It was with great pleasure and much enthusiasm that I settled down to read Michael Rochford’s book Tales From the Big House: Nostell Priory. I found it a very fascinating experience reading about the house I know and love so well through the eyes of someone else and I thoroughly enjoyed every page. A very well-documented and enjoyable read.

Review by Lord St Oswald, November 2019

As a young boy in the fifties, I would be shoehorned into the back seat of my father’s dilapidated Ford 8 for a Sunday spin into the Yorkshire countryside. One of my favourite destinations was Nostell Priory, not least because with luck there’d be a hold-up in the traffic on our way back to Huddersfield, and I’d miss having to sing in the choir for Evensong. Nostell might have been the target, but we never went into the house and I hadn’t a clue about its history, a deficiency I never really missed until I read Michael Rochford’s entertaining book.

Founded in around 1121, the Priory led the uneventful life common to most monastic communities until the sixteenth century when it was quickly dissolved under claims of scandalous behaviour, being purchased by the very agent who had inspected and condemned it, Dr Thomas Legh. From this point onwards the history of the house becomes engrossing, passing through successive owners until it became the seat of the Winn family, whose life reads like episodes of a period drama, with the arrival of the Swiss-born wife of the future fifth baronet in 1761, the elopement of their daughter with the household’s baker, estrangements and reconciliations, and the clandestine marriage in 1915 of the family’s heir to a chorus girl. Amidst all this turmoil, grandiose plans, especially of the fourth and fifth baronets resulted in the building of a fine Palladian mansion, with decoration by Robert Adam and furnishings by Thomas Chippendale, one the finest collections in the country.
Now looked after by the National Trust, the house is visited by many thousands each year, and it is fitting that the quality of workmanship displayed inside is matched by Rochford’s book. Well and clearly written, much of it based on original correspondence, it is an entertaining read and in no way deferential to the Winn family, with emphasis placed on their heyday in the rumbustious eighteenth century. They appear as they were, an aristocratic family, ambitious for effect, feuding among themselves, unwilling to pay their bills, and with little concern for others. Illustrations, which appear throughout the book, are totally relevant, and the list of sources is quite comprehensive considering the book’s popular appeal, appearing with rather more description than usual about their use in research on the house’s history.

In all, a highly recommended book. Its appeal is likely to be to those who visit the house or live nearby, rather than elsewhere in the country, though I could imagine any reader would be interested in the goings-on of the Winn family in the eighteenth century.

Family & Community Historical Research Society

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I really enjoyed reading this book. It was clearly written and a great deal of research had obviously gone into it. A highly prized find!

Amazon Customer

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This is Mr Rochford's second book and, like his first, it is very well written and obviously very well researched. Mr Rochford really brings his subject to life in a most entertaining way. If you buy this book, you won't be disappointed. A wonderful book.

Amazon Customer

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A very interesting and informative read. I Liked it very much!

Amazon Customer

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A lot of research has gone into this book. The author gives a fascinating insight into the families who lived in Nostell Priory in the past to the present day. Although this is not a guide book, there are lots of interesting details about the house and its contents. I enjoyed reading about Thomas Chippendale and the furniture he made for Nostell Priory, which is still in situ. There are some good pictures in the book, plus old recipes and old newspaper articles about the people of Nostell.

Amazon Customer