The centenary of the First World War, commemorated this year, has highlighted tales of loss, bereavement, courage and bravery from across the social divide.

Yorkshire’s country houses played a significant role in the war – as revealed in a series of exhibitions at historic venues throughout this year.

A Yorkshire Country House Partnership project, the exhibitions explore and catalogue the impact and experiences of war on the diverse communities of the ‘big houses’, the estates, and the working villages across the county.

Duty Calls: The Country House in Time of War is showing at nine of Yorkshire’s major historic houses – Beningbrough Hall near York; Brodsworth Hall, Doncaster; Castle Howard, near York; Kiplin Hall, Richmond; Lotherton Hall, Leeds; Newby Hall, Ripon; Nostell Priory, Wakefield; and Sewerby Hall at Sewerby near Bridlington.

Simultaneous interlinked exhibitions and programmes of events and activities highlight and explore each house’s own circumstances, collections and stories, chronicling how these estates and communities faced the hardships of war across three centuries.

Photographs, paintings, military memorabilia and a rich selection of letters, journals, and estate papers form the basis of the displays and trails, telling poignant stories of courage, loss, bereavement, support and dedication.

Some houses focus on personal experiences of military combat, some on how war affected the use of the house itself and the running of the estate, or the lives of those left at home, community initiatives and war work, as well as the economic and social consequences of war in the aftermath.

Duty Calls provides fascinating insights into the important, and sometimes unexpected, roles played by country houses and their communities, in time of war.

Beningbrough Hall was requisitioned as a billet and mess for the Royal Canadian Air Force. Its exhibition focuses on poignant and awe-inspiring tales of the men and women who stayed there during the Second World War.

At Brodsworth Hall, visitors can explore life on the estate in both world wars, finding out about those who left to serve abroad and those who left behind at home supporting the war efforts.

The exhibition includes letters from men in the trenches thanking a schoolgirl for her knitting them garments.

Duty comes in many forms, and aristocratic men and women have responded to this call in various ways – military, political, religious, and social, as Castle Howard’s exhibition reveals.

Generations of Howard sons went to fight overseas, but the impact of war was often felt more powerfully at home, where bereavement and loss were shared by the Howard family, staff and tenants, with many commemorated on war memorials in estate villages. An accompanying book is published this year.

Kiplin Hall highlights the extraordinary Miss Bridget Talbot, the last owner of the house and estate, who served with the Red Cross in the First World War, invented a torch for life-jackets that saved many lives in the Second World War, and oversaw Kiplin as a RAF maintenance unit. Poignant stories and previously unseen archive material are highlighted in the exhibition, running until October 29.

At Lotherton Hall, an exhibition called Family Duty and Honour traces the long history of the hall and the Gascoigne family, from the American War of Independence to the Second World War, via Lotherton’s use as a military hospital in the First World War.

Newby Hall was reserved as a safe haven for the Royal family, in case Britain’s Royal Palaces were to come under attack. This meant Newby’s role in the Second World War was shrouded in secrecy and intrigue, as the house had to be ready to receive the Royal party with just six hours’ notice. The exhibition runs until September 28.

Original research undertaken in 2013 as part of the Duty Calls project funded by Heritage Lottery Fund uncovered letters written to Lord St Oswald, owner of Nostell Priory, by his children between 1914-1918.

Unseen for 100 years, the stories they told reveal that the war, its duration and the various injuries – there were reports of death and loss – had a profound psychological impact on the family, resulting in various scandals, romances and profligate spending habits.

Rowland George Winn’s marriage to Evie Carew, a chorus girl, coupled with his extravagant spending habits, demonstrated a “devil may care” attitude which it is believed resulted from his experiences at war.

Sewerby Hall’s exhibition contrasts the experiences of the Lloyd Greame family and their estate workers during the First and Second World Wars.

It chronicles the history of the hall from being a country house estate to being requisitioned as a convalescent home for RAF personnel. Runs until September 1.

The Yorkshire Country House Partnership is a collaboration between partnership houses across Yorkshire and the University of York, dedicated to research into the history of these houses, investigating their architecture, landscapes, families, archives, collections and local communities.

Duty Calls follows hugely popular earlier joint exhibitions projects Maids and Mistresses and Work and Play, and is supported by Heritage Lottery Fund.

Factfile:

  • Beningbrough Hall is at Beningbrough, York. Ring (01904) 472027 or visit
  • nationaltrust.org.uk
  • Brodsworth Hall is at Brodsworth, Doncaster. Ring 0870 3331181, or visit english-heritage.org.uk
  • Castle Howard is off the A64 near York. Ring (01653) 648333, or visit
  • castlehoward.co.uk
  • Kiplin Hall is at Richmond, North Yorkshire. Ring (01748) 818178, or visit kiplinhall.co.uk
  • Lotherton Hall is at Aberford near Leeds. Ring (0113) 3782959, or go to
  • visitleeds.co.uk
  • Newby Hall and Gardens are at Ripon, North Yorkshire. Ring 0845 4504068, or visit newbyhallandgardens.com
  • Nostell Priory is on Doncaster Road, Nostell, Wakefield. Ring (01924) 863892, or visit nationaltrust.co.uk
  • Sewerby Hall is on Church Lane, Sewerby, Bridlington, Ring (01262) 673769, or visit sewerbyhall.co.uk
  • For more about Duty Calls, visit ychp.org.uk