Earlier Houses: There were probably a number of earlier houses near the site of the current house; the last of these was a manor house demolished in the late 17th century Sir Edward Blackett (when the current house was built).

Built / Designed For: Sir Edward Blackett

House & Family History: In the late 17th century the manor of Newby was sold by the Crossland family to Sir Edward Blackett, who demolished the old house and built a new house on the site, possibly designed by Christopher Wren (the attribution of the design to Wren was made by Daniel Defoe in his 1727 book, "Tour through the Whole Island of Great Britain"). In the mid-18th century the Newby Estate was purchased by the Weddell family, whose most famous member, William Weddell (called "a dilettante of exceptional taste" by Christopher Hussey; see "Images" section), formed the tremendous collection of classical sculpture and other works of art at Newby. Weddell engaged Robert Adam to make improvements, including the addition of two wings forming a forecourt on the east, and the conversion of the east façade to the entry, complete with a new porch. The spectacular, pink domed, top-lit rotunda Sculpture Gallery (partially based on the Villa Madama in Rome, see "Images" section) was also Adam's, as was the Tapestry Room, which contains an exceptional set of Gobelins tapestries made for the room (the Sculpture Gallery at Newby was the inspiration for the Sculpture Rotunda at The National Gallery of Art's ground-breaking 1985-86 exhibition "The Treasure Houses of Britain" in Washington, DC). Adam's dining room was converted to the library circa 1792. Since the popularity of the TV series "Downton Abbey," Newby has been suggested as one of the inspirations for the house and its fictional family; in the 18th century Newby was occupied by the lords Grantham (the 2nd Lord Grantham's portrait currently hangs in the dining room); and, of course, the closest city to Newby is Ripon, which features heavily in the world of Downton. Julian Fellowes, who created the TV series, did, in fact, go to school in Ripon, but he has said that “beautiful Newby” is “connected to Downton Abbey by coincidence, nothing more.” Lord Fellowes said that he chose earl of Grantham as the title for the Crawley family because, when he ran away from school, it was in Grantham, Lincolnshire, that he was apprehended by the police. During World War II Newby was one of four country houses chosen as an emergency residence of state for the royal family in the event of a German invasion. The town of Grantham, New Hampshire, is named after the 1st Lord Grantham (the title became extinct with the death in 1859 of the 3rd Lord Grantham). Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother was a frequent visitor to Newby.

Collections: The walls of the Tapestry Room at Newby are covered with a set of Gobelins tapestries entitled "The Loves of the Gods" (from designs by François Boucher; see "Images" section) ordered in Paris in 1763 (one of only six sets made for English patrons; the other sets, called the Tentures de Boucher, were made for Croome Court, Worcestershire (today in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art); Weston Park, Shropshire; Osterley Park, London; and Moor Park. Hertfordshire [today in the collection of Aske Hall[). Thomas Chippendale was commissioned to provide, in "the French style," 12 armchairs, two sofas, and a fire screen covered in matching tapestry for the room, the only known pieces of Chippendale furniture that remain today with their original upholstery. Newby contains an exceptional collection of classical sculpture which is housed in the magnificent Sculpture Gallery created to receive it by Robert Adam. The star of the Sculpture Gallery was the 1st-2nd century AD Roman statue known as the Jenkins Venus (see "Images" section). The statue, then in the Barberini collection and known as the Barberini Venus, was purchased in 1763 by Gavin Hamilton, a Scottish connoisseur in Rome; he sold it to Thomas Jenkins, the English antiquities dealer and banker to the English community in Rome. It was from Jenkins (where the statue picked up its name) that William Weddell, in the midst of his Grand Tour, purchased the statue in the spring of 1765 for Newby Hall. The undisclosed sum for which it changed hands this third time was reputedly the most ever paid for an antiquity in the 18th century. In 2002 the Jenkins Venus was sold in London by Christie's to fund repairs to the stableblock at Newby. The statue broke the world auction record for an antiquity, selling for £7,926,650. The Venus is today in the collection of Sheikh Saud-al-Thani, cousin of the emir of Qatar. A laser-made Carrara marble copy stands in the place of the original in the Sculpture Gallery at Newby. In June 2007 a Chippendale table worth an estimated £500,000 was stolen from Newby during a burglary; it was returned following a 2011 police raid and is now on view in rooms seen by the public. In 2021 the London dealer Ronald Phillips listed for sale for £100,000 a Neoclassical pedestal that was probably made as part of the Etruscan dining room suite for Newby. Made circa 1785, the polychrome painted plate warmer pedestal was almost certainly designed by Robert Adam and made by Thomas Chippendale. Spanning the 16th to the 19th century, Newby Hall has an important collection of over 100 chamber pots. Also in the collection are full-scale replicas of the British crown jewels.

Comments: Pevsner said "Robert Adam's interiors at Newby are amongst the finest of their date anywhere in Europe." Christopher Hussey, writing of the Sculpture Gallery, said "It may be observed that Adam nowhere applied the neoclassical conception of spacemodelling into primary shapes with more moving success. The contrast between the sculpture galleries at Newby and Holkham succinctly illustrates the meaning of neo-classical."

Garden & Outbuildings: With the River Ure running through them, the gardens, which won the Christie's/HHA Garden of the Year Award in 1987, span 25 acres and contain famous double herbaceous borders (one of Europe's largest) and the National Collection of Dogwoods (there are 90 varieties of dogwoods at Newby). The Strawberry Pippin (Malus domestica) is a variety of apple tree unique to Newby. The Grade I-listed stableblock has been converted into offices and is today home to 15 local businesses. Jaspar Latham's equestrian statue of Charles II was moved from the Stock Market, London (the site of Mansion House), to the island on the Newby Estate in 1779. On the grounds is the gate from London's infamous Newgate Prison. In the early 21st century a hydroelectric plant was installed on the River Ure to generate electricity for the house; the new plant occupies the site of a similar facility that was built in 1906 to provide power for the entire estate. The Newby Estate today stands at 7,000 acres.

Chapel & Church: The Grade I-listed Church of Christ the Consoler (see "Images" section) was built by the 1st Marquess of Ripon in memory of his brother-in-law, Frederick Grantham Vyner, who was taken prisoner and murdered in 1870 by bandits near Athens while on his Grand Tour. The church was built between 1871 and 1878 to the designs of William Burges and, since 1991 has been vested in the Churches Conservation Trust.

Country Life: xix, 90; xxxv, 878; Lxxxi, 658, 688, 714; cxxvii, 1428; corr. Cxxxv, 123; cLxv, 1802, 1918, 2006, corr. 2016; corr. cLxvi, 173; cLxviii, 2406; gardens, xix, 90; Lxxx, 344; Lxxxi, 658; cx xiii, 494, cxxv, 510; cxxviii, 184; cLxxvi, 598; 17/93.70; 29/97.54; redecoration letters, 31/97.75; gardens, 39/98.108;

House Listed: Grade I

Park Listed: Grade II*

Current Seat / Home of: Richard Compton; Compton family, matrilineal descendants of William Weddell, here since 1748.

Past Seat / Home of: SEATED AT EARLIER HOUSES: Nubie family, 13th century. Sir John Crosland, until 1670. SEATED AT CURRENT HOUSE: Sir Edward Blackett, 2nd Bt., 1695-1718; Sir Edward Blackett, 3rd Bt., 1718-40; Sir Edward Blackett, 4th Bt., until 1748. William Weddell, 1748-92. Thomas Philip de Grey (Robinson), 2nd Earl de Grey, 3rd Baron Grantham, and 6th Baron Lucas, 1792-1859. Henry Frederick Clare Vyner, until 1883; Robert Charles de Grey Vyner, 1883-1915. Major Edward Robert Francis Compton, 1921-60; Robert Edward John (Robin) Compton, 1960-97.

Current Ownership Type: Individual / Family Trust

Primary Current Ownership Use: Private Home

House Open to Public: Yes

Phone: 01423-322-583

Fax: 01423-324-452

Email: [email protected]

Website: https://www.newbyhall.com

Awards: Christie's/HHA Garden of the Year Award 1986. Hudson's Heritage Best Family Day Out Award 2016.

Historic Houses Member: Yes