Opening a Treasure Chest a peek at a Victorian family through their surviving letters: Liz Davenport of Woodchester Mansion

Woodchester Mansion is the unfinished masterpiece of the young local Victorian architect Benjamin Bucknall. It stands today as evidence of both his interest in the work of the French architect Viollet-le-Duc and the quality of the craftsmanship and perfection demanded by his patron, the wealthy Catholic convert William Leigh. The incomplete state enables people to understand how a neo-Gothic house was constructed. The talk will explore the development of the Mansion using surviving contemporary drawings and archive material from the Leigh family. It will explain why the building was never completed and update you on the latest conservation work.
Liz has been a volunteer at Woodchester Mansion for over twenty years and a trustee since 2016.
In this time she’s done all the tasks needed on public open days except driving the bus. Her main duties as a trustee involve management of open days, assisting with finance and marketing, and writing proposals for grants. Liz is also the volunteer archivist at the Mansion and has extensively researched the history of the building and the Leigh family, and written a book.

This is an online event. Any member who has a computer, tablet or smart phone, will be able to join in using Zoom via a link that we will send you. You will not need a Zoom account. You can see some background on Zoom meetings.

If you have already joined one of our on line talks or asked to be sent details of them we will send an invitation to this talk. This email will offer you the option to say that you do wish to join this specific talk and we will then send you the Zoom  link later.

If you have not  joined one of our talks and would like to attend this one please email events@gfhs.org.uk. Click on the link to open a draft email in your mail program. You can then add any comments and send it.

We will send you the specific link to join the event a day or so before.