How Yorkshire’s stately homes are reopening after lockdown - with some help from pigeons

From a celebration of the humble pigeon to the return of the Antiques Roadshow and a drive-in outdoor cinema, Sarah Freeman discovers how Yorkshire’s stately homes are reopening their doors. Pictures by Simon Hulme.

Kate MccGwire is perhaps an unlikely ally of Britain’s pigeons. The Surrey-based artist, whose work has been bought by the likes of Charles Saatchi, has a picturesque narrowboat as a studio and her career has been chronicled in glossy arts publications from Antennae to Wallpaper. However, when her post arrives each day, among the bills and bank statements there are often packets of feathers sent by fanciers with handwritten 
notes telling of their latest victory or crushing defeat.

“I’ve kept every single one,” she says. “They are not long letters, just a few lines about how their season is going or sadly sometimes the fact they are getting too old and are going to be passing their birds on to a friend. They always assure me though that the feathers will keep coming and they do.  

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“I feel very protective of the community which has basically kept me in material for the last 10 years. I know there are people who see pigeons as rats with wings, but that’s to completely misunderstand them.”

Exhibition by British artist Kate MccGwire at Harewood House. Bea Porter aged 10  looks at one of the sculptures. Picture by Simon HulmeExhibition by British artist Kate MccGwire at Harewood House. Bea Porter aged 10  looks at one of the sculptures. Picture by Simon Hulme
Exhibition by British artist Kate MccGwire at Harewood House. Bea Porter aged 10 looks at one of the sculptures. Picture by Simon Hulme

Kate’s latest exhibition, Menagerie, An Experience, has just opened at Harewood House, near Leeds, and it represents another chapter in her mission to restore the reputation of a bird regularly dismissed as vermin.  

“The dove is the symbol of peace, purity and fertility,” she says. “When they’re released at weddings everyone oohs and aahs, but they are exactly the same species as pigeons, which everyone regards as being a pest.

“A dove is just a pigeon with better branding and part of the thinking behind my work is to show the clash between what we regard as beautiful and what we reject as foul or ugly.”

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At Harewood, the piece most likely to provoke a reaction is Discharge.

Exhibition by British artist Kate MccGwire at Harewood House. Collections Manager Paula Martin unveils one of the feathered sculptures on show at the House. Picture by Simon HulmeExhibition by British artist Kate MccGwire at Harewood House. Collections Manager Paula Martin unveils one of the feathered sculptures on show at the House. Picture by Simon Hulme
Exhibition by British artist Kate MccGwire at Harewood House. Collections Manager Paula Martin unveils one of the feathered sculptures on show at the House. Picture by Simon Hulme

It’s a slightly grim title for a beautiful cascade of pigeon feathers which appear to burst out from historic bookshelves in the Main Library. From a distance, it looks like it might have been made from silk, but close up the 10,000 pigeon feathers – some complete with telephone numbers written on by their fanciers just in case their birds go awol during a race – are unmistakable.  

“When I was originally looking around the house I thought they’d never let me install anything in that room so I didn’t even suggest it,” says Kate. “It was the team at Harewood who said, ‘What do you think about putting it here?’ and I have to say it looks amazing.

“That piece has previously been displayed in a white cube gallery; it has been exhibited in an old tobacco factory and wherever it has been it seems to take on a new character. Here it seems to represent knowledge tumbling from the shelves and I like that.”

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Kate and her assistants began installing the exhibition, which was originally due to open at Easter, in March just as the world outside was gradually shutting down.  

Exhibition by British artist Kate MccGwire at Harewood House. Ruby Sorrell aged 14 looks at one of the sculptures. Picture by Simon HulmeExhibition by British artist Kate MccGwire at Harewood House. Ruby Sorrell aged 14 looks at one of the sculptures. Picture by Simon Hulme
Exhibition by British artist Kate MccGwire at Harewood House. Ruby Sorrell aged 14 looks at one of the sculptures. Picture by Simon Hulme

“It was very surreal,” she adds. “For a week it was like we were self-isolating in a Jane Austen novel. Every so often we would put the news on and hear what was happening in the outside world. We’d be ordering from online shops for when we were back home, but then we would look out of the window and it was hard to imagine that anything was wrong.”

Designed to tie in with the 50th anniversary of Harewood’s Bird Garden, the exhibition also features a new piece of work created by Kate. Cavort – a rug made of pheasant feathers – was inspired by the ceiling of the Yellow Drawing Room in which it now sits and was created with the help of the estate’s volunteers.

“I haven’t worked with volunteers in this way before, but I definitely will do again. They sorted and trimmed hundreds of feathers, which is not as easy as it sounds. It wasn’t just about size, it was about ordering the feathers by colour and pattern and I think when I first talked to them they thought I was a little mad,” adds Kate.

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“However, it worked better than I could ever have imagined and a number of people have already said how well it fits alongside the antique furniture, which is great. I want people to do a double take, to think perhaps it’s one thing and then realise it’s another.”

Growing up on a Norfolk boatyard, Kate spent her childhood surrounded by nature, but it was only later in life that she was able to indulge her passion for sculpture. Since graduating from the Royal College of Art at the age of 40, she has worked full time as an artist and throughout lockdown was able to catch up with a number of private commissions.

“I have been very lucky, but I have also worked hard,” she says. “When Charles Saatchi bought one of my degree show pieces, I thought, ‘That’s it, I’ve made it’, but then of course nothing happened, which was a really sobering experience.

“I always tell students to keep making work, keep entering for awards, because if you allow yourself to be put off by one rejection you can easily become trapped in despondency.”

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With Menagerie, An Experience now open to the public, Kate is hoping to return to Yorkshire to see the exhibition and she would quite like to bring along a few friends.

“I’d really like to contact the region’s pigeon fanciers and get them to come down to see it,” she says. “Their world doesn’t often collide with somewhere like Harewood, but I would love them to see how perfect those discarded feathers work against a backdrop like that.”

Harewood House gardens are open daily from 10am to 6pm and the house is open from 11am to 5pm. From August 4 to 17, the estate will also be hosting Luna Drive-In Cinema and throughout the summer there will be a programme of guided tours including afternoon tea. harewood.org 

Newby Hall: The Antiques Roadshow team will arrive at the North Yorkshire property next month, although things will be a little different, with filming set to take place behind closed doors. There is, however, much for visitors to see. Newby’s grounds, including its impressive new rock garden and a miniature railway, are currently open to visitors, along with the cafe. It is hoped the Hall, which houses the famous sculpture gallery, will reopen later in the year. Open Wednesday to Sunday, 11am to 5.30pm (last admission 5pm). 01423 322583, newbyhall.com

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Wentworth Woodhouse: While the main house, one of the largest in Europe, is closed for a major restoration project, the extensive grounds are now open to the public for the first time. Visitors can follow a new trail and there are a host of good picnic spots. Throughout the summer there will also be a chance to take part in art workshops decorating 10,000 wooden birds which will form a major art installation that is due to open on the estate near Rotherham in the autumn. Open Wednesday to Sunday, 10am to 5.30pm (last admission 5pm). 01226 351161. 

Sewerby Hall: The Grade I-listed Georgian property was one of the first in Yorkshire to reopen its doors. Along with the gardens and the zoo, which is home to monkeys, pygmy goats and llamas, the hall, which overlooks Bridlington, is now welcoming visitors, although online booking 24 hours before is advised. The cafe is also operating a takeaway service, but the golf course and the Hall’s popular giant games will unfortunately remain closed throughout the summer. Open daily, 10am to 4pm. 01262 673769, sewerbyhall.co.uk

Castle Howard: The gardens and the popular Skelf Island adventure playground are both welcoming visitors again and the house, near York, which provided the backdrop for the TV adaptation of Brideshead Revisited, will initially reopen on Fridays and Saturdays throughout August. This weekend the estate will also be hosting outdoor cinema screenings of Grease and Downton Abbey. Open: Daily, 10am to 7pm (last entry 5pm). 01653 648647, castlehoward.co.uk

Brodsworth Hall: Taken on by English heritage 30 years ago, the Victorian estate, near Doncaster, has been gradually restored to tell the story of the people who lived and worked there. Only the gardens are currently open and all visits must be booked in advance online. If you are taking little ones, it’s worth downloading the new explorer’s trail from the website which will lead them round the most interesting landmarks. Open daily, 10am to 5pm. 01302 722598, english-heritage.org.uk

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