Historic Family Home - Lingholm, Cumbria

Lingholm is near Keswick Cumbria on the banks of Derwent Water. Alfred Waterhouse (who also built the Natural History Museum in London) built Lingholm in the 1870s. Colonel J. F. Greenall originally commissioned the house as a weekend family retreat. It was purchased by George Kemp, the first Lord Rochdale, in 1890.

At the turn of the century, author Beatrix Potter spent several summers at Lingholm, writing and sketching in the extensive kitchen garden, the woodland, the lake shore, and nearby Newlands Valley. These were the sources of many of her illustrations, characters, and stories, including the Tale of Squirrel Nutkin.

Lingholm was a military hospital during the First World War. During the Second World War, it was also a home for evacuee children from the Northeast, including Austrian refugee children. In 2013, English Heritage gave Lingholm a Grade II historic listing.

The house and gardens remained in the Kemp family until 2013. The property and the remaining family belongings were sold by the 2nd Viscount, St. John Rochdale.

Lingholm Circa 1916

During the First World War, they converted Lingholm into a military hospital to help wounded soldiers. The first picture shows the original front of the house with a large, covered entrance. Lingholm house was reduced in size in the late 1920s, but the basic shape of the gardens remained the same. The stone room, the largest room in the house with all the belongings shown, remained intact until the late 1990s.

Some of the Lingholm Team Circa 1960

Lingholm was as much about the people as the house and the estate. An integral part of Lingholm were the skilled professionals who worked and often lived on the estate. The team included tenant farmers, foresters, gardeners, joiners, a personal secretary, and other essential staff who managed the house, properties, and tearoom daily. They made the estate what it was and befriended and were important people in the lives of the Kemp children as they grew up.

Lingholm 2015

The entrance to Bryony's Garden, shown below (bottom row, far left), was built to commemorate the life of Bryony Kemp, the daughter of John and Elinor Rochdale.