DOOMSDAY LINK

Gisborne Times, Volume LXXX, Issue 12199, 10 March 1934, Page 9

DOOMSDAY LINK

BROKEN : BY- SALE 'OF DRAKE- : 1 • |-OWE ESTATE. " HELD FOR siToENERATIOXS.' • ; j. , ,>• ; * • i •• - * • ; LONDON, Dee. 30. Sentiment, played no part "in. the sale, by 'auctiou. of the romantic DraJcelowe Hall, which' stands '. in beautiful tiurrdu'n dings about a mile outside .thin .town and • was- the, seat of The Gresley .family .for 28 Ngene;vatiuns.

.Economic, conditions. ... aggravated bv taxation-.and not threatened extinction of the family , fine, ; brought tills fine, Elizabethan - mansion into the market, for Sir Robert- Gresley,it.fi owner, has .three sons. . There have been ; all. sorts of rumours as to the . mansion’s possible fate, and, there was-, a strong Reeling .Ihat - a house'of .such bisitoric - iijr terest should, be ■ acquired ’• by. 'tho Burton Corporation. • This sale,• left. the ’-fnture ! of- the mansion undetermined, -, tor although it, chjantzed -handis, ?. ijff wap ' Ltougbt, speculatively,: and on a .attempted resale .found* a- bidder. -•< 1-

If it- cannot be sold privately it will be demolishfed.' • I •’! - ; ; One small lot- had been sold •before bidding began, and with' this' exception the whole of •■the estate was knocked down lor STIS-oilO, the joint purchasers being Sir 'Albert Ball, a land agent, and Messrs.- Marshall Brothers, Ltd., timber' merchants, • o'l. Nottingham. The bidding was bv Mr. C. E. Marshall, and it was. confined to biin. for bo bid £12,000 and, when t.lie auctioneer - was .disposed to'break no the estate into lots, conceded the further £SOO which secured it. -1 C'LBfAX OF A TRAGEDY. The auctioneer referred to a Daily Mail article which mentioned the fact that with the passing of thi« old. hall a Doomsday link was being broken, and said: — ‘‘We have reached the climax of a tragedy in Urn passing out ot an old county family’s hands of a property that has been in their possession for 28 generation's.” Re reminded the town authorities that a judgment might be passed on them by future generations if they allowed a place of such historic importance to'be lost. As far as can bo ascertained the corporation did not require any land.