Arts, crafts, and a lovely garden
Goddards is one of York’s most unsung attractions. An historic home, it possesses neither the grandeur of Castle Howard nor the antiquity of Treasurer’s House (see p. 204), but its charm works its magic on every visitor.
Noel Goddard Terry, one of the dynasty who ran the Terry’s chocolate factory, built Goddards as a family home for his wife and four children in 1927. The Arts and Crafts house was designed by famous York architect Walter Brierley, and there is handmade beauty in every corner. It remained in the Terry family until 1980, when it was acquired by the National Trust to be their Yorkshire regional office. The beautiful gardens opened to the public in 2006, before the trust restored seven rooms of the house to their original splendour and opened them in 2012.
Info
Address 27 Tadcaster Road, York, YO24 1GG, +44 (0)1904 771930, www.nationaltrust.org.uk/goddards-house-and-garden, goddards@nationaltrust.org.uk | Public Transport Bus 4 or 12 to the Marriott Hotel, then a 3-minute walk | Hours Times vary – open most days during the spring and summer, 10:30am–5pm| Tip Pick up the “Walk Through Chocolate” leaflet from Goddards to follow a guided tour of some other chocolate landmarks, leading you back to the city centre.
The drawing room has a sumptuous barrel-vaulted ceiling. Noel Terry’s taste for the 18th century is evidenced by the Georgian panel carved above the fireplace. The stairs are an embodiment of the Arts and Crafts movement, which favoured the skills of craftsmen over industrialised production processes. Beautiful carving on the oak stairwell is matched by the geometric lead patterning of the windows. Elsewhere you can admire a selection of William Morris-style wallpaper.
It’s a family-friendly place. On your way around you can pick up a pad and have a go at sketching the fineries within, or write a few words on the vintage typewriter. And the curators have successfully evoked a 1930s childhood, providing visitors with a sense of what it was like to grow up before the advent of screens. Noel’s two boys used to play cricket in the corridors (this isn’t encouraged today …).
Goddards regularly puts on historic displays. One that caused a lot of interest was a collection of old chocolate boxes. Who remembers the Terry’s Spartan assortment?
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