Appleby Hall

This excellent article, taken from the publication,
‘Lost Country Houses of Lincolnshire Volume 5’, is reproduced with the kind permission of Robert Pacey, Old Chapel Lane Books, Burgh-le-Marsh.
The book also includes articles about Panton Hall, Scrivelsby Court, Hartsholme Hall, Shillingthorpe Hall and Grainsby Hall.
For full details about the publisher please go to the Links page.

According to White’s Directory for 1872, Appleby Hall was a ‘substantial mansion enlarged about the year 1822 and again in 1862, and commanding extensive views of the wolds, the property of Charles Winn, Esq.’ Appleby was visited by Edward Willson, the Lincoln architect and antiquary c. 1828 and he noted ‘The Hall a comfortable house built by the late Sir R. W. About 1770-5 and now enlarging for a hunting lodge’. William Fowler the architect, of Winterton, may have designed the additions to the house, as he was working on Appleby Church at the time and in his correspondence there is a letter to him from his son, dated june 2nd 1827 stating ‘We are just beginning a considerable enlargement of Mr Winn’s house at Appleby.’ Claude Nattes’s drawing done in 1794, shows no side wings so they may have been part of the 1820’s enlargement.
The Winn family had owned property in North Lincolnshire since the 16th centaury. They are said to have bought Appleby from the Anderson family of Many Hall near Broughton. George Winn was created a Baronet by Charles II at the Restoration in 1660 and his son Sir Rowland, the second Baronet was the first in a series of Baronets all called Rowland in succession down to the sixth who died unmarried, and without leaving a will in 1805. He was succeeded by the son of his sister John Williamson who changed his name to Winn and in turn left the estate to his brother, Charles.
Rowland Winn, the elder son of Charles, probably took up residence at Appleby soon after he attained his majority in 1841. After his marriage to Harriet Dumaresque the Hall was again enlarged, like many other country houses at that time, by the addition of stables and a servants wing. In 1858 Winn began to look for ironstone on the Estate with the help of expert. He was successful in 1859. He then was influential in the opening of the Trent, Ancholme and Grimsby Railway, which linked the South Yorkshire Railway at Keadby with the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway at Barnetby. This enabled materials to be transported in and out of the growing iron works and transformed the Scunthorpe area from five small villages into an industrial town.
Rowland Winn lived at Appleby until he succeeded his father in 1874, when he moved to Nostell, and his mother and unmarried sisters lived at Appleby. In the 1870’s there was an outbreak of Typhoid fever in Appleby and Winn had many of the old thatched cottages pulled down and the present stone estate cottages date from this time. In 1885 Winn was created Baron St. Oswald in recognition of his work as Conservative Whip and he built St John’s Church in Scunthorpe to celebrate the event. He had been MP for the North Lincolnshire division from 1868-1885. He used Appleby as an occasional residence until his death in 1893.
In 1896 his widow came back to live at Appleby Hall. Having spent her early married life there, she was well known and popular. She was a keen gardener and laid out the grounds of the house. She died that the hall in 1926, and after the death of her unmarried daughter the Hon Edith Winn in 1927, the house stood empty for some years. The contents were sold by auction on April 21st to 27th 1928. In 1933 the main part of the house was destroyed by fire leaving only the servants quarters and the stable block which still stands. The remains of the house were demolished by Home Guard practicing during the 2nd World War, leaving the parkland and kitchen garden to grow wild.

old b&w hall-000