Towneley from A to Z
Towneley from A to Z
In 1901, Lady O'Hagan purchased the Pyrgo Park Estate, Havering, Essex. That is where most of the family portraits, sculpture and furniture went after she left Towneley Hall in 1902.
Pyrgo Park had a rich history with royal connections but the house itself was built in the 19th century. The picture above, from a sales catalogue of 1919, shows the picture gallery,added to the house by Lady O'Hagan in 1905. (The sales catalogue, on loan from the O'Hagan family, is stored in the Library.)
The house was eventually sold by Maurice O'Hagan in 1925. It was demolished by Essex Council around 1940 (see lost country houses). Five marble busts returned to Towneley on loan in August 1926 but the family portraits were moved to Ickworth Lodge in Suffolk before most of them were sold in 1939.