Dr Patrick Eyres is editor of the unique, artist-illustrated New Arcadian Journal, which engages with the cultural politics of designed landscapes. He has published extensively on the Georgian landscapes of the rival Yorkshire Wentworths. He was on the board of the Wentworth Castle Heritage Trust, which was responsible for the restoration of the buildings, gardens and parkland.

Presentation held jointly for YPS and YANT (York Association of the National Trust) members.

Members will be sent a Zoom invitation a few days before the event.

Image: ‘Chris Broughton, Wentworth Woodhouse and distant Wentworth Castle (courtesy: New Arcadian Journal)’