When deciding where our next event should be Susie and I decided to try and raise some funds by holding Afternoon Tea, on the patio of Sedgwick House. What seemed like a good idea at the time was hard work on the day, due to the extremely hot weather.
OK I know it's summer but when do we get weather like we have experienced recently?
Due to the fact that I personally was one of the hosts, I asked Babs to write about the event.
Over to you Babs! (Only say nice things or I will be forced to edit!)
Afternoon Tea at Sedgwick House
For our July meeting and to make the most of the glorious weather, the Wombelles were invited to ‘Chez Marlene & Susie’ for Afternoon Tea in the beautiful setting of Sedgwick House on the patio overlooking the Sedgwick Village Cricket Club. Sedgwick House lies on the east bank of the Kent River. (More history below)
We were well catered for with home cooking courtesy of Marlene & Susie who arose at the crack of dawn to feed the masses on the terraces of this formidable house.
Sandwiches and cakes galore all home-made and most delicious were scoffed, iced water for the cooling effect in the blazing sun and copious cups of tea were enjoyed by all. (Alas, still no chips for Janet!) Also invited were friends and neighbours of our hosts who generously brought prizes for our raffle, wine, chocolates, books, and other delights all in aid of the Wombelles fund. Monies raised will enable the group to finance itself and maintain the work of supporting ladies going through and recovering from the effects of treatment. The raffle raised sufficient fund to pay Cancercare for the use of their meeting room and for us to maintain our mobile phone, which is the main contact for the group.
We had a tour, courtesy of Susie of the grounds of this lovely old house which has a swimming pool, tennis court and ample gardens next to the local cricket pitch. (This may be quite dangerous in summer when the big hitters arrive!) I am told League matches are played here during the season.
As an extra treat we were able to take home some of the food we had not been able to finish, which was generally more cake (well why not!) and the flower decorations which had been made for the Raffle by one of the residents (who was a florist in a past life) two of our ladies were joyously happy when they won. (Rhona and Jean - lucky ladies!)
A thoroughly enjoyable afternoon and one we would like to pencil in for next year again, although not sure if Marlene & Susie need more than a year to recover!
Thanks ladies you are both stars
Babs
Sedgwick House 2000
Thank you for your comments Babs.
You were correct when you mentioned next year .... may have to be soup and a roll!
The Sedgwick House History
For those interested in a bit of history Sedgwick house was originally built for the Wakefield family who were Quakers. William Henry chose to use Paley and Austin, a local firm of Architects from Lancaster, who were very fashionable, and it was no doubt they who dictated the use of neo Gothic design, which is often referred to as Victorian gothic.
They are the architects of a number of churches in the area among them Natland and Crosscrake, and also extensions to Holker Hall, which shares a number of features with Sedgwick House. The ecclesiastical influence is very noticeable in the great hall at Sedgwick.
The neo-gothic style calls for a lot of decorative stonework and it was for this reason that sandstone, which is more easily worked, was used in the construction rather than the local limestone. The mullions on the ground floor windows and the balcony of the hall are made from polished granite, which came from the newly opened quarries near Shap, north of Kendal. The sandstone came from the Lancaster area and was brought by barges on the canal to Sedgwick Hill Bridge – the one standing in the field above the cricket ground. (These bridges have been preserved as they have listed status and some stand rather incongruously in the middle of fields.)
A rail track was constructed to take the stone to the site across the field, which was later made into the cricket field. The whole enterprise was a huge undertaking: considerable excavation was needed to provide the cellars, and I have been informed that 1 square metre of wall would have needed 1 tonne of stone, so several thousand tonnes of stone would have had to be transported.
A rail track was constructed to take the stone to the site across the field, which was later made into the cricket field. The whole enterprise was a huge undertaking: considerable excavation was needed to provide the cellars, and I have been informed that 1 square metre of wall would have needed 1 tonne of stone, so several thousand tonnes of stone would have had to be transported.
In spite of this, residents today will be interested to know that the cost of construction in 1867 was between £40 – 50,000. The building was completed in 1868. You will find 1886 on a number of documents but this arose from a clerical error.
Sedgwick House circa 1887
Mary Wakefield
On famous resident of Sedgwick House was Mary Wakefield (1853 - 1910). Her father allowed her to go abroad to study music, where she developed her singing and would undoubtedly have been able to make a career on the concert stage. Her father, however, did not consider this a suitable activity for someone of her social standing and would not allow her to become a professional musician. Mary was a lady of considerable energy and determination so she did not retire into the conventional Victorian occupations considered suitable for women, but devoted her energies in bringing to others her love and knowledge of music. She is quoted as saying that she did not want to build bandstands where people could come and listen to music but rather she created a vehicle – the Westmorland Music Festival, which encouraged people, who would not otherwise have the opportunity, to come together and perform music.
After Mary’s death, the Festival was renamed as the Mary Wakefield Westmorland Music Festival. It was a competitive Festival but none of the prizes were money. The winners competed for a series of often very beautiful trophies, which were donated by individuals and groups from the area.
The first Festival was held in the covered tennis court at Sedgwick House and four quartets of singers from neighbouring villages took part. The Festival was held annually and grew quickly, soon having to move to Kendal where it took place in St. George’s Hall behind Finkle Street.
It was held in May at the end of the winter months, which were spent rehearsing, by the various groups and choirs. Mary devoted these months to travelling round the villages in her pony and trap, often late into the night, to help the choirs rehearse as some of them had very little knowledge and experience of music.
Mary Wakefield and her sister Agnes setting out to rehearse a choir
Sedgwick House 1941 – to date
When the house was requisitioned, by the government in 1941 the family had 3 weeks to vacate the house; inevitably a lot of valuable records were destroyed. The family still retained the grounds ploughing up the land at the bottom of the west terrace to produce crops to help with the war effort.
At the end of the war none of the family was interested in taking back the property and so it was sold in 1948 to the Lancashire County Council. They set up a boarding school for children who suffered from severe epilepsy, which continued from 1951 to 1985. The school was closed in 1985 when improvements in medical care in mainstream schools, made it possible for these children to be integrated into mainstream education.
In 1986 the property was purchased by a local developer who obtained planning permission to convert the property into 19 Executive Apartments with Leisure facilities which we have today. So the house is once again a home, although be it to a number of different families, who love and appreciate the house and gardens making every endeavour to keep the property as it was originally designed, repairing the clock in 2006 brought the house back to life and part of the village once again.
We would like to thank everyone who attended for their support and look forward to inviting new members to join our group.
We would like to remind you that we meet on the third Tuesday of each month at 1.30 pm in the offices of; Cancercare, Lakes Centre, Kendal, (unless we have organized an event).
We now also have a blog address, which has been set up by one of our members:
http://the wombellescancergroupkendal.blogspot.co.uk/
We can also be contacted on the following Mobile No: 07770851896.
This is the group’s mobile number, which is checked for messages on a daily basis.
