Easton Lodge was a Victorian Gothic style stately home in Little Easton and north-west of Great Dunmow, Essex, England. Once famous for its weekend society gatherings frequented by the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII), [1] [2] it was one of many country houses destroyed during the 20th century. Part of the west wing (rebuilt as a separate house after a fire in 1918 for use as servants' quarters) still stands; and the Grade II listed gardens designed by Harold Peto are under restoration and opened to the public. [1] [3]
Designed by Thomas Hopper, Easton Lodge replaced an earlier Elizabethan mansion built in 1597 by Henry Maynard, which had been destroyed by fire in 1847. The Elizabethan house had itself replaced an earlier hunting lodge, situated by the church, which had been granted to Henry Maynard in 1590 by Queen Elizabeth I. [4] [1]
Most famous of those who lived at the house was Daisy Greville, Countess of Warwick, who was born Frances Evelyn Maynard at Easton Lodge in 1861 and inherited the estate when just four years old. [2] She became a socialite and mistress to King Edward VII, and continued to live at Easton Lodge with her husband, the 5th Earl of Warwick after her marriage. [5] As a result the Lodge became famous for its society gatherings. [1] The family of H. G. Wells also lived in one of the properties on the Easton Lodge estate. [6] Lady Warwick, a socialist, offered the estate to the Labour Party and to the Trades Union Congress as a study centre, but they did not accept it. [7]
During World War II the estate was requisitioned by the War Office, leading to the destruction of some 10,000 trees to enable the construction of RAF Great Dunmow (also known as RAF Little Easton) in the former park. [3] [8] The house was largely demolished following its return by the military in 1950. [8] Much of the Easton Lodge estate is now owned by Land Securities. [9]
After 30 years of abandonment, the west wing was purchased in 1971 and is now used as a private house. The late 19th century stable cottages and a red brick water tower also remain, and are Grade II listed buildings. [1]
Following the purchase of the remaining wing of the house in 1971, the restoration of the gardens began. The Gardens of Easton Lodge are now open to the public and since 2003 have been supported by The Gardens of Easton Lodge Preservation Trust. [10]
The gardens, designed by Harold Peto in 1902 for the Countess of Warwick and considered one of his finest works, have been designated Grade II by English Heritage in the Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest. [11]
A book chronicling their restoration, The Gardens of Easton Lodge: their recovery and renaissance, was published in 2010. [12]
Today, former RAF Great Dunmow is known as Easton Park.
Hornchurch is a suburban town in East London in the London Borough of Havering. It is located 15.2 miles (24.5 km) east-northeast of Charing Cross. It comprises a number of shopping streets and a large residential area. It historically formed a large ancient parish in the county of Essex that became the manor and liberty of Havering. The economic history of Hornchurch is underpinned by a shift away from agriculture to other industries with the growing significance of nearby Romford as a market town and centre of administration. As part of the suburban growth of London in the 20th century, Hornchurch significantly expanded and increased in population, becoming an urban district in 1926 and has formed part of Greater London since 1965. It is the location of Queen's Theatre, Havering Sixth Form College and Havering College of Further and Higher Education.
Hammerwood Park is a country house in Hammerwood, near East Grinstead, in East Sussex, England. It is a Grade I listed building. One of the first houses in England to be built in the Greek Revival architectural style, it was built in 1792 as the first independent work of Benjamin Henry Latrobe. Described by Nikolaus Pevsner as a 'demonstration of primeval force', the house was owned by Led Zeppelin from 1973 until 1982.
Great Dunmow is a historic market town and civil parish in the Uttlesford district of Essex, England. It lies to the north of the A120 road, approximately midway between Bishop's Stortford and Braintree, 5 mi (8 km) east of London Stansted Airport.
Uttlesford is a local government district in Essex, England. Its council is based in the town of Saffron Walden. The district also includes the town of Great Dunmow and numerous villages, including Stansted Mountfitchet, Takeley, Elsenham, Thaxted, and Newport. The district covers a largely rural area in the north-west of Essex. London Stansted Airport lies within the district.
Felsted is a village and civil parish in the Uttlesford district of Essex, England. The civil parish includes the hamlets of Bannister Green, Bartholomew Green, Causeway End, Coblers Green, Cock Green, Frenches Green, Gransmore Green, Hartford End, Molehill Green, Milch Hill, Thistley Green, Watch House Green and Willows Green.
Hartham Park is a Georgian manor house in Wiltshire, England, about 1+1⁄4 miles (2.0 km) north of the town of Corsham. Originally designed by James Wyatt, and set today in 50 acres (20 ha), it has within its grounds a stické tennis court. The house and nearby buildings were developed as a private business park in the late 1990s, although the house retains its Georgian facade and look.
Frances Evelyn "Daisy" Greville, Countess of Warwick was a British socialite and philanthropist. Although embedded in late-Victorian British high society, she was also a campaigning socialist, supporting many schemes to aid the less well-off in education, housing, employment, and pay, and was often known as the "Red Countess". She established colleges for the education of women in agriculture and market gardening, first in Reading, then in Studley. She established a needlework school and employment scheme in Essex as well as using her ancestral homes to host events and schemes for the benefit of her tenants and workers. Greville was a long-term confidant or mistress to the Prince of Wales, who later became King Edward VII.
Somerleyton Hall is a country house and 5,000-acre (2,000 ha) estate near Somerleyton and Lowestoft in Suffolk, England owned and lived in by Hugh Crossley, 4th Baron Somerleyton, originally designed by John Thomas. The hall is Grade II* listed on the National Heritage List for England, and its landscaped park and formal gardens are also Grade II* listed on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens. The formal gardens cover 12 acres (4.9 ha). Inspired by Knepp Wildland, Somerleyton is rewilding 1,000 acres (400 ha) of the estate to which he has introduced free-roaming cattle, large black pigs and Exmoor ponies.
Pembroke Lodge is an initial, mainstream category listed Georgian two-storey large house in Richmond Park in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. It sits on high ground with views across the Thames valley to Windsor, the Chilterns and hills in the Borough of Runnymede. It has 11 acres (4.5 ha) of landscaped grounds, including part of King Henry's Mound from which there is a protected view of St Paul's Cathedral in the City of London. The grounds also include memorials to the 18th-century poet James Thomson and the 20th-century rock-and-roll singer and lyricist Ian Dury.
Chicksands Priory is a former monastic house at Chicksands in Bedfordshire.
Harold Ainsworth Peto FRIBA was a British architect, landscape architect and garden designer, who worked in Britain and in Provence, France. Among his best-known gardens are Iford Manor, Wiltshire; Buscot Park, Oxfordshire; West Dean House, Sussex; and Ilnacullin, County Cork, Ireland.
Little Easton is a village and civil parish in Essex, England. The village is situated approximately 7 miles (11 km) east from the town of Bishop's Stortford, and 12 miles (19 km) north-west from the county town of Chelmsford. Little Easton parish is defined at the west by the River Roding, and the east by the River Chelmer. The village and civil parish of Great Easton lie one mile (1.6 km) to the north.
Viscount Maynard, of Easton Lodge in the County of Essex, was a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1766 for Charles Maynard, 6th Baron Maynard, Lord-Lieutenant of Suffolk. He was made Baron Maynard, of Much Easton in the County of Essex, at the same time, also in the Peerage of Great Britain. Both titles were created with special remainder, failing male issue of his own, to his kinsman Sir William Maynard, 4th Baronet. The 1st Viscount was unmarried and on his death in 1775 the baronetcy of Easton Parva, the Irish barony of Maynard created in 1620 and the English barony of Maynard created in 1628 became extinct. He was succeeded in the barony of 1766 and the viscountcy according to the special remainder by his kinsman Sir Charles Maynard, 5th Baronet, who became the 2nd Viscount. The latter was succeeded by his nephew, the 3rd Viscount, who served as Lord-Lieutenant of Essex. He had no surviving male issue and on his death in 1865 the baronetcy, barony and viscountcy became extinct. His granddaughter, Daisy Maynard, daughter of Colonel Charles Henry Maynard and future wife of Francis Greville, 5th Earl of Warwick, succeeded to most of the Maynard estates.
Royal Air Force Great Dunmow or more simply RAF Great Dunmow is a former Royal Air Force station in the parish of Little Easton, Essex, England. The airfield is located approximately 1.4 miles (2.3 km) mi west of Great Dunmow, north of the A120; about 42 miles (68 km) northeast of London
Cholmondeley is a civil parish in Cheshire, England, north east of Malpas and west of Nantwich. It includes the small settlements of Croxton Green and Dowse Green, with a total population of a little over a hundred, increasing to 157 at the 2011 Census. Nearby villages include Bickerton to the north east, Bulkeley to the north, Chorley to the east, No Man's Heath to the south west, and Bickley Moss to the south.
Francis Richard Charles Guy Greville, 5th Earl of Warwick, styled Lord Brooke until 1893, was a British Conservative politician.
Sir Henry Maynard (1547–1610) was an English politician and secretary to Lord Burghley, and became a substantial landowner.
Easton Lodge railway station was located to the west of Great Dunmow, Essex, near Easton Lodge. The station on the Bishop's Stortford to Braintree branch line. The station closed in 1952, with the line being used for freight until it was closed in 1972.
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