In these days of statue demolition and attempts to erase history, I find myself relieved that marauding anarchists tend to urbanites who don't actually know much about the past. Otherwise, I'd be quite concerned about England's grand country houses. Harewood, a palatial neo-classical gem that dominates the countryside between Leeds and Harrogate, would certainly be in the firing line.
Many of England's great families made a fortune in West Indian sugar, a trade dependent on slavery, but the Lascelles were particularly good at it. Not only did they profit from their own estates, but throughout the American revolution they took advantage of war's disruption of trade, calling in loans and buying up the plantations of those who couldn't weather the storm. By 1799 the Lascelles were reckoned to be the 3rd wealthiest family in the country, and had been raised to the peerage. But they'd committed the social sin of earning their money, rather than inheriting it. And earning it in a trade that was increasingly seen as unsavoury.
Harewood House is a magnificent example of whitewashing your origins with grand art and architecture. The first Baron Lascelles went "by the book", drafting in only the best to create something at the pinnacle of establishment taste. John Carr of York for the classical Roman-style exterior, Robert Adam for opulent neo-classical interiors, Chippendale for furniture, Capability Brown for the landscape, European masters mixed with England's best portrait artists on the walls. If you want to see one place that defines the best that money could buy in the late 18th century, this is it.
Succeeding Lascelles family members, thankfully, resisted any temptation for radical modernisation. They've enhanced the house ... art, furniture, a sympathetic addition ... but it all fits into the original masterpiece. An enormous, rather brutal early 20th century sculpture is a startling yet somehow cohesive introduction in the marble entrance hall. Adams' long gallery shows off an old-masters collection acquired 150 years after its construction. (The 6th Earl supervised his agents to collect across Europe while he was in the trenches of WWI. One assumes that, like his ancestors, he was maximising the opportunities of war.) The current generation has rolled out a show of modern art created with feathers in honour of the estate's exotic bird collection. Some are puzzling, some creepy, but the "rug" that uses feathers to mirror the swirling patterns of the ceiling above it is captivating. You'll learn what's what thanks to a digital guide you can bring up on your phone, prompted by a QR code in the lobby. Modernisation where it makes sense.
Given my love of all things Robert Adam, Harewood is most precious to me for its ceilings, all in excellent shape and returned to original colours in recent restorations. Many retain their matching, specially-woven carpets below and combine in what some find a shocking array of Easter egg pastels. Harewood won't let you forget that the Georgians loved colour. It also has one of my favourite libraries in the country, in which Adam designed bookshelves as gently curving apses so readers could literally be surrounded by knowledge.
Though the interiors are open, social distancing rules made the upstairs impossible, so we missed out on a series of bedrooms that include some fabulous canopied beds, rare Chinese hand-painted wall paper and an art deco bathroom built for royalty. But given the treasures on display on the main floor, we didn't feel short-changed.
That all of this is in such good shape, and that there are new things being added to the family collection, probably has something to do with the house's frequent use in films. Its extensive 19th-century service wing is the set for all of the "below stairs" scenes in Victoria. It's grand enough to have stood in for Buckingham Palace in the films King Ralph and King Charles III, and featured as itself in the recent Downton Abbey film. The 6th Earl married the only daughter of King George V in 1922, Mary; the film showed a visit to the princess in her home. Less opulent, though probably just as lucrative, the soap opera Emmerdale films in a model village set in the grounds.
The estate often hosts music concerts, pop-up drive in cinemas and other events, has developed an interesting zoo and exotic bird display and has one of the most sophisticated children's play areas I've ever seen, with a profusion of turrets, slides and swinging bridges. The 1st Earl might have been trying to disguise his talent in business, but you get the feeling his descendants are still quite good at it.
Marrying into the royal family was a coup, of course, and the family connection was enhanced when Tommy Lascelles, a grandson of the 4th earl and cousin to the 6th, became trusted private secretary to both George VI and Elizabeth II. Rather surprisingly, The Crown has not filmed here.
The royal connection certainly enhanced the grounds, however. Princess Mary was a keen gardener; you can even see her spades in a small museum inside the house dedicated to her life here. The famous terraces stepping down from the back of the house are her design, an unusual mix of rigidly formal parterres and dreamy, cottage-style borders. She and her husband embraced the fashion for rock gardens in the 1930s, installing an enormous version with car-sized boulders, cascading water and paths through deep ravines. Current family members restored and updated it in 2009 as a "Himalayan" garden, heavy on primulas, orchids, lilies and poppies in addition to the original wide variety of rhododendron. There's even an authentic Bhuddist stupa tucked in the hills.
The sprawling grounds also feature a walled garden ornamentally planted with fruit, veg and flowers and those birds and beasts, who live in what's actually called a bird garden. On a hot, humid August day you're more likely to appreciate the dense, exotic planting than the birds, many of whom were wisely hiding deep in cool, shady undergrowth. The flamingos, however, were in their element.
Harewood is a model for aristocratic estates that have managed to stay in private ownership: a diversified attraction with something for everyone, regularly updating to keep things fresh yet leaving its core appeal untouched. It's a delicious irony that a house initially created to disguise its owners talent in business has flourished because the family never lost its commercial savvy. One thing the 1st Earl would not have been hiding was his ownership of slaves, something that at the time was both legal and unexceptional. Fortunately, the Lascelles have had a talent for moving with the times. No contemporary will deny the ugly taint on the origin of the family money, but we can also celebrate that over the years Harewood has evolved into something that serves, delights and employs both its immediate community, and those who come to visit from around the world.
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