Hopton Hall 1951
The Drawing Room 1951
The Hall 1951
Hopton Hall 1951
See the Catalogue of the auction of
Hopton Hall contents in 1989.
See Hopton Hall and the Gell family
for a more detailed description of the complex Gell family history.
See Hopton Hall and the Gell family for a more detailed description of the complex Gell family history.
Hopton Hall is the ancestral home of the Gell family, one of the oldest families in England with a tradition of service in the Army, Navy, Parliament and the Church.
In 1371, Robert Gyle de Hopton is recorded as having leased land in the village.
Royalists sacked Hopton Hall in 1644.
When Philip Gell died in 1795, he was succeeded by his son, also called Philip, who re-modelled Hopton Hall, joining the two Elizabethan wings together with a flagade of an arch and adding the large dining room. He also built a writing room for his wife, Georgina, at the far end of the house.
Philip Gell decided the main road past the house was too near to his property so he realigned it and built the high ribbon wall with six curves (see photograph below) to the north of the kitchen garden. He also instructed the builders to con struct a summer house with a view over the garden and to go on building until he told them to stop.
He then drove off to Westminster in his coach and due to a delay, on his return, the summer house had reached two storeys! (also pictured below). He was also responsible for building a road called the Via Gellia, primarily to cart lead from his mines at Hopton to be washed at the water wheel at Cromford. While the road was being built, a funerary urn was unearthed by a workman which contained human remains. It was inscribed with the name Philipus Gellius, Centurian 111 Cohort. Philip Gell died in 1842.
Dates:
Photo taken:1951
Size:
Source:Auction catalogue
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