On offer: an original (i.e. not a later reproduction) scarce antique print "Steephill Castle, Isle of Wight. Seat of John Hambrough Esq.".
DATE PRINTED: 1856.
SIZE: The printed area including titles is approximately 14 x 9 cm, 5.5 x 3.5 inches (small) plus margins.
ARTIST/CARTOGRAPHER/ENGRAVER: Drawn by W. L. Leitch and engraved by William Bernard Cooke (1778 – 2 August 1855). William Leighton Leitch (2 Nov 1804 – 25 April 1883) was a master Scottish landscape watercolour painter and illustrator. He was Drawing Master to Queen Victoria for 22 years. He was Vice President of the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolours, on Pall Mall in London, for twenty years.
PROVENANCE: Published in "The History, Topography and Antiquities of the Isle of Wight". by W.H. Davenport Adams. Published in 1856 by J. Briddon, Ryde.
TYPE: Antique steel plate engraving printed on paper.
VERSO: There is nothing printed on the reverse side, which is blank.
CONDITION: Good, suitable for framing. Please check the scan for any blemishes prior to making your purchase. Virtually all antiquarian maps and prints are subject to some normal aging due to use and time which is not significant unless otherwise stated. I offer a no questions asked return policy.
AUTHENTICITY: This is an authentic antique print, published at the date stated above. I do not offer reproductions. It is not a modern copy. The term 'original' when applied to a print means that it was printed at the first or original date of publication; it does not imply that the item is unique.
RETURNS POLICY: I offer a no questions returns policy. All I ask is that you pay return shipping and mail back to me in original condition.
POSTAGE / SHIPPING COSTS: I only charge postage for the first print ordered. There is no additional postage charge if you order more than one print.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION: Steephill is a hamlet near Ventnor, Isle of Wight , previously the location of a Victorian country estate with a castle-style mansion, Steephill Castle, which was demolished to build bungalows in the 1960s. Steephill itself now forms part of the suburban development westward from Ventnor. Steephill was the location of a country estate since the time of Hans Stanley, governor of the Isle of Wight, who built there in landscaped surroundings a rustic-style house called The Cottage during his first term of office 1764-1768. After his death the estate was purchased by Wilbraham Tollemache. It was his favourite residence until his death in 1821, after which the estate was sold in 1828 to John Hambrough, who built Steephill Castle in 1835 on the site of The Cottage. Its next owner was John Morgan Richards, an American businessman who bought it in 1903. His daughter, the novelist Pearl Mary Teresa Craigie (pseudonym "John Oliver Hobbes") lived near the Castle from 1900–1906, writing a number of her works there. The Castle was auctioned after Richards' death after World War I. It then saw service as a hotel with the Holiday Friendship Association (with a period as a school during World War II) until 1959, when upkeep and fire safety issues made this use increasingly unviable. Unused, its condition deteriorated thereafter, until a demolition order was obtained in 1963.
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