THE selected contents of a stately home are to be auctioned after the death of the owner.
The antique items of Forcett Hall, Forcett, are to go under the hammer at Tennants on March 19 and 20. It follows the death of owner James Edwards-Heathcote in January aged 69.
Forcett Hall had been in the possession of the Shuttleworth family of Lancashire for centuries. Originally a Elizabethan house, it was remodelled in 1710.
Following a fire in 1726, it was substantially redesigned by architect Daniel Garrett in the Palladian style for MP Richard Shuttleworth.
The hall remained in the Shuttleworth family until 1938 when it was bought by Lieutenant Colonel Hardress Waller, passing more recently to the Edwards-Heathcotes.
Among the items that will go under the hammer are paintings, silver, furniture, jewellery, ceramics, watches and country house furniture.
A rare later 17th century book on mathematics written by Sarah North, a student under Elizabeth Beane, “mistress in the art of writing and arithmetic”, has a guide price of £1,000 to £1,500.
Also of note are an 18 carat gold repeating pocket watch made by Hubert Sarton of Liege, once the property of Sir Nigel Bowyer Gresley, 7th Baronet (£1,000-£1,500) and a Victorian Silver Cup by Frederick Elkington of London, engraved with an inscription to Captain JH Edwards-Heathcote, estimated at between £500 to £800.
An engraved printing block, with a view of Forcett Hall, is estimated at between £50 £70.
A catalogue is available at www.tennants.co.uk and remote bidding is available.
