Skip to main content

#Thursday Doors - Newby Hall, North Yorkshire

This week my entry to Dan Antion's Thursday Doors photo challenge comes from Newby Hall in North Yorkshire. 

We stayed with a friend in York last weekend and took advantage of the good weather to have a drive to Newby Hall and Gardens on the Sunday.  This is one of Britain’s finest Adam Houses and is the family home of Mr & Mrs Richard Compton.  It was built in the 1690s by Sir Christopher Wren and the house was later enlarged and adapted by John Carr and subsequently Robert Adam.  

The vista from the river looking up to the house and framed by the herbaceous borders is stunning but the front door is actually unremarkable.

However, in the gardens we came across this. 

It is the door from Newgate Prison, through which the famous highwayman Dick Turpin’s rival Jack Sheppard escaped.  I've enlarged the plaque on the wall so you can read about it.  The skull above the door is a nice touch, don't you think?

All the award winning gardens at Newby are amazing and I found a couple of archways and gates worth including in my entry. Here they are.




Labels:

Comments

  1. DanSeptember 9, 2021 at 1:13 PM

    That's an amazing estate. The prison door is interesting. We have a Newgate Prison here in Connecticut. I featured it back in early July. It operated as a copper mine and a prison, off and on. Most of the prison stands in ruins, but we were still able to tour the copper mine. As for Jack Sheppard, I guess it's hard to escape a rope :(

    ReplyDelete
  2. The BlogglerSeptember 9, 2021 at 5:36 PM

    Thanks for the comment Dan. Our Newgate Prison was, by all accounts, a pretty bleak place to be locked up in. I was surprised it was in use as late as 1881. I'll look up your post.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thoughts Of An E'ville WomanSeptember 9, 2021 at 6:30 PM

    Interesting read about Jack Sheppard, Paul. Happy to find you and your posts.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Crotchety ManSeptember 10, 2021 at 8:29 AM

    We used to visit Newby Hall from time to time when we lived in York. We made a point of seeing the sculpture trail. You can find some of my photos here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/stoney-fish/albums/72157646920823329

    ReplyDelete
  5. The BlogglerSeptember 10, 2021 at 9:47 AM

    It's the first time I've been to Newby. It's a great place isn't it? I loved your Flickr photos. The Sculptures are amazing. My favourites are the horse and the red lightbulb. I must put my Newby photos on Flickr.

    ReplyDelete
  6. The Art Blogger 54September 12, 2021 at 8:22 PM

    Interesting story about Newgate Prison

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment