Party hats of Christmases past as Brodsworth gives up its secrets

From paper party hats to vast, mahogany wardrobes, they survived what was perhaps Britain’s biggest house clearance. Decades later, rehoused on metal racks in an anonymous warehouse in the North York Moors, their stories are only now beginning to emerge.
Richard Mason, Curator of Collections and Interiors for English Heritage, holding a plaster moulding face from a ceiling rose at Edlingham Castle. Picture: James HardistyRichard Mason, Curator of Collections and Interiors for English Heritage, holding a plaster moulding face from a ceiling rose at Edlingham Castle. Picture: James Hardisty
Richard Mason, Curator of Collections and Interiors for English Heritage, holding a plaster moulding face from a ceiling rose at Edlingham Castle. Picture: James Hardisty

It was in the late 1980s that the removal vans arrived at Brodsworth Hall, the Victorian country house five miles outside Doncaster and just off the A1. It had been occupied by the same family for more than a century, and, said Caroline Rawson, a conservator at English Heritage, “they had thrown very little out”.

In taking over the estate, the charity discovered a living history of a lost age of opulence.

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“When we inherited Brodsworth, every drawer, every cupboard was stuffed. So the decision was made to empty those drawers and bring out only the stuff that was worth displaying,” Ms Rawson said.

David Hanks, Collections Manager (North) for English Heritage, working in the stores checking the conditions of a collection of paper hats from Brodsworth Hall.David Hanks, Collections Manager (North) for English Heritage, working in the stores checking the conditions of a collection of paper hats from Brodsworth Hall.
David Hanks, Collections Manager (North) for English Heritage, working in the stores checking the conditions of a collection of paper hats from Brodsworth Hall.

The rest was taken 70 miles north to Helmsley, where English Heritage maintains two storage buildings – one for archeological discoveries, the other for cultural artefacts that might otherwise have been destroyed.

The facility is open to the public by appointment, but with many of the pieces accessible only by fork-lift truck, they are seldom seen close-up.

The once-in-10-years audit that is coming to an end this week may shed new light on some of them, For others it has served to deepen the mystery.

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The paper hats, preserved between sheets of tissue in green plastic pallets and presumed to be from the dawn of the 20th century, are a case in point. The decadence of the parties at which they were worn can only be guessed at.

“Brodsworth was a country house. They would have had lots of guests, and done lots of entertaining,” Ms Rawson said. “We don’t know which specific party they were used for but we would like to do something with them. They’re rather delicate and it’s a bit difficult to know how to display them, but one day they’ll have their moment.”

Brodsworth, whose inventory also takes in a huge costume collection, carpets and ornamental mirrors, is not the only outpost of the English Heritage portfolio whose overspill is housed at Helmsley.

The facility is currently home to nearly 10,000 historical objects and more than 60,000 archeological finds from 140 sites across the North, including the abandoned and deserted 16th century village of Wharram Percy in the Yorkshire Wolds.

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“It’s a huge and diverse range, from medieval window glass, to nuclear warfare material from the bunker at York,” said Leesa Vere-Stevens, another conservator at the warehouses.

“The object of the audit is to assess the condition and risks associated with around two per cent of that material.”

Its first fruits are likely to be seen in the return to exhibition at Brodsworth of items relating to the transatlantic slave trade which belonged to its former owner, the Swiss businessman and banker Peter Thellusson.

Brodsworth is one of the most unaltered country houses in England, having been preserved by English Heritage as its last private owners left it, rather than being restored to its 19th century glory.

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The bizarre artefacts preserved there by successive generations include the mummified hooves of the 1855 Doncaster Cup winner, mounted in the billiard room.

The grounds remain open and the house itself is expected to reopen to visitors next year.

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