Stuart GouldenOne of York’s hidden gems is set to open its doors for the first time this summer, telling the story of one of the city’s most famous sons.
Goddards is the house and garden Noel Terry built for his family in 1927, close to the Terry’s of York factory. When the house opens on Saturday 21 July, in six weeks time, the National Trust will be telling the story of the family, their factory and presenting a chocolate box of memories for York’s 1930s hey days. The Terry family lived at Goddards until 1980 when it was acquired by the National Trust for use as their regional office for Yorkshire and in 2006 the Trust opened the gardens to visitors.
Opening next weekend the National Trust will be telling the story of Noel Terry, his family, life at the famous chocolate factory as well as the hey-days of 1930s York.
Holly Brett, General Manager for Goddards, said: “The house and gardens came to the National Trust in 1984; just after all of the Terry furniture had been donated to Fairfax House. We’ve taken a blank canvas of office space and transformed it into an exciting new visitor attraction.”
The house is not a complete recreation of how it looked when the Terry’s lived at Goddards (original furniture from the house is now permanent display at York’s Fairfax House), instead, the National Trust chose has created rooms that match a period of prosperity for the Terry family and factory, the 1930s, as Holly explains:
“We chose to select the 1930s period – a time when the family were settled in their new home and the factory was going through a successful era – not least, there was the introduction of the chocolate orange at the start of the decade, as well as a visit by the royal family to the factory in 1937.”
Throughout the Trust’s plans to the open Goddards to the public, the Terry family have been a constant support to staff. “We’ve been incredibly grateful to the support of the Terry family” said Holly “Especially Betty Lawrie, Noel’s daughter, who has helped with our research, shared stories and photos as well as her memories of living at Goddards. We hope we’ve done her and her family proud.”
On top of the new rooms, a tearoom will also open, serving light lunches, drinks, afternoon tea and cake. The Goddards tearoom will be serving cakes made with recipes that were once used in the Terry’s own tearoom and chocolate shop that was based in St. Helen’s Square in York.
Holly concluded: “We’ve very excited to be opening another chapter in York’s chocolate history. The people of York have such a strong connection to the Terrys and their factory, with many having people having family or knowing someone that worked there.
Goddards will be a continual work in progress, as the house will not be a like for like display of how the Terry’s used to live. We have more flexibility to change the rooms or create new displays as we gather more research and uncover new stories to tell. If anyone has a story to tell, please do come and visit us when we open or get in touch, we’d love to hear from you.”
Goddards – the house, gardens and tearoom will be open to visitors from Wednesdays – Saturdays from 11am – 5pm (last admission 4.30pm) from 21 July.
