Editing Calke Abbey

{{Short description|Grade I listed country house in England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2023}}
{{Infobox building
| name             = Calke Abbey
| image            = Calke Abbey front.jpg
| image_size       = 300px
| caption          = Facade of Calke Abbey (May 2014)
| former_names     = 
| alternate_names  = 
| map_type         = Derbyshire
| map_alt          = 
| map_caption      = Location within Derbyshire
| map_dot_label    = Calke Abbey
| map_dot_mark     = UK Tourist Sign T101 - National Trust property.svg
| building_type    = 
| architectural_style = [[Neoclassical architecture|Neoclassical]], [[Baroque]]
| location         = [[Ticknall]], [[Derbyshire]]
| owner            = [[Harpur Baronets]] (Harpur and Harpur Crewe Families)
[[National Trust]]
| location_country = [[England]], [[United Kingdom]]
| coordinates      = {{coord|52|47|59|N|1|27|21|W|region:GB|display=inline,title}}
| altitude         = 
| architect        = 
| structural_engineer = 
| services_engineer = 
| civil_engineer   = 
| other_designers  = 
| quantity_surveyor = 
| main_contractor  = 
| website          = https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/calke-abbey
| construction_start_date = 1701
| completion_date  = 1704
| awards           = 
| parking          = 
| url              = 
| references       = 
| embedded         = {{Designation list
 | embed = yes
 | designation1 = Grade I
 | designation1_offname = Calke Abbey
 | designation1_date = 2 September 1952
 | designation1_number = 1031839<ref name="NHLE1031839">{{NHLE |num=1031839 |desc=Calke Abbey |grade=I |access-date=29 March 2019}}</ref>
 | designation2 = Historic garden
 | designation2_date = 4 August 1984
 | designation2_number = 1000676<ref name="NHLE1000676">{{NHLE |num=1000676 |desc=Calke Abbey |grade=II* |fewer-links=yes |access-date=29 March 2019}}</ref> }}
}}
'''Calke Abbey''' is a [[Grade I listed building|Grade I listed]] [[English country house|country house]] near [[Ticknall]], [[Derbyshire]], England, in the care of the charitable [[National Trust]].

The site was an [[Augustinians|Augustinian]] [[priory]] from the 12th century until its [[Dissolution of the Monasteries|dissolution]] by [[Henry VIII]]. The present building, named Calke Abbey in 1808, was never actually an [[abbey]], but is a [[Baroque]] mansion built between 1701 and 1704.

The house was owned by the [[Harpur Baronets|Harpur family]] for nearly 300 years until it was passed to the Trust in 1985 in lieu of [[Inheritance tax|death duties]]. Today, the house is open to the public and many of its rooms are [[Arrested decay|deliberately displayed in the state of decline]] in which the house was handed to the Trust.

==History==
[[File:Walled Garden At Calke Abbey - geograph.org.uk - 1155739.jpg|thumb|The garden]]
[[File:Wenceslas Hollar - Seals of the Le Harpur family.jpg|thumb|Seals of the Le Harpur family by [[Wenceslas Hollar]]]]
'''Calke Priory''' was founded by [[Richard d'Avranches, 2nd Earl of Chester]] some time between 1115 and 1120 and was dedicated to [[St Giles]]; d'Avranches had inherited from [[Hugh d'Avranches, 1st Earl of Chester|his father]] vast estates in both England and [[Normandy]], of which Calke and many of the surrounding villages were part. The Priory was initially an independent community, but after the death of [[Ranulf de Gernon, 4th Earl of Chester]] in 1153, it (along with most of his [[Derbyshire]] estates) became part of the [[dowry]] of his widow, [[Maud of Gloucester, Countess of Chester|Maud of Gloucester]]. Maud initially granted nearby [[St. Wystan's Church, Repton]] to the canons at Calke Priory, but subsequently had a new priory, dedicated to the Holy Trinity, built at [[Repton]]. In 1172 she moved the Canons from Calke to the new [[Repton Priory]], with Calke then becoming a subordinate "cell" to Repton Priory.{{sfn|Garnett|2002}}

Nothing is known of the priory during the 14th and 15th centuries; however, historian Oliver Garnett suggests the priory may have served more as the centre of an agricultural estate than as a religious establishment during this time.{{sfn|Garnett|2002}}

During the [[Dissolution of the Monasteries]] of 1536 – 1541, Repton, along with other monasteries whose income was £200 or less, failed to escape the first wave and was dissolved in 1536.{{sfn|Page|1907}} A reinstatement was possible through the payment of a fine and on 12 June 1537, Repton was reinstated, at a cost of £266 13s 4d.{{sfn|Page|1907}} A loan to cover this huge amount was made possible by John Preste (Prest and other variations), a [[Worshipful Company of Grocers|Master Grocer]] of London, for which he received from Prior John Young a 99-year lease dated 31 August 1537 for Calke Priory with various lands and permissions, stating 59 years being prepaid to reflect the amount lent.<ref>{{cite web |title=Lease by Repton Priory to John Prest of the cell of Calke 1537 |url=https://www.derbyshire.gov.uk/leisure/record-office/records/catalogue/catalogue.aspx |website=Derbyshire Record Office |publisher=Harpur Crewe family of Calke Abbey}}</ref> This lease appeared to secure Calke’s future but on 25 October 1538 Repton Priory was surrendered for the second and final time, and the freehold of Calke transferred back to the Crown.{{sfn|Page|1907}} 

===Post-Dissolution===

When Repton was dissolved in 1538 John Preste relocated from London to Calke along with his family for safety. He remained until [[Thomas Cromwell]] was beheaded in 1540. During this time John converted Calke Priory into a Tudor house and his family remained at Calke Manor until his death in October 1546.<ref>{{cite web |title=Taxation list (lay subsidy) for the Hundred of Repton and Gresley |url=https://calmview.derbyshire.gov.uk/calmview/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&id=D77%2f5%2f1%2f1&pos=1 |website=Derbyshire Record Office |publisher=Gresley family of Drakelow |access-date=8 March 2023}}</ref> In his will John left the remainder of the 99-year lease for Calke, which included the Tudor manor, to his youngest daughter Frances, aged about 8 years, with his wife Alice having custody and acting as guardian until Frances became of age or married. It stipulated that if Alice remained at Calke she was obliged to pay rent and cover the necessary repairs. A further condition stated that the lease was for Frances and her heirs only – meaning when she later married William Bradbourne in 1557, he was not allowed to take ownership of Calke, as was normal practice in Tudor times.<ref>{{cite web |title=Will of John Preiste or Preist of Calke, Derbyshire |url=https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D950777 |website=The National Archives |access-date=8 March 2023}}</ref>

In January 1547 Alice married [[Richard Blackwell (MP)|Richard Blackwell]], lawyer of the [[Inner Temple]], London and ignoring the fact that the legal owner of the lease was Frances, took everything of value as his ‘by rights of marriage to Alice'.<ref>{{cite web |title=Blackwell, Richard (by 1517-68), of the Inner Temple, London and Calke, Derbys |url=http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1509-1558/member/blackwell-richard-1517-68 |website=www.historyofparliamentonline.org |publisher=The History of Parliament Trust |access-date=8 March 2023}}</ref> He named himself as Calke’s owner in Queen Elizabeth’s Pardon Rolls in 1559<ref>{{cite web |title=Calendar of the pardon rolls preserved in the Public Record Office. Elizabeth I. |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=msu.31293027026461&view=1up&seq=201 |website=Hathi Trust |publisher=Public Record Office, Great Britain |access-date=12 March 2023 |page=189 |date=1560}}</ref> and in his will Richard referred to Calke Manor as the 'Chief Mansion House'.<ref>{{cite web |title=Will of Richard Blackwall of Calke, Derbyshire |url=https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D957478 |website=The National Archives |access-date=8 March 2023}}</ref> Meanwhile the freehold of Calke was granted by King [[Edward VI]] to [[John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland|John Dudley, Earl of Warwick]] (later Duke of Northumberland), for services in Scotland. Due to the 99-year lease already in place for Calke, nothing was to be gained from this freehold, so he sold it on to [[John Beaumont (judge)|John Beaumont of Grace Dieu]] and his sons [[Francis Beaumont (MP)|Francis]] and Henry Beaumont.<ref>{{cite web |title=Deeds and related documents relating to the Calke Estate |url=https://calmview.derbyshire.gov.uk/calmview/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&id=D2375%2fD%2fD%2f12%2f12&pos=1 |website=Derbyshire Record Office |publisher=Harpur Crewe family of Calke Abbey |access-date=8 March 2023}}</ref>

Following the death of Richard Blackwell in 1568 (Alice having died in 1561) his executors retained the lease, despite the fact that it had been awarded to Frances in her father's will. Her death in 1572, without any heirs, precipitated a court battle about the rightful ownership until 1573/4, when lawyer Richard Wendsley achieved a settlement to enjoy the lease under the title of John Smyth and Grace (nee Prest).<ref>{{cite web |title=Deed of conveyance by Robert Bainbrigge, esquire, to Henry Harpur, esquire, of the manor of Calke and lands at Calke, Ticknall, Melbourne, Kings Newton, Stanton and Repton, with sale agreement |url=https://calmview.derbyshire.gov.uk/calmview/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&id=D2375%2fD%2fD%2f12%2f19&pos=1 |website=Derbyshire Record Office |publisher=Harpur Crewe family of Calke Abbey |access-date=15 March 2023}}</ref> In 1585 Wendsley defaulted on loans made by Robert Bainbridge, three-time MP for Derby, linked to the freehold and the leasehold of Calke, so Robert Bainbridge became the rightful legal owner of Calke. A final settlement was made to John Reames (Grace’s 2nd husband) and Grace to release their connection to Calke.<ref>{{cite web |title=Deeds and related documents relating to the Calke Estate |url=https://calmview.derbyshire.gov.uk/calmview/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&id=D2375%2fD%2fD%2f12%2f12&pos=1 |website=Derbyshire Record Office |publisher=Harpur Crewe family of Calke Abbey |access-date=8 March 2023}}</ref>

Robert Bainbridge was an avowed Protestant who was imprisoned in 1586 in the Beauchamp Tower of the [[Tower of London]] for refusing to accept [[Elizabethan Religious Settlement|Elizabeth I's Church Settlement]], and may have chosen to live at Calke as the parish was not under the control of a bishop.{{sfn|Garnett|2002}} He requested that his body be laid to rest in the vault he had built in St. Giles Church. Following Robert's death, Calke passed to his son Robert Bainbridge Jr, who sold the estate in 1622 to Sir Henry Harpur for £5,350.

The Tudor manor forms the core of the house that exists today, and parts are still visible within the house's courtyard. Little was known about how Calke Manor looked until repair work on the current house was undertaken by the National Trust in 1988. The house was built around a courtyard with the south range serving as the entrance front, with a gatehouse; two projections in the foundations at the northeast and northwest reveal the locations of 2 stair-turrets. The work also revealed a later 17th-century arcaded [[loggia]] which were built next to both the stair-turrets. The east and west ranges of this house were not parallel; something that has distinctly affected the shape and layout of the current house. This discrepancy could either reflect the different phases of construction within the Tudor house or the layout and alignment of the walls of the original priory buildings.{{sfn|Garnett|2002}}

===The Harpurs===

In 1622 the estate was bought by [[Harpur Baronets|Sir Henry Harpur, 1st baronet (c. 1579–1639)]]. The Harpur family had become established in the middle of the previous century; descendants of Richard Harpur who was a successful lawyer who had risen to become a judge at the [[Court of Common Pleas (England)|Court of Common Pleas]] at [[Westminster]] and then Chief Justice of the [[County Palatine of Lancaster]]. He and his descendants acquired, through wealth and marriage, estates in [[Staffordshire]] (centred on [[Alstonfield]]) and [[Derbyshire]] (centred on [[Swarkestone]]).{{sfn|Garnett|2002}}

The house was rebuilt by [[Harpur Baronets|Sir John Harpur]], 4th baronet (1680–1741) between 1701 and 1704.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://bygonederbyshire.co.uk/articles/Calke_Abbey |title=Calke Abbey |publisher=ByGone Derbyshire |archive-date=30 July 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090730055247/http://bygonederbyshire.co.uk/articles/Calke_Abbey |access-date=2 February 2018}}</ref> The house and estate were owned by successive Harpur baronets and were ultimately inherited by [[Sir Vauncey Harpur-Crewe, 10th Baronet]] (1846–1924), 10th (and last) baronet who was devoted to his vast collections of natural history assembled by the Harpurs and Harpur Crewes of Calke Abbey between 1793 and 1924.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Brewster |first1=Lindy |date=1997 |title=The Harpur Crewe Collection of Natural History at Calke Abbey, Derbyshire |url=https://academic.oup.com/jhc/article/9/1/131/767401 |journal=Journal of the History of Collections |volume=9 |issue=1 |pages=131-138 |doi=10.1093/jhc/9.1.131 |access-date=September 18, 2024}}</ref> When he died, his eldest daughter, [[Hilda Harpur Crewe]] (1877–1949) sold some of his collection of birds, butterflies and fishes to pay death duties. She was succeeded by her nephew, Charles Jenney (1917–81), who was the eldest son of Frances Harpur Crewe, the fourth daughter of Sir Vauncey.  Charles changed his name to Charles Harpur-Crewe.  His sudden death in 1981 led to crippling [[Inheritance tax|death duties]] (£8m of an estate worth £14m) and in 1985 the estate was transferred to the [[National Trust]] by his younger brother Henry Harpur-Crewe (1921–91).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.savebritainsheritage.org/achievement/item/16/Calke-Abbey-Derbyshire |title=Calke Abbey, Derbyshire |publisher=SAVE Britain's Heritage |access-date=2 February 2018}}</ref>

=== National Trust ownership ===
[[File:Down the Garden Path - geograph.org.uk - 1275000.jpg|thumb|Down the Garden Path]]
Set in the midst of a [[Landscape garden|landscape park]], Calke Abbey is presented by the [[National Trust]] as an illustration of the [[English country house]] in decline. At its time of endowment, there had been little change to many rooms since the 1880s. A massive amount of remedial work but no restoration has been done and interiors are almost as they were found in 1985, so the decay of the building and its interiors has been halted but not reversed.{{sfn|Barber|2016|p=23}}

== Estate ==
The Trust manages the surrounding landscape park with an eye to nature conservation. It contains such features as a [[walled garden]], with a flower garden and a former physic garden, now managed as a [[kitchen garden]]. The ancient deer park of the Calke Abbey Estate is a designated [[Site of Special Scientific Interest]]<ref name="sssi">{{cite web|title=SSSI citation: Calke Park|publisher=Natural England|url={{sssi link|1005792}}|access-date=19 August 2013}}</ref> and [[national nature reserves in England|national nature reserve]],<ref name="nnr">{{cite web |url=http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/ourwork/conservation/designations/nnr/1082721.aspx |title=Calke Park NNR |publisher=Natural England |access-date=19 August 2013}}</ref> particularly noted for its rare [[wood pasture]] habitat and associated deadwood invertebrate fauna. The estate is also listed at Grade II* on the [[Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England|National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens]].<ref name="NHLE1000676" />

To the side of the house is a large quadrangle of buildings forming the old stable yard and farm, complete with old carriages and farm implements. The outbuildings incorporate a brewhouse that is linked to the main house by a tunnel.{{sfn|Barber|2016|p=49}}

The limestone quarries on the estate near [[Ticknall]] are the end point of the railway that took limestone to the [[Ashby Canal]] at Willesley basin and one of the tunnels can be seen restored and running under the drive. It closed in 1915.{{sfn|Barber|2016|p=62}}

==See also==
*[[Grade I listed buildings in Derbyshire]]
*[[Listed buildings in Calke]]

==Gallery==
<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px" perrow="5">
File:Calke Abbey - geograph.org.uk - 1428133.jpg|Calke Abbey
File:Ha-ha at Calke Abbey - geograph.org.uk - 1428143.jpg|The [[ha-ha]] at Calke Abbey  
Image:Middle Lodge, Calke Park - geograph.org.uk - 277877.jpg|Middle Lodge (one of the gatehouses)
Image:Ticknall Lodge - geograph.org.uk - 277876.jpg|[[Ticknall]] Lodge (another gatehouse)
Image:The Library, Calke Abbey.jpg|The [[Library]]
File:The Breakfast Room , Calke Abbey.jpg|The Dining Room
File:The Dining Room , Calke Abbey.jpg|The Dining Room
File:Portable Shower , Calke Abbey.jpg|Portable shower
File:Main Staircase , Calke Abbey.jpg|Main staircase, Calke Abbey
Image:Walled garden at Calke Abbey.JPG|The Walled Garden and Head Gardener's House
Image:The Stables, Calke Abbey - geograph.org.uk - 280501.jpg|The Stables
File:Interior, Calke Abbey Stables - geograph.org.uk - 494096.jpg|Interior, Calke Abbey stables  
Image:Calke Abbey Church - geograph.org.uk - 1704728.jpg|St. Giles's Church; Calke Abbey's private chapel
File:Fireplace in the Butlers pantry , Calke Abbey.jpg|Fireplace in the Butler's Pantry

</gallery>

==References==
{{Reflist|33em}}

==Sources==
{{refbegin|30em}}
*{{cite book 
|last1=Barber 
|first1=Andrew 
|title=Calke Abbey, Derbyshire : a Souvenir Guide 
|date=2016 
|location=Rotherham 
|isbn=978-1-84359-551-9
|oclc=956969447
}}
*{{cite book 
|last1=Garnett 
|first1=Oliver 
|title=Calke Abbey, Derbyshire 
|date=2002 
|publisher=National Trust 
|location=London 
|isbn=9781843590361
}}
*{{cite book 
|last1=Page 
|first1=William 
|title=The Victoria History of the Counties of England. A History of the County of Derby 
|date=1907 
|location=London 
|pages=58–63 
|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=40125 
|access-date=7 March 2023
}}
{{refend}}

== Further reading ==
*{{cite book
 |last1=Cook
 |first1=Noel
 |title=How John Preste and the 99 year lease of 1537, saved Calke for us today: or the story of Calke Manor ownership from 1536 to 1623 as per currently located documents.
 |date=2021 
|url=https://calmview.derbyshire.gov.uk/calmview/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&id=LS%2f9%2f4%2f2%2f5%2f1%2fC%2fCALK%2f2021-C21358400(BK)&pos=1 |ref=942.51CAL
}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
*[https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/calke-abbey Calke Abbey information at National Trust]

{{Derbyshire Places of interest}}
{{Monasteries in Derbyshire |state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1704 establishments in England]]
[[Category:Houses completed in 1704]]
[[Category:Gardens in Derbyshire]]
[[Category:Augustinian monasteries in England]]
[[Category:Monasteries in Derbyshire]]
[[Category:Country houses in Derbyshire]]
[[Category:National Trust properties in Derbyshire]]
[[Category:Grade I listed buildings in Derbyshire]]
[[Category:Historic house museums in Derbyshire]]
[[Category:Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Derbyshire]]
[[Category:Grade I listed houses]]
[[Category:Grade II* listed parks and gardens in Derbyshire]]
[[Category:South Derbyshire District]]
[[Category:Monasteries dissolved under the English Reformation]]