Holker Hall - Present Day

Present Day

The hall continues to be the home of Lord Cavendish and his wife. The older wing is used by the family and is not open to the public. At each end of the long central corridor in this wing are spiral staircases, which are contained in semicircular projections. On one side of the corridor are rooms including a drawing room and a small dining room. On the other side are service rooms, and behind these is a courtyard. The contents of the wing include panelling removed from Canon Winder Hall, Flookburgh, a chimneypiece from Conishead Priory, and a pair of Baroque barley-sugar columns.

The part of the hall open to the public is Paley and Austin's west wing. The entrance porch leads into a long hall, which opens into the library, the billiards room, the drawing room and the dining room; all of these rooms have elaborately decorated plaster ceilings. In the library are about 3,500 books, some of which survived the 1871 fire, and some of the former possessions of the scientist Henry Cavendish (1731-1810), including his microscope. On the walls of the billiards room are four painted panels that are attributed to Jean-Baptiste Oudry, a caricature by Joshua Reynolds, and paintings by Jan Wyck and Matthias Reed. The walls of the drawing room are lined in silk, and the room contains a Carrara marble fireplace. Paintings in the room are by Claude Joseph Vernet (its companion-piece was destroyed in the fire), Salvatore Rosa, and Douglas Anderson. The furniture in the dining room includes chairs by Thomas Chippendale. On the walls are portraits of family members, and a self-portrait by Anthony van Dyck. At the far end of the entrance hall is a cantilevered oak staircase which is approached through limestone arches. It contains over 100 balusters, each of which is carved with a different design. Its windows contain heraldic stained glass. The upper floor contains a gallery and four bedrooms. In the gallery are items of furniture, and these include a table with a purse once belonging to Georgiana Cavendish. Queen Mary's Bedroom gained its name when it was used by Queen Mary when she stayed in the house in 1937. The Wedgwood Bedroom contains a Carrera marble fireplace incorporating blue and white Wedgwood Jasperware. The four-poster bed is by Hepplewhite. The Gloucester Bedroom and Dreesing Room gained their names when they were used by the Duke of Gloucester and his wife when they visited in 1939. The walls are decorated with engravings of Brighton Pavilion by John Nash. The Duke's Bedroom was used by the 7th Duke during the later years of his life.

The formal gardens comprise 10 hectares, and the surrounding parkland, deer park and woodland, comprise 80 hectares. The formal gardens are on the south and west sides of the house, and to the north and west are pleasure gardens with a winding path leading to and through the arboretum. The formal garden to the south of the west wing is known as the Elliptical Garden, and to the left of this is the Summer Garden. To the northwest of the hall is the Rose Garden containing a pair of summer houses. The pleasure gardens include a cedar planted by Lord George Cavendish in the late 18th century, and an Auracaria planted in 1844. There are also two areas of kitchen gardens, one to the northwest of the hall, and the other to the north of the B5278 road.

Parts of the hall and the gardens are open to the general public during the summer months, an admission charge being payable. The former stable buildings have been converted into a café and gift shop. Events are organsied from time to time in the house and grounds, including an annual garden festival.