Hall Class 7904 Fountains Hall

Hello

I hope this is the right place for this question.

Does anyone know if the Locomotive in the title was named after the Fountains Hall on the Fountains Abbey Estate in North Yorkshire?

I am a volunteer at Fountains Abbey and so interested in anything that relates to the estate

Jez

The RCTS history of GWR Locomotives, Part Fourteen, from 1973 says it is ‘Built from some of the stone from nearby Fountains Abbey, near Ripon, N. Yorkshire. Now owned by North Riding County Council.’ So if that fits, then it is.

The GWR had to spread a broad geographical net to capture 258 suitable names. It must have been quite a challenge to come up with suitable possibilities for the later lots. Does anyone know how they did this? Following the fuss over bestowing the names of directors on the Dukedogs, was there a naming committee or similar, perhaps supported by a few lowly researchers poring over Ordinance Survey maps?

It most certainly does fit. The hall was definitely built of Abbey stone and completed in 1604.

Fountains Hall had been used for evacuees in the war and as a school. The Hall and Studley estate was owned by the Vyner family

I'll see if the staff know of the connection

Rescars said:

The GWR had to spread a broad geographical net to capture 258 suitable names. It must have been quite a challenge to come up with suitable possibilities for the later lots. Does anyone know how they did this? Following the fuss over bestowing the791 names of directors on the Dukedogs, was there a naming committee or similar, perhaps supported by a few lowly researchers poring over Ordinance Survey maps?

Click to expand...

6998 Burton Agnes Hall (near Driffield) is another 'Yorkshire' compatriot - now at Didcot but OOS. There were so many 'Halls' that enthusiasts felt that 7915 'Mere Hall' (near Knutsford) was appropriate.

Rescars said:

The GWR had to spread a broad geographical net to capture 258 suitable names. It must have been quite a challenge to come up with suitable possibilities for the later lots. Does anyone know how they did this? Following the fuss over bestowing the names of directors on the Dukedogs, was there a naming committee or similar, perhaps supported by a few lowly researchers poring over Ordinance Survey maps?

Click to expand...

It seems that names were finalised at a fairly high level, i.e. CME’s office or board of directors. The book listed above says that there is evidence that the books ‘County Seats’ and ‘Baronial Halls’ gave rise to a lot of early ones. Presumably suggestions came from the top and a junior clerk was sent to check them and look for others that would be pushed upwards for approval. I suspect that a lot of huntin’, shootin’, business and school friend’s houses appeared.

EDIT: A slightly more thorough skim of the book mentioned (if that isn’t an oxymoron) gives two bits of information. ‘Up to 1899 the Directors chose the names and after that Swindon complied the lists, subject no doubt to Board approval…’ It also suggests that the moving of the Earl… names to the Castle Class locos (only thirteen had been fitted) was more due to the ennoblement of recently resigned PM Stanley Baldwin, who had been a GWR director from 1908-1917, than blue-blooded pique.

Gloster said:

It seems that names were finalised at a fairly high level, i.e. CME’s office or board of directors.

Click to expand...

Just to thicken the plot, the engine in question was built post nationalisation.

Sir Felix Pole said:

6998 Burton Agnes Hall (near Driffield) is another 'Yorkshire' compatriot

Click to expand...

And also 6924 Grantley Hall which is about 1.5 miles away from Fountains Hall as the crow flys.

More than one-third of the Halls had names from outside the GWR area, starting with seventh-built 4907 Broughton Hall, which is near Skipton. However, the balance of home and away names did slowly tilt towards the latter, but there were several that weren’t even halls in the generally understood sense, for example Albert Hall. There was even Toynbee Hall, which was (and still is) a charitable organisation. (They never did get round to ‘Enry Hall though.)

Gloster said:

It seems that names were finalised at a fairly high level, i.e. CME’s office or board of directors.

Click to expand...

MarlowDonkey said:

Just to thicken the plot, the engine in question was built post nationalisation.

Click to expand...

Decisions left to Swindon without much input from Paddington or the Railway Executive then?

Going off at a slight tangent, the GWR published books about Castles and Abbeys on their home turf as publicity material. Does anyone know if all the historic buildings listed in these volumes were also featured on Castle or Star class loco nameplates?