Victorian time capsule: exhibition tells story of Brodsworth Hall in Yorkshire
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<p>Sylvia Grant-Dalton disliked house so never modernised it – putting her energy into gardening, floral displays and art</p><p>Sylvia Grant-Dalton was the custodian of a grand Victorian house that she never liked and never modernised, failing to replace peeling wallpaper, fraying carpets or broken shutters.</p><p>Nor was she able to sort out rampant rising damp or multiple pest infestations. For all of that, English Heritage is profoundly grateful.</p> <a
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Victorian time capsule: exhibition tells story of Brodsworth Hall in Yorkshire Sylvia Grant-Dalton disliked house so never modernised it – putting her energy into gardening, floral displays and art Sylvia Grant-Dalton was the custodian of a grand Victorian house that she never liked and never modernised, failing to replace peeling wallpaper, fraying carpets or broken shutters. Nor was she able to sort out rampant rising damp or multiple pest infestations. For all of that, English Heritage is profoundly grateful. “She never did modernise, thank goodness,” said Eleanor Matthews, a curator at Brodsworth Hall , near Doncaster in South Yorkshire. “It is one of the reasons the house was saved for the nation.” The house is a Victorian time capsule and its survival is very much down to the grit and determination of Grant-Dalton, who lived there more than five decades, until her death in 1988. This weekend, an exhibition opens to the public celebrating Grant-Dalton by telling the story of her true passion: gardening and flowers. Curators have mined her extensive collection of floral paraphernalia and decorative art and objects to create an exhibition they hope will bring some much-needed joy. “We’ll definitely perk people’s spirits up,” said Matthews Grant-Dalton lived at Brodsworth Hall between 1931 and 1988, longer than anyone else. She said she disliked it, preferring Georgian interiors and houses. But her marriage to Charles Grant-Dalton, who inherited the house, meant she was stuck with Victorian. Despite the antipathy and the endless costs of maintaining a house such as Brodsworth , Grant-Dalton was committed to keeping it as best she could after her husband died in 1952. It was left in trust to their daughter Pamela, and Sylvia viewed following that through as a lifetime commitment. “She was wonderfully eccentric, fiercely independent, charismatic,” said Matthews. “When younger relatives came to stay, they would slide down the banister of the main staircase and cycle ...
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