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63-488: Southport Infirmary was the first hospital in Southport, it was constructed on Virginia Street in 1870 and opened in 1871 to accommodate six male patients and six female patients. It also had two sidewards by where patients with infectious diseases were isolated. The hospital proved so popular that a new site was sought for the construction of a new and bigger hospital. The Scarisbrick family who resided at Scarisbrick Hall gave

126-515: A five-acre site on which the Infirmary once stood. The foundation stone was laid on 27 October 1892 and the hospital opened on 26 September 1895. The buildings were erected at a total cost of £25,000 this then provided accommodation for 60 patients in the men's, women's and children's wards. In 1899, following expansion of the local area it served to include Ainsdale, the Infirmary merged with The Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital. The three years leading up to

189-428: A fortunate few; it was the centre of its own world, providing employment to hundreds of people in the vicinity of its estate . In previous eras, when state benefits were unheard of, those working on an estate were among the most fortunate, receiving secured employment and rent-free accommodation. At the summit of this category of people was the indoor staff of the country house. Unlike many of their contemporaries prior to

252-524: A mixture of high architecture , often as interpreted by a local architect or surveyor, and determined by practicality as much as by the whims of architectural taste. An example of this is Brympton d'Evercy in Somerset, a house of many periods that is unified architecturally by the continuing use of the same mellow, local Ham Hill stone . The fashionable William Kent redesigned Rousham House only to have it quickly and drastically altered to provide space for

315-466: A staff canteen and improvements to staff accommodation. Also a new Pharmacy, which allowed the overrun Outpatient and Casualty Department to be separated into two distinct departments. In 1963 saw the improvements and extensions to the theatre facilities and a new mortuary refrigeration unit was built. While in 1966 an automatic film processing unit was added to the X-ray Department. The first half of

378-686: Is a Grade I listed building and is on the Buildings at Risk Register . The cost of repairs to the building has been estimated at £2.46 million. Scenes from the Channel 4 series Utopia were filmed in late 2012 at Scarisbrick Hall. The Great Hall and Oak Room were featured in the series. An outdoor soccer match in the movie There's only one Jimmy Grimble (2000) was filmed in the grounds of Scarisbrick Hall. 53°36′23″N 2°55′16″W  /  53.6065°N 2.9210°W  / 53.6065; -2.9210 Country house An English country house

441-475: Is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house . This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these people, the term distinguished between town and country. However, the term also encompasses houses that were, and often still are, the full-time residence for the landed gentry who dominated rural Britain until

504-500: Is called a castle, but not all buildings with the name "castle" are fortified (for example Highclere Castle in Hampshire ). The term stately home is subject to debate, and avoided by historians and other academics. As a description of a country house, the term was first used in a poem by Felicia Hemans , "The Homes of England", originally published in Blackwood's Magazine in 1827. In

567-415: Is flanked on two sides by a still waterlogged moat , with the north-eastern arm formed by Eas Brook. This half-timbered, manor house is recorded in an early 13th-century deed. The area is protected by scheduled monument status. The Scarisbrick family lived on the site from 1238 until the house was sold in 1946 to become a training college. Parts of the present building, which is considered to be one of

630-473: Is politics; they talk politics; and they make politics, quite spontaneously. There are no written terms for distinguishing between vast country palaces and comparatively small country houses; the descriptive terms, which can include castle , manor and court , provide no firm clue and are often only used because of a historical connection with the site of such a building. Therefore, for ease or explanation, Britain's country houses can be categorised according to

693-502: The Reform Act 1832 . Frequently, the formal business of the counties was transacted in these country houses, having functional antecedents in manor houses . With large numbers of indoor and outdoor staff, country houses were important as places of employment for many rural communities. In turn, until the agricultural depressions of the 1870s , the estates, of which country houses were the hub, provided their owners with incomes. However,

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756-461: The 150 general beds the hospital already had. In 1943 the hospital services were becoming stretched due to the demand of health care, this was when the Appointments System for outpatients was introduced, this provided follow-up clinics for the 173 wounded soldiers which were admitted during the year. In 1944 a new Rehabilitation Department was opened to help the injured soldiers from the war. In

819-502: The 1850s, with the English economy booming, new mansions were built in one of the many revivalist architectural styles popular throughout the 19th century. The builders of these new houses were able to take advantage of the political unrest in Europe that gave rise to a large trade in architectural salvage. This new wave of country house building is exemplified by the Rothschild properties in

882-419: The 18th century with houses such as Castle Howard , Kedleston Hall and Holkham Hall . Such building reached its zenith from the late 17th century until the mid-18th century; these houses were often completely built or rebuilt in their entirety by one eminent architect in the most fashionable architectural style of the day and often have a suite of Baroque state apartments, typically in enfilade , reserved for

945-401: The 1960s saw a thirty per cent increase in surgical work at the Infirmary and an increase of 20 per cent in all services at the hospital. In 1966 the total of beds the hospital offered was 104 and rising to 205 beds by 1978. The facilities at the Infirmary were stretched as the ever-increasing population continued to grow in the local area. It was identified by the health board that a new hospital

1008-481: The 20th century, the term was later popularised in a song by Noël Coward , and in modern usage it often implies a country house that is open to visitors at least some of the time. In England, the terms "country house" and "stately home" are sometimes used vaguely and interchangeably; however, many country houses such as Ascott in Buckinghamshire were deliberately designed not to be stately, and to harmonise with

1071-474: The 20th century, they slept in proper beds, wore well-made adequate clothes and received three proper meals a day, plus a small wage. In an era when many still died from malnutrition or lack of medicine, the long working hours were a small price to pay. As a result of the aristocratic habit of only marrying within the aristocracy, and whenever possible to a sole heiress, many owners of country houses owned several country mansions, and would visit each according to

1134-469: The Infirmary's silver jubilee year, plans were made for an additional 178 beds. On 5 July 1948, the National Health Service took over the ownership and management of the Infirmary. It was one of 14 hospitals under Liverpool Regional Hospital Board. During the 1950s and 1960s the hospital dramatically continued to improve and expand its facilities. This included the provision of emergency lighting,

1197-478: The Scarisbrick Hall in the lavish Gothic style, employing E. W. Pugin as the architect. Ann Scarisbrick, born in 1788, was a great beauty in her youth. In 1807 she married Sir Thomas Windsor Hunloke (1773–1816), of Wingerworth Hall Derbyshire, who was 15 years her senior. Her husband died nine years after their marriage. They had four children, two sons and two daughters. After the birth of these children,

1260-532: The Scarisbrick family connection. Ann had a good relationship with E. W. Pugin, to whom she gave much artistic freedom and who created a lavish living environment for her, down to the smallest details like her inkstand and notepaper. Ann lived to the age of 84, dying in 1872 at Scarisbrick. The estate was inherited by her daughter Eliza, the sole surviving child, after her death and then to her French progeny, Emmanuel de Biaudos, Marquis de Castéja. Scarisbrick Hall

1323-458: The architect Augustus Pugin . The most notable feature of Scarisbrick Hall is the 100-foot tower, which is visible from many miles around. Scarisbrick Hall was the ancestral home of the Scarisbrick family and dates back to the time of King Stephen (1135–1154). The moated site of the original Scarisbrick Hall lies 140 metres (460 ft) north-west of the present building. A tree-covered island measuring c. 100 by 50 metres (330 by 160 ft)

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1386-467: The best-known examples of the showy prodigy house , often built with the intention of attracting the monarch to visit. By the reign of Charles I , Inigo Jones and his form of Palladianism had changed the face of English domestic architecture completely, with the use of turrets and towers as an architectural reference to the earlier castles and fortified houses completely disappearing. The Palladian style, in various forms, interrupted briefly by baroque ,

1449-520: The circumstances of their creation. The great houses are the largest of the country houses; in truth palaces, built by the country's most powerful – these were designed to display their owners' power or ambitions to power. Really large unfortified or barely fortified houses began to take over from the traditional castles of the crown and magnates during the Tudor period, with vast houses such as Hampton Court Palace and Burghley House , and continued until

1512-513: The country saw the building of the first of the unfortified great houses. Henry VIII 's Dissolution of the Monasteries saw many former ecclesiastical properties granted to the King's favourites, who then converted them into private country houses. Woburn Abbey , Forde Abbey and many other mansions with abbey or priory in their name became private houses during this period. Other terms used in

1575-428: The design of the wing around the next corner. These varying "improvements", often criticised at the time, today are the qualities that make English country houses unique. Wealthy and influential people, often bored with their formal duties, go to the country in order to get out of London, the ugliest and most uncomfortable city in the world; they invented the long week-end to stay away as long as possible. Their métier

1638-427: The early 1970s, hundreds of country houses were demolished . Houses that survived destruction are now mostly Grade I or II listed as buildings of historic interest with restrictions on restoration and re-creation work. However such work is usually very expensive. Several houses have been restored, some over many years. For example at Copped Hall where the restoration started in 1995 continues to this day. Although

1701-592: The elderly and some pathology services, remained at the Infirmary with the main entrance relocated to Pilkington Road. Also the spinal injuries unit moved from the Southport Promenade Hospital to the Southport General Infirmary at that time. The Christiana Hartley maternity unit and the other remaining services provided on the infirmary site moved to new accommodation at the Southport and Formby District General Hospital in 1999. The infirmary

1764-718: The family went to live in Paris. It is there that Sir Thomas Windsor Hunloke died in 1816. Their daughter Eliza married the Marquis de Casteja afterwards, also in Paris. It was only in June 1861 that she returned to Scarisbrick and made Scarisbrick Hall her home for the rest of her life. When she returned to Scarisbrick Hall in 1861, she did so with great pomp and style. She threw a lavish meal of roasted sheep and oxen, beer and bread to more than 1000 Scarisbrick tenants. Upon her arrival, most of Ormskirk turned out ringing bells and waving flags. Her carriage

1827-509: The finest examples of Victorian Gothic architecture in England, were designed by the architect Augustus Pugin . The most notable feature of Scarisbrick Hall is the 100-foot tower, which is visible from many miles around. Ann Scarisbrick Eccleston (Lady Hunloke) inherited the Scarisbrick estate – previously owned by Sir Talbot Scarisbrick, 1st Baronet – from her brother Charles in 1860 at the age of 72. At about this time she assumed by Royal Licence

1890-473: The home counties and Bletchley Park (rebuilt in several styles, and famous for its code-breaking role in World War II). The slow decline of the English country house coincided with the rise not just of taxation, but also of modern industry, along with the agricultural depression of the 1870s. By 1880, this had led some owners into financial shortfalls as they tried to balance maintenance of their estates with

1953-464: The hospital. After the First World War an Artificial Sunlight Department was added to the facilities as well as further accommodation for the staff and the construction of more wards and minor improvements to the hospital services as the town grew. In 1928 Christiana Hartley , the daughter of Sir William Pickles Hartley the founder of Hartley's Jam , proposed to construct a Maternity Hospital for

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2016-435: The household. These houses were always an alternative residence to a London house. During the 18th and 19th centuries, for the highest echelons of English society, the country house served as a place for relaxing, hunting and running the country with one's equals at the end of the week, with some houses having their own theatre where performances were staged. The country house, however, was not just an oasis of pleasure for

2079-551: The immediately preceding war then in World War I, were now paying far higher rates of tax, and agricultural incomes had dropped. Thus, the solution for many was to hold contents auctions and then demolish the house and sell its stone, fireplaces , and panelling . This is what happened to many of Britain's finest houses. Despite this slow decline, so necessary was the country house for entertaining and prestige that in 1917 Viscount Lee of Fareham donated his country house Chequers to

2142-438: The income they provided. Some relied on funds from secondary sources such as banking and trade while others, like the severely impoverished Duke of Marlborough , sought to marry American heiresses to save their country houses and lifestyles. The ultimate demise began immediately following World War I . The members of the huge staff required to maintain large houses had either left to fight and never returned, departed to work in

2205-484: The landscape, while some of the great houses such as Kedleston Hall and Holkham Hall were built as "power houses" to dominate the landscape, and were most certainly intended to be "stately" and impressive. In his book Historic Houses: Conversations in Stately Homes , the author and journalist Robert Harling documents nineteen "stately homes"; these range in size from the vast Blenheim Palace and Castle Howard to

2268-415: The late 19th and early 20th centuries were the swansong of the traditional English country house lifestyle. Increased taxation and the effects of World War I led to the demolition of hundreds of houses ; those that remained had to adapt to survive. While a château or a Schloss can be a fortified or unfortified building, a country house, similar to an Ansitz , is usually unfortified. If fortified, it

2331-540: The latter two are ducal palaces, Montacute, although built by a Master of the Rolls to Queen Elizabeth I, was occupied for the next 400 years by his descendants, who were gentry without a London townhouse , rather than aristocracy. They finally ran out of funds in the early 20th century. However, the vast majority of English country houses, often owned at different times by gentlemen and peers , are an evolution of one or more styles with facades and wings in different styles in

2394-639: The minuscule Ebberston Hall , and in architecture from the Jacobean Renaissance of Hatfield House to the eccentricities of Sezincote . The book's collection of stately homes also includes George IV's Brighton town palace, the Royal Pavilion . The country houses of England have evolved over the last five hundred years. Before this time, larger houses were usually fortified, reflecting the position of their owners as feudal lords , de facto overlords of their manors . The Tudor period of stability in

2457-416: The most eminent guests, the entertainment of whom was of paramount importance in establishing and maintaining the power of the owner. The common denominator of this category of English country houses is that they were designed to be lived in with a certain degree of ceremony and pomp. It was not unusual for the family to have a small suite of rooms for withdrawing in privacy away from the multitude that lived in

2520-399: The munitions factories, or filled the void left by the fighting men in other workplaces. Of those who returned after the war, many left the countryside for better-paid jobs in towns. The final blow for many country houses came following World War II ; having been requisitioned during the war, they were returned to the owners in poor repair. Many estate owners, having lost their heirs, if not in

2583-468: The names of houses to describe their origin or importance include palace , castle , court , hall , mansion , park , house , manor , and place . It was during the second half of the reign of Elizabeth I , and under her successor, James I , that the first architect-designed mansions, thought of today as epitomising the English country house, began to make their appearance. Burghley House , Longleat House , and Hatfield House are among

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2646-450: The nation for the use of a prime minister who might not possess one of his or her own. Chequers still fulfills that need today as do both Chevening House and Dorneywood , donated for sole use of high-ranking ministers of the Crown. Today, many country houses have become hotels, schools, hospitals and museums, while others have survived as conserved ruins, but from the early 20th century until

2709-527: The outbreak of the First World War saw the growth of the hospital building with a new ward and the opening of a new Massage Department and X-ray Department. During the First World War , a further 120 beds for wounded soldiers where needed and saw the construction of yet another ward, a new Anaesthetic Room and Pathology Department in 1916. The services were stretched during the war as by 1918 a total of 1,173 wounded and invalided British soldiers had been seen at

2772-468: The owner of a "power house" or a small manor, the inhabitants of the English country house have become collectively referred to as the ruling class, because this is exactly what they did in varying degrees, whether by having high political influence and power in national government, or in the day-to-day running of their own localities or "county" in such offices as lord/deputy lieutenant , magistrates , or occasionally even clergy. The Country house mystery

2835-521: The owner's twelve children. Canons Ashby , home to poet John Dryden 's family, is another example of architectural evolution: a medieval farmhouse enlarged in the Tudor era around a courtyard, given grandiose plaster ceilings in the Stuart period , and then having Georgian façades added in the 18th century. The whole is a glorious mismatch of styles and fashions that seamlessly blend together. These could be called

2898-502: The ownership or management of some houses has been transferred to a private trust , most notably at Chatsworth , other houses have transferred art works and furnishings under the Acceptance in Lieu scheme to ownership by various national or local museums, but retained for display in the building. This enables the former owners to offset tax, the payment of which would otherwise have necessitated

2961-457: The private sale of the art works. For example, tapestries and furniture at Houghton Hall are now owned by the Victoria and Albert Museum . In addition, increasing numbers of country houses hold licences for weddings and civil ceremonies . Another source of income is to use the house as a venue for parties, a film location or a corporate entertainment venue. While many country houses are open to

3024-467: The public and derive income through that means, they remain homes, in some cases inhabited by the descendants of their original owners. The lifestyles of those living and working in a country house in the early 20th century were recreated in a BBC television programme, The Edwardian Country House , filmed at Manderston House in Scotland. Another television programme which features life in country houses

3087-416: The school was sold and subsequent owners include the educational group Nord Anglia and GeMs. After GeMs sold the school unexpectedly, the parents rallied together to get the school up and running again but a lot of students trying to do their GCSEs had to move schools. The school is now being rented by the ownership group Friends of Kingswood made up of parents, teachers, and former pupils. Scarisbrick Hall

3150-459: The season: Grouse shooting in Scotland , pheasant shooting and fox hunting in England. The Earl of Rosebery , for instance, had Dalmeny House in Scotland, Mentmore Towers in Buckinghamshire, and another house near Epsom just for the racing season. For many, this way of life, which began a steady decline in 1914, continued well into the 20th century, and for a few continues to this day. In

3213-444: The second category of Britain's country houses are those that belonged to the squirearchy or landed gentry . These tend either to have evolved from medieval hall houses, with rooms added as required, or were purpose-built by relatively unknown local architects. Smaller, and far greater in number than the "power houses", these were still the epicentre of their own estate, but were often the only residence of their owner. However, whether

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3276-439: The surname Scarisbrick, and was thereafter known as Lady Scarisbrick. She had earlier fought a long legal battle with Charles, after the death of their elder brother Thomas Scarisbrick in 1835, over the inheritance claim to the Scarisbrick estate. She lost the case to Charles after five long years of litigation. Ann was known to be a woman of great character and resolve and is credited for the extensive enhancement and restoration of

3339-408: The terms of her brother's will, had only inherited Scarisbrick Hall and not its furnishings she set out to redecorate and redesign the house on a much grander scale than had prevailed in the time of her predecessor. The renovations were carried out by Edward W. Pugin , the son of the architect Augustus Pugin who had created the designs of the hall during the time of Charles Scarisbrick. Ann allowed

3402-656: The town. The plans were accepted and the Maternity Hospital opened in May 1932 on the Curzon Road side of the site. The Maternity services where independently managed, although the Infirmary provided the nursing, food, medicine, laundry and other requirements. In June 1939 construction began on a new Women's Surgical Ward followed by the outbreak of war in the September. The hospital therefore built an extra 117 emergency beds to add to

3465-488: The true English country house. Wilton House , one of England's grandest houses, is in a remarkably similar vein; although, while the Drydens, mere squires, at Canons Ashby employed a local architect, at Wilton the mighty Earls of Pembroke employed the finest architects of the day: first Holbein , 150 years later Inigo Jones, and then Wyatt followed by Chambers. Each employed a different style of architecture, seemingly unaware of

3528-494: The younger Pugin greater scope than had been afforded to his father. It was during this time that the older clock tower, dating from the time of Charles Scarisbrick, was replaced with a grander and taller example built in the French Gothic style. A new East Wing was added, which Ann dedicated to the memory of her father. This wing was joined to the older building by an octagonal tower which was decorated with eight doves signifying

3591-511: Was a popular genre of English detective fiction in the 1920s and 1930s; set in the residence of the gentry and often involving a murder in a country house temporarily isolated by a snowstorm or similar with the suspects all at a weekend house party. Following the Industrial Revolution of the 18th century, a third category of country houses was built as newly rich industrialists and bankers were eager to display their wealth and taste. By

3654-409: Was accompanied with a band on her way to Scarisbrick Hall. Ann, unlike her brother, lived in much splendour at Scarisbrick Hall. During her occupation, the hall was gas-lit for the first time. The central heating system seems to have been installed and used during her period of occupation. Ann was popular as a society hostess and held many gala events at her residence and estate. Even though Ann, under

3717-521: Was demolished in 2008 and the site was subsequently redeveloped for residential use as Hartley Grange. Scarisbrick Hall Scarisbrick Hall is a country house situated just to the south-east of the village of Scarisbrick in Lancashire, England. It is currently home to Scarisbrick Hall School . Parts of the present building, which is considered to be one of the finest examples of Victorian Gothic architecture in England, were designed by

3780-582: Was incorporated into the Castéja family properties and the Hall was subject to very few changes. In memory of his wife who died in 1878, the marquis built the church of St. Elizabeth on the site of the former Catholic chapel. Scarisbrick Hall remained in Castéja's family until 1923 when André de Biaudos de Castéja and his wife Pauline d'Espeuilles decided to sell it to Charles Scarisbrick's grandson, Sir Tom Talbot Leyland Scarisbrick. In 1964 26 acres of Scarisbrick's land

3843-451: Was needed to provide sufficient facilities for the increasing demands. Plans were put in place for the building of the Southport and Formby District General Hospital on the former Kew Gardens site on Town Lane. The vast majority of services moved to Southport and Formby District General Hospital in 1988. Some of the less acute services, such as the eye unit, the ear, nose & throat unit, audiology, chiropody, speech therapy, services for

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3906-576: Was put up for sale. It was purchased by the South West Lancashire Girl Guides for £10,000 and in May 1967 it opened as the South West Lancashire Girl Guide County Camp Site . Founded in 1964 by Charles Oxley , the building is now occupied by a co-educational, independent school called Scarisbrick Hall School and there is no public access apart from infrequent guided tours. Following Oxley's death,

3969-422: Was to predominate until the second half of the 18th century when, influenced by ancient Greek styles, it gradually evolved into the neoclassicism championed by such architects as Robert Adam . Some of the best known of England's country houses were the work of only one architect/designer, built in a relatively short, particular time: Montacute House , Chatsworth House , and Blenheim Palace are examples. While

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