Burton Constable Hall, North Humberside

Acquisition and endowment of a large (Grade I) Elizabethan mansion set in 300 acres of parkland (Grade II*) landscaped by Capability Brown. It contains furniture by Chippendale and pieces were also supplied by regional firms such as Wright and Elwick of Wakefield, Farrer and Reynoldson of York and Walker of Hull. Buildings include 18th century stable blocks and early 19th century riding school; two cottages; fold yard and workshops; eighteenth-century orangery; ornamental bridge-cum-dam over lakes; 19th century ladies’ bathing pool. NHMF contributed £5,417,284 to the establishment of a charitable trust, the Burton Constable Foundation, to own the house, surrounding park and collection of scientific instruments. The rest of the contents were transferred to the ownership of Leeds City Art galleries, but retained within the house. The remarkably complete and extensive archive continued to be housed in Humberside Record Office.