The Big House: The Story of a Country House and its Family

by christopher-simon-sykes

The highly praised biography of an archetypal great house and the family who lived there for over 250 years. 'The Big House' is the biography of a great country house and the lives of the Sykes family who lived there, with varying fates, for the next two hundred and fifty years. It is a fascinating social history set against the backdrop of a changing England, with a highly individual, pugnacious and self-determining cast, 'Old Tat' Sykes, said to be one of the great sights of Yorkshire (the author's great-great-great-grandfather), who wore 18th-century dress to the day of his death at ninety-one in 1861. His son was similarly eccentric, wearing eight coats that he discarded gradually throughout the day in order to keep his body temperature at a constant. He was forced to marry, aged forty-eight, eighteen-year-old Jessica Cavendish-Bentick -- a lively and highly intelligent woman who relieved the boredom of her marriage by acquiring a string of lovers, writing novels and throwing extravagant parties (her nickname became 'Lady Satin Tights'), all the while accumulating debts that ended in a scandalous court case. Their son, Mark, died suddenly whilst brokering the peace settlement at the Paris Peace Conference at the end of World War I; Sledmere was destroyed by fire shortly afterwards. But the rebuilt Sledmere rose from the flames to resound again with colourful, brilliant characters in the 1920s and 1930s including the author's grandmother, Lily, who had been a celebrated bohemian in Paris. 'The Big House' is vividly written and meticulously researched using the Sykes' own family's papers and photographs. In this splendid biography of place and time, Christopher Simon Sykes has resuscitated the lives of his ancestors and their glorious home from the 18th- through to the 20th-century.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Colin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anyone who has driven through the Yorkshire Wolds will be familiar with the signposts to Sledmere House. I’ve passed them many times but have never visited the house, although that will have to change now that I’ve read The Big House. The Sykes family have been at Sledmere since the middle of the eighteenth century and Christopher Simon Sykes’s excellent book, as its subtitle (‘the story of a country house and its family’) makes clear, is an intertwined story of place and people; separating one from the other a clear impossibility. The Big House pulls off the trick of being both intimate and expansive, focusing equally on domestic and personal dramas and the national and international scenes (particularly when it comes to Mark Sykes, the sixth Baronet, an explorer, politician, diplomat and co-creator of the Sykes-Picot plan which had far-reaching ramifications for inter-war Europe and beyond). Packed with larger than life characters and great stories, The Big House is thoroughly entertaining and hard to put down.

[Bernadette · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book at Easter when I paid my first visit to Sledmere House which is a small stately home about 12 miles from malton. I don't know why it's taken me so many years to visit because it is right up my street and it's very enticing every time I've driven past.
The book is about the history of the house and the family who have lived in it for several generations, written by one of the family. What a family! I really enjoyed the tales and characters although I had to keep looking back at the family tree to remind myself who was who. Worth a read but especially evocative if you've visited the house which is a gem.

[Darla Ebert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a compelling read, particularly after wading through the first 1/4 of the book. The earlier part is filled with a myriad of uninteresting details but these were probably included to lay a groundwork. The building blocks for the story refer to and revolve around the house itself which has endured for generations in spite of a fire at around early 20th century. The characters are very nearly caricatures of themselves, one ancestor's being unbelievably eccentric while his wife was a profligate alcoholic and gambler.

[Helen Carolan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a wonderful read. part history part family drama. it's the story of Sledmere, Mr Sykes's ancestral home.This had everything. Adultrey, drunks, gamblers playboys and the odd vicar. both comic and tragic, it's a wonderful history of a house and it's inhabitants.

[Claire]

An enjoyable and affectionate family history, written with a sense of fun and an eye for historical detail by a member of the family, this book is an engrossing and gossipy read.

[Catherine Jeffrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really interesting account of the history of Sledmere House and it’s inhabitants over the centuries.

[Mary Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I visited this house, Sledmere House and Garden when I was in Yorkshire England in August 2019; a beautiful home and even better gardens. I rated the book a 4 because of 'knowing the story' and the family/house history. If you have not been there it would probably be a 3. Interesting these Manor Houses and their family generations - even these affluent families have all sorts of problems and a few skeletons in the closet.

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Drags a bit in spots - lots of detail about house construction and so forth, but overall a compelling and moving drama about a family both victim and victimizer, about terrible people who somehow raise remarkable people, and about people chewed up and spit out by the peerage system.