Perlethorpe’s earlier church and the Pierrepont mystery.

 

Above: The memorial tomb of the mysterious Major Charles Alphonso Pierrepont.

There were two churches in Perlethorpe before the present one. In 1744, Evelyn Pierrepont, 2nd Duke of Kingston, laid the foundation stone from the first to commemorate the rebuilding of a second. That stone (long since gone), used to lay in the right east end of the current graveyard and read: "The Church of Peverelthorpe, The Noble and Generous Prince Evelyn, Duke of Kingston, Knight of the Garter, Rebuilt in the year 1744".

Perlethorpe did not have its own vicar. An agreement was reached in which the vicar of Edwinstowe would receive a small fee from the Duke to hold a service in Perlethorpe once a fortnight, but not be able to claim the tythe he received from other villages. (A tythe barn was a place where 10% of a farm's produce was stored and given to the church). The site this church was built upon was called Pinfold Close. The church itself was described as being of elegant stone, with some stained glass, and carved figures of "Hope" and "Meekness" in the western end. At the east end, actually inside the building and near to the High Altar, stood the memorial tomb of the mysterious Charles Alphonso Pierrepont. His monument stands there to this day, outside and exposed to the elements.

In 1836 an Act of Parliament allowed Charles Herbert Pierrepont, 2rd Earl Manvers, to combine Perlethorpe and Thoresby as one parish, supported by his Estate, and granting him and his heirs the right to select their own vicar. In 1837 an endowment was made by Charles Herbert of £100 a year. This would be the only source of income for the Vicar of Perlethorpe, and would be charged to Whitemoor Farm.

The church of 1744 was still standing when in 1876 the 3rd Earl Manvers built the present one, designed by Anthony Salvin, one year after building the present Thoresby Hall. It was not until 1877 that permission was granted to demolish the old church. This would mean that, for a while at least, two churches were standing end to end? I find that hard to believe. But interestingly, it also suggests the tomb of Charles Alphonso Pierrepont itself was never moved.

But who was Major Charles Alphonso Pierrepont? His imposing "tomb" in Perlethorpe Church graveyard, and dated 1812, tells us he was "A Major in the British Service who lost his life so gallantly while storming an outwork near Burgos". This would suggest Wellington’s Burgos Campaign of the same year. It goes on to describe him as "Of an ancient and respectable family on whom, by his excellent conduct, he conferred honour. He was interred on the field where he fought and fell, September 19th 1812." So, if he was “interred on the field” then this is not really a tomb at all, but a monument.

Although Major Charles Alphonso Pierrepont military records are quite detailed, apparently no-one has established exactly who his parents were, nor where he was born.

The second Thoresby Hall.

 Above: This print from a painting by John Preston Neale, dated 1838, depicts the second Thoresby Hall, built in the Palladian style between 1767 and 1772 on the site where the first Thoresby Hall had stood. This second building, designed by John Carr, was more modest than the first and described by its critics as a "plain square building, without any pretence to architectural adornment". It had a rustic stone basement, and two storeys of bricks. Note how uncomfortably close the Lake is situated to the side of the building, a distance of just 100 yards; a significant factor which eventually caused the third Thoresby Hall to be constructed further away on higher ground. On the other side of the Lake were formal gardens in the "German" style which included the Duke's carriage way to Ollerton and Newark beyond.

Evelyn the 2nd Duke of Kingston died in 1773, also without heir. In September 1778 his nephew Charles Meadows (1737 - 1816) inherited the Pierrepont surname by Royal Licence, becoming the 1st Earl Manvers in 1806. He moved into the second Thoresby Hall in 1789, soon expressing his displeasure with its landscaping and cold damp location close the Lake. So in 1791 Charles consulted landscape gardener Humphry Repton for advice on how to improve the grounds around Thoresby Hall. Their concerns involved the ground floor being level with the nearby Lake, the formal straight lines of the canal running 200 yards from the front entrance of the House to a corn mill 600 yards away, the location of Stone Bridge (now Green Bridge) which presented an unfavourable straight-on view of the building, and the grassy area leading to the entrance lacking a gravel road. 

 

Above: Repton produced a Red Book for Thoresby Park. These books, which he produced for several notable stately homes, contained his water colour depictions of the sites as they were when he arrived, but with overlays which conveyed how it would look after his recommendations were carried out. Some of Repton's ideas were employed. For example, the moving of the Green Bridge to enhance the view of the approach to the Hall. His designs helped give the grounds around the Hall a much less formal appearance.

Above: James Seymour's painting (1750) depicts the Duke of Kingston’s chestnut racehorse Jolly Roger led by a mounted groom. This is of particular interest as the date is five years after the first Thoresby Hall burnt down. At this time parts of that Hall may have been habitable, alternatively the Duke could have resided at The Kennels during his stays on his estate.

 

When Charles Meadows Pierrepont died in 1816, he was succeeded by his son Charles Herbert, 2nd Earl Manvers, Lord Newark, who kept the tradition of having large boats on Thoresby Lake. This second Hall was demolished in 1864 by Sydney William Herbert Pierrepont (1825 - 1900), the 3rd Earl Manvers.

Pierrepont and the first Thoresby Hall.

 

 Above: The first Thoresby Hall from a print by J. Walker.

Robert de Pierrepont came to England with William the Conqueror during the Norman Conquest. In 1500 his descendants built the present Holme Pierrepont. In the first part of the 17th Century, Sir Robert Pierrepont (1585 - 1643), 1st Earl of Kingston upon Hull, bought Thoresby from William Lodge, an Alderman of London, for his second son William.

William Pierrepont (1607 - 1679), then spent £1000 a year acquiring land around Thoresby between 1633 and 1643. He was a Parliamentarian, referred to as "William the Wise" because his opinions were much valued by noblemen of the day. His moderate attitude and respect for the King, made him an obvious choice for mediator and negotiator between Charles 1st and the Roundhead movement, and this he did on more than one occasion. It is a known fact that Oliver Cromwell himself spent the night at Thoresby in 1651 on his way to the Battle of Worcester at Evesham.

Robert's first son Henry Pierrepont (William's elder brother) was the 2nd Earl of Kingston upon Hull. When Henry died without heir in 1680, his great nephew Robert became 3nd Earl of Kingston upon Hull. When Robert also died without heir his brother William became the 4th Earl of Kingston upon Hull.

William Pierrepont (1662 - 1690), 4th Earl of Kingston, obtained a further 1,270 acres of land for £7,100, combined them with what he already possessed in Perlethorpe and Thoresby, and formed Thoresby Park. Soon after this in 1683 he built the first Thoresby Hall (a.k.a. Thoresby House). A mansion already existed by the lake, built c.1590, with some documents describing it as Elizabethan in character. But as it was built before the 4th Earl established Thoresby Park / Thoresby Estate, it doesn't merit the title Thoresby House. It was this mansion which William Pierrepont 2nd Earl of Kingston replaced in 1683 when building the first Thoresby Hall. This was a rectangular red brick building with stone dressings, designed by William Tallman who would go on to design Chatsworth House. It had two storeys plus an attic, featured 13 bays along its front, and was clearly influenced in it design by the Italian Palaces. In 1738 The Kennels were built about half a mile eastward of the Hall.

 Above: Leonard Knyff's painting of the first Thoresby Hall c.1705. The Stone Bridge (a.k.a. the Green Bridge) is in its original position, leading the Duke's carriage towards Ollerton and Newark beyond. I  think at this stage Evelyn the 2nd Duke hasn't yet extended the lake which I think would occupy the area to the upper right of this picture where those non-landscaped trees are depicted. Note the formal lines of the canal which would lead to a Mill and the Kennels in Perlethorpe Village.

 

 

William the 4th Earl also died without heir, and so was succeeded by his brother Evelyn Pierrepont (1665 - 1726), the 5th Earl of Kingston upon Hull, later upgraded to 1st Duke of Kingston upon Hull in 1715. Evelyn's only son died of smallpox and so he was succeeded by his grandson, also called Evelyn, the 2nd Duke of Kingston. It is this 2nd Duke who can be seen in Tillemans painting of 1725 (above).

 On 4th March 1745, only 58 years after it was built, this first Thoresby Hall was badly damaged by fire, and much property lost. Evelyn the 2nd Duke of Kingston, who had already invested a lot of time extending the lake for his boats, decided on building a second hall on this same site. During the 22 years between the fire and the building of a second Hall, he still spent long periods of residence on Thoresby Estate, monitoring progress. Quite possibly parts of the Hall were still habitable, or he may have resided at The Kennels.

Above: The location of both the first and second Hall as depicted on Chapman's map of 1774. After the demise of the second Hall the 4th Earl Manvers had this part of the old foundations flooded via a tunnel north of the weir, and frozen over as a Curling Rink for his daughter. In 1937 it was converted to a hard tennis court. The triangular complex of buildings, centre right, is The Woodyard. The formal line of trees leaving the bottom of the picture would have taken the Duke's carriages to Buck Gates.