EDINBURGH.- Major contents from Lingholm House , the Lake District home of Lord and Lady Rochdale, will be sold at Lyon & Turnbull in Edinburgh on the 22nd October 2013. Between 1885 and 1907 the author and illustrator Beatrix Potter spent nine summers at Lingholm, often with family and friends, walking, writing and sketching in the woodland and grounds. The woods of Lingholm, with its population of red squirrels, were the direct inspiration for the Tale of Squirrel Nutkin and the source of many of its illustrations. Beatrix made several sketches of the extensive kitchen garden and mentioned it as a possible background to the Tale of Peter Rabbit, and several of her most famous tales including Mrs. Tiggywinkle and Benjamin Bunny were inspired and illustrated during her time spent at Lingholm.

Built in the 1870s for Colonel J F Greenall of the Greenall brewing family, Lingholm was designed by Alfred Waterhouse (1830-1905), Of note in the sale is a rare Charles II 17th century box valued at £2,500, a gift from the King to visiting foreign ambassadors. Under the Tudors and Stuarts the giving of presents played an important part in diplomacy, and a number of these highly ornamented specimens are said to have been presented by Charles II to foreign ambassadors. There is a Tyrolean carved limewood figure of St Michael, 16th Century, £4,000-6,000, a French carved walnut credence, 16th Century, £3,000-5,000, a rare James I carved oak coffer, early 16th Century, £2,500-3,500, a Flemish tapestry panel, 16th century, depicting the Creation of Adam, the Temptation and Expulsion from the Garden, £15,000-25,000 and an Italian maiolica ‘Turkish Horseman’ lustre dish, Deruta circa 1520, £6,000-8,000.

The Estate was purchased by Colonel George Kemp, later the 1st Baron Rochdale, grandfather of the current Lord Rochdale, in the early 1900s. The house was extensively remodeled at that time with wings knocked down and extensions made and improvements to the gardens. Lingholm lies on the western shore of Derwentwater in the heart of the northern Lake District and has been home to the Rochdale family for over a hundred years.

Lord Rochdale said “It is with great sadness that we have decided to sell both Lingholm and some of its wonderful contents. It’s an extraordinary place with an extraordinary story, but the time has come for us to pass the huge responsibility of its upkeep and care to others. My wife Elizabeth, and I have now decided to move to a nearby property, so we will retain our links with the area. We hope that that the future owners will get as much pleasure from the many beautiful things as we have.”