Writer donates photographs of literary dynasty’s home to resort
THE WRITER William Sitwell has donated newly discovered photographs of Woodend, the literary dynasty’s summer home in Scarborough, to the trust that now owns the building.
Sir George Sitwell’s three children – Osbert, Edith and Sacheverell, who all became eminent writers – spent their summers at Woodend, a marine villa that had its own pottery studio in a folly tower in the garden.
The family’s association with Woodend ended in 1934, when Scarborough Borough Council bought the house and it became a natural history museum. It is now run as a creative space for artists.
The Sitwell siblings found literary fame in London, where they were at the centre of a writers’ circle in the 1920s. Although the family seat is now in Northamptonshire, food writer William Sitwell, the brother of the current baronet, has paid homage to the family’s links to Scarborough by giving a series of photographs of Woodend to the Scarborough Museums Trust. William, the grandson of Sacheverell, was clearing some family belongings when he came across the collection of images from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Rooms depicted include the entrance hall, living rooms and a palm- filled glasshouse.
Mr Sitwell said: “I’ve visited Scarborough on many occasions and have always relished a trip to Woodend, now a creative hub run by a collection of talented people my ancestors would be proud of.
“But it’s always strange walking round a museum and wondering what it must have been like as a home, with the presence of my eccentric forebears.
“When I came across these old photographs the settings looked familiar and then I realised they were of Woodend, fully furnished and looking very Victorian.
“I knew at once they should be sent to Andrew Clay who would cherish them and share them with visitors.
“They bring a wonderful insight to a lost era.”