Since the Second World War, Britain has lost about 1,000 of its finest grand houses and now, nearly a third of the nation’s stately homes no longer exist.
In the 1950s, the Government raised death duties as high as 80 per cent and mysteriously, after surviving centuries, many stately homes suddenly went up in flames.
Their demise was also due to various reasons, including reduced income, societal changes and poor maintenance.
Leicestershire lost several stately homes, not least the magnificent piles at Gopsall and Garendon. Had attractive Gumley Hall, pictured here, survived another decade, it may have escaped demolition.
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It was built in 1764 by Joseph Cradock, a friend of both Dr Johnson and David Garrick. He was also influential in county affairs.
In Cradock’s day, the hall was the centre of the county’s artistic and social life and it had extensive grounds, including a lake.
The original caption, from September 1963, wasn’t so much concerned with the demolition, but the immediate happenings.
It said: “Hundreds of valuable slates were smashed when the west wing roof of Gumley Hall collapsed during a fire.
“It is estimated 70 per cent of the roof was damaged in the blaze, which is believed to have been started by sparks from burning rubbish.
“The hall, former home of Lieut-Col O A Murray-Smith, a joint master of the Fernie Hunt, is being demolished and unwanted wood and other debris is being burnt in the hall grounds.
“Firemen from Kibworth and Market Harborough fought the outbreak using water from a hydrant at the hall entrance, then running more than 1,000 yards of hose to the lake in the grounds. Some of the hose was damaged when it was buried under debris as the roof collapsed.”
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Article source: http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/sad-end-county-s-finest-houses/story-17815240-detail/story.html