History of Mainsfield Guest House
The Early history of Giggleswick shows that it has been at the center of the population for at least two thousand years, mainly because it was on a practicable crossing on the Pennines in a place where the River Ribble could be forded. Formerly it was a market town. In the Domesday Book it was spelled Ghigelswic, supposedly from Gikel, its Saxon proprietor.
Mainsfield Guest House was built around the turn of the century, during the reign of King Edward the VII. A time in history that saw such great events as the sinking of the RMS Titanic in 1912 and the start of World war I in 1914. The Edwardian era was also known socially for its very rigid class system and is seen as the last period of the English Country House. Often regarded as the Romantic Golden Age, where Art Nouveau held a strong influence, often reflected in arts crafts and architecture of the time. In fact the house here at Mainsfield still retains some of this influence, with many interesting features, including Art Nouveau fitments in the style of Charles Renée Mackintosh.
Edward Elgar (1857-1934) This was a period of garden parties and big hats, where military brass bands often played outside in the park, during those long summer afternoons. One of Englands finest composers Edward Elgar, who wrote such masterpieces as Dream of Gerontius and the Enigma Variations, often played Schubert, Beethoven, Mozart and Rossini with his friends right here in our very own breakfast room. He gained some of his inspiration from the Dales, after starting up a very strong friendship of 50 years with a local doctor, with whom he shared a mutual interest in music, the countryside and dogs. In fact there have been a discovery of forgotten scores stashed in the back of a grandfather clock written by the man himself at Giggleswick in 1882. Elgar’s equally well known Salut d'Amour was composed whilst on a visit to Giggleswick and Settle in 1888. This short violin and piano piece was presented as an engagement present to his then to be wife Alice.
Song: Salut d'Amour
Artist: unknown
