Downham Hall Inventories

Collection

Identifier: MS.061

Staff Only

Scope and Content Note

Two attached lined notebooks containing two inventories of the contents of Downham Hall in 1880 and 1881. The first, "An Inventory of the Household Furniture, Books, Pictures, and Effects at Downham Hall," completed in October of 1880 and carried through both notebooks, details the contents of 50 rooms and spaces within the house as well as outbuildings and gardens. Also includes loose page tallying the number of plants in the gardens, greenhouse, conservatory, etc.

The second inventory, "List of Furniture at Downham Hall belonging to Edward Philippe Mackenzie," completed in September of 1881, begins at the last page of the first notebook and runs upside down and backwards. This inventory details Edward Philippe Mackenzie's furniture, rugs, pictures, linens, and other furnishings found in 18 rooms.

Dates

Creation: 1880-1881

Access Restrictions

These records are open for research by appointment under the conditions of The Frick Collection/Frick Art Reference Library Archives Access Policy. For all inquiries or to schedule an appointment, please contact the Archives Department at archives@frick.org.

Historical Note

Downham Hall was an estate located in the village of Santon Downham in the Forest Heath district of Suffolk in eastern England. Edward Mackenzie Esq. purchased Downham Hall from Lord William Paulett in 1871. When Mackenzie died in 1880, he left the estate to his son, William Dalziel Mackenzie Esq., but gave the occupation of Downham Hall to his younger son, Colonel Edward Philippe Mackenzie (1842-1929). During the time that the Mackenzies occupied Downham Hall, it was described as a "noble mansion built of white Suffolk brick, situated in a well-timbered park...the heart of an extensive game preserve, and the gardens are laid out in the Italian style." The estate was used by the military in World War I, and then sold by the family in 1918. It passed through the hands of a succession of land speculators and companies before it was acquired by the Forestry Commission in 1924. The Hall was demolished sometime between 1925 and 1927.