Old Gorhambury House located near St Albans, Hertfordshire, England, is a ruined Elizabethan mansion, a leading and early example of the Elizabethan prodigy house.
Old Gorhambury House located near St Albans, Hertfordshire, England, is a ruined Elizabethan mansion, a leading and early example of the Elizabethan prodigy house.
It was built in 1563–68 by Sir Nicholas Bacon, Lord Keeper, and was visited a number of times by Queen Elizabeth I. [1] It is a Grade I listed building. [2]
The house was built partly from bricks taken from the old Abbey buildings at St Albans, then in process of demolition following the Benedictine priory's dissolution some 25 years earlier. [3] It was used as a residence by his youngest son, the polymath (scientist, philosopher, statesman and essayist) Sir Francis Bacon, before being bequeathed by him to his former secretary, Sir Thomas Meautys, who married Anne Bacon, the great-granddaughter of Sir Nicholas.
The estate passed in 1652 to Anne's second husband Sir Harbottle Grimston, Master of the Rolls and Speaker in the Convention Parliament of 1660. The estate is owned by the Grimston family to the present day, having been passed via Harbottle Grimston's son Samuel, who died childless in 1700, to his great-nephew William Luckyn, who in turn became the first Viscount Grimston in 1719. [4]
The house fell into ruin after the construction of New Gorhambury House in the 18th century, but was retained as a feature within landscaped parkland. The surviving remains include a two-storey porch, chapel and clock tower.
In the years 1777–84, the current Palladian-style Gorhambury House was built nearby. Designed by Sir Robert Taylor and commissioned by James Bucknall Grimston, 3rd Viscount Grimston, it replaced Old Gorhambury House. It remains the home of the Earl of Verulam. [5]
The current house is a member of Historic Houses and is open for tours at certain times. [6]
The mason and sculptor William Cure I, father of Cornelius Cure, made and installed a fountain at Gorhambury in September 1568. At this time, Bacon was making improvements at Redgrave Hall, where the masons who made the steps for the Gorhambury fountain were also employed. [7]
The "pondyards", the remains of water garden near the River Ver, were scheduled in 2020 under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979. [8] The feature was laid out in the 17th century for Sir Francis Bacon, possibly adapting preexisting ponds.
The site is maintained by English Heritage and is free to visit. [1]
Verulamium was a town in Roman Britain. It was sited southwest of the modern city of St Albans in Hertfordshire, England. A large portion of the Roman city remains unexcavated, being now park and agricultural land, though much has been built upon. The major ancient Roman route Watling Street passed through the city. Much of the site and its environs is now a scheduled monument.
Sir Nicholas Bacon was Lord Keeper of the Great Seal during the first half of the reign of Queen Elizabeth I of England. He was the father of the philosopher and statesman Sir Francis Bacon.
Earl of Verulam is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1815 for James Grimston, 4th Viscount Grimston. He was made Viscount Grimston at the same time. Verulam had previously represented St Albans in the House of Commons. In 1808 he had also succeeded his maternal cousin as tenth Lord Forrester. He was succeeded by his son, the second Earl.
The title Baron Verulam was created in two separate and unrelated instances:
Redbournbury Mill, is a Grade II* listed flour mill in Redbournbury, Hertfordshire, England, which is thought to have been first built in the early 11th Century. Having operated as a watermill on the River Ver, the mill is now powered by a diesel engine.
Sir Harbottle Grimston, 2nd Baronet was an English lawyer and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1640 and 1685 and was Speaker in 1660. During the English Civil War he remained a Parliamentarian but was sympathetic to the Royalists.
Alice Barnham, Viscountess St Albans was the wife of English scientific philosopher and statesman Francis Bacon.
Sopwell Priory was a Benedictine nunnery founded around 1140 on the site of an ancient hermitage in Sopwell, Hertfordshire, England. After the Dissolution, the priory was torn down and a Tudor manor house constructed in its place.
James Walter Grimston, 1st Earl of Verulam, styled Lord Dunboyne from 1775 until 1808 and known as the 4th Viscount Grimston from 1808 to 1815, was a British peer and politician.
James Walter Grimston, 2nd Earl of Verulam, known as Viscount Grimston from 1815 to 1845, was a British peer and Conservative politician. He was the eldest son of James Walter Grimston, 1st Earl of Verulam, and Lady Charlotte Jenkinson. He succeeded his father as 2nd Earl of Verulam in November 1845.
James Walter Grimston, 3rd Earl of Verulam, known as Viscount Grimston from 1852 to 1895, was a British Conservative Party politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1885 to 1892. He inherited his peerage in 1895.
James Bucknall Grimston, 3rd Viscount Grimston was a British peer, born the heir to his Irish peerage, and Member of Parliament whose service in Parliament for seven years led to his, and his male descendants', ennoblement into the Peerage of Great Britain.
William Grimston, 1st Viscount Grimston, of Gorhambury, St Albans, Hertfordshire, was a British landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1710 and 1734.
James Grimston, 2nd Viscount Grimston was a British peer and Member of Parliament.
There have been two baronetcies created for persons with the surname Grimston, once in the Baronetage of England and once in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom. One creation is extant as of 2010.
Samuel Ryder Academy is a mixed all-through school located in St Albans in South Hertfordshire, England.
Kingsbury Watermill is a Grade II listed former watermill on the River Ver in St Albans, Hertfordshire, England.
Sir Thomas Meautys (1592–1649) was an English civil servant and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1621 and 1640.
Sir Samuel Grimston, 3rd Baronet of Gorhambury House, Hertfordshire was an English politician.
Gorhambury House is a Palladian-style house near St Albans, Hertfordshire, England. It was built between 1777 and 1784 to replace Old Gorhambury House, which was left to fall into ruin.
