UK’s Firework Champions 2023: Newby Hall edition

Sept. 19, 2023

The SuperFireworks Co., Ltd. team continues to highlight the UK’s Fireworks Champions series. Today we talk about the fourth location of this event – Newby Hall.

Newby Hall is a country house beside the River Ure in the parish of Skelton-on-Ure in North Yorkshire, England. A Grade I listed building, the hall contains a collection of furniture and paintings and is surrounded by extensive gardens. When Sir Edward Blackett bought the manor of Newby in the 1690s, he demolished the existing manor house and in 1697 built a new mansion, reputedly with the assistance of Sir Christopher Wren – one of the most highly acclaimed architects in the history of England who was accorded responsibility for rebuilding 52 churches in the City of London after the Great Fire in 1666, including what is regarded as his masterpiece, St Paul's Cathedral!

During the 1760s the house of Newby Hall was improved and enlarged. The interior was remodelled, to the designs of several architects, including John Carr and Robert Adam. The building housed a great collection of Roman antiquities brought back from Italy by its owner, William Weddell.

In 1871–76 William Burges (one of the greatest Victorian art-architects) was commissioned to build the Church of Christ the Consoler in the grounds of Newby Hall. Also, an equestrian statue brought to England by the Vyners and erected in London after the 1660 Restoration of the Monarchy, modified to depict Charles II trampling Cromwell, was re-erected at Newby in 1883.

The present owners, who are matrilineal descendants of William Weddell, have restored the property. The gardens, which have extensive herbaceous borders and woodland walks, were developed in their present form by Major Edward Compton, who took over Newby in 1921. In 1973, a miniature railway was constructed; it was enlarged in 1985. Running along the bank of the river, a train is pulled by a Battison-built 1/5-scale model of the Royal Scot (6100) on Sundays and bank holidays.

In 2016, Gyles Brandreth moved his Teddy bear museum to Newby Hall.

…Needless to say, we are glad to share the link to the video of Firework Champions 2023 Newby Hall closing display by Dynamite Fireworks.

Stay tuned and stay super with SuperFireworks Company!