Pixton Park is a country house in the parish of Dulverton, Somerset, England. It is associated with at least three historically significant families, successively by descent: Acland, amongst the largest landowners in the West Country; Herbert, politicians and diplomats; and Waugh, writers. The present grade II* listed Georgian mansion house was built circa 1760 by the Acland family and in 1870 was altered by Henry Herbert, 4th Earl of Carnarvon (1831–1890). [1] Although Pixton Park is situated within the manor of Dulverton, the manorial chapel relating to Pixton is situated not at Dulverton but within the Church of St Nicholas, Brushford, across the River Barle, as the lordship of the manor of Dulverton was held from 1568 by the Sydenham family seated at Combe House, on the opposite side of the River Barle to Dulverton and Pixton.
Pixton was the seat of the Dyke family. [3]
Henry George Herbert, 2nd Earl of Carnarvon (1772–1833), of Highclere Castle in Hampshire, husband of Elizabeth "Kitty" Acland. Before his father's death in 1811 he was known by his courtesy title of Lord Porchester, and is still memorialised by "Porchester's Post", a 15 foot high square oak post which he erected in 1796 (renewed in 2002), high up on Exmoor 7 miles north-west of Pixton Park, to mark the westernmost boundary of his newly inherited Pixton estate. Thus Pixton passed into the Herbert family, a Roman Catholic family of ancient Welsh origins. This family was a junior branch of the Herbert Earls of Pembroke, descended from the 5th son of Thomas Herbert, 8th Earl of Pembroke and 5th Earl of Montgomery (c.1656–1733), and was prominent in the political and intellectual life of Britain throughout the nineteenth century.
Henry John George Herbert, 3rd Earl of Carnarvon (1800–1849), eldest son and heir, a writer, traveller and politician. He married Henrietta Anna Howard-Molyneux-Howard, eldest daughter of Lord Henry Thomas Howard-Molyneux-Howard, younger brother of Bernard Howard, 12th Duke of Norfolk. The arms of Howard are visible in the Herbert Chapel, Brushford Church.
Henry Howard Molyneux Herbert, 4th Earl of Carnarvon (1831–1890), eldest son and heir, a leading member of the Conservative Party, a cabinet minister and eventually Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. His second wife was his first cousin Elizabeth Catherine Howard (1856–1929), a daughter of his maternal uncle Henry Howard (1802–1875) of Greystoke Castle, near Penrith, Cumberland, a son of Lord Henry Howard-Molyneux-Howard, younger brother of Bernard Howard, 12th Duke of Norfolk.
He redesigned the Pixton estate and in 1870 carried out significant alterations to the house, including the addition of the west wing with a billiard room, the resiting of the entrance to the north front and the addition of the entrance hall with a service wing added on the east side. [1] In 1874 he built Villa Alta Chiara (an Italian rendering of "Highclere", the English seat of the Earldom) at Portofino in Italy. [15]
1874 was also the year of the building of the Carnarvon Arms Hotel on the Pixton estate, to serve the nearby railway station of Dulverton, opened in 1873 and closed in 1966 as part of the Beeching cuts. It was popular with many visiting foxhunters, staghunters and fishermen. In 2004, after difficult trading conditions during the foot and mouth disease crisis, it was sold as 14 apartments by local estate agents Stags. A history of the hotel, titled A Lazy Contentment, was written by the 4th Earl's great-great-granddaughter Sophia Watson, a daughter of satirist Auberon Waugh, born at Pixton, whose father Evelyn Waugh had married a daughter of Hon. Aubrey Herbert of Pixton, a younger son of the 4th Earl. She commented: "It became an institution - nothing has replaced it". When abroad, the correspondent and fishing writer Negley Farson used to dream of the Carnarvon Arms as the epitome of Englishness. [16] [17]
George Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon (1866–1923), eldest son and heir, the Egyptologist who discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun. He inherited Highclere Castle from his father, and sold Pixton to his step-mother. [18]
Elizabeth, Dowager Countess of Carnarvon (1856–1929), née Howard, widow of the 4th Earl, who in the 1890s purchased the Pixton estate from her step-son the 5th Earl. Her inscribed memorial brass tablet survives in Brushford Church, near Pixton. She gave it to her eldest son Aubrey Herbert. [18] Her second son Mervyn Herbert (1882-1929) inherited Tetton in 1907 from his uncle Dr. Hon. Alan Herbert, 2nd son of the 3rd Earl.
Col. Hon. Aubrey Nigel Henry Molyneux Herbert (1880–1923), second son of the 4th Earl by his second wife, a diplomat, traveller and intelligence officer, associated with Albanian independence and was twice offered the Throne of Albania. He was given Pixton Park by his mother, with 5,000 acres (20 km2). [19] He also inherited Villa Alta Chiara in Portofino. Highclere Castle and other paternal estates were inherited by his elder half-brother George Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon (1866–1923), the famous Egyptologist who discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun. Aubrey married his distant cousin, the Hon. Mary Gertrude Vesey, only child and sole heiress of John Vesey, 4th Viscount de Vesci (1844–1903), eldest son and heir of Thomas Vesey, 3rd Viscount de Vesci (d.1875) by his wife Lady Emma Herbert (1819–1884) youngest daughter of George Herbert, 11th Earl of Pembroke. By his wife he had four children. He died at the age of 43 and his recumbent effigy survives in the Herbert Chapel of Brushford Church, across the River Barle from Pixton. His widow stayed on at Pixton until 1952, and created a Roman Catholic chapel in the former Ironing Room, which she staffed with her own priest Father O'Brien, resident in a cottage by the stables. She opened the chapel for Sunday morning service to the small catholic population of Dulverton and later built the present Catholic Church in Dulverton, from a former stable. [20]
Auberon Herbert (1922–1974), son, who died unmarried. In 1937, to Auberon's disapproval, his sister Laura Herbert married (as his second wife) the novelist Evelyn Waugh, whom she had first met as her elder sister's house guest at Portofino. In 1929, Waugh had divorced his first wife Evelyn Gardner, a half-first cousin of Auberon and Laura, and a niece of the 5th Earl. Waugh's son Auberon Waugh was born at Pixton Park in 1939. [21] In the 1930s guests at Pixton "stood and shivered, while dogs sat on chairs and jumped in and out of the always open windows". [22] Waugh satirised mealtime conversation at Pixton, when "(hunting) arrangements were mulled over at great and inconclusive length" [22] in his depiction of Boot Magna in Scoop:
In World War II the estate was used for pre-school child evacuees, an arrangement made by Auberon's sister Bridget Herbert (Mrs Grant), who had returned to live at Pixton with her two small daughters and became billeting officer for the local area, which saved the house from use by servicemen. [23] After Auberon's death in 1974 the estate was split up, "generally going to his nephews". [18]
In about 1990 the mansion house Pixton Park, but not most of the surrounding grounds, was purchased by Timothy F. Bell, a retired City of London financier, and his wife Beatrice, who still resided there in 2016. [24]
The Pixton estate was large, in the late 19th century extending from Hawkridge, Withypool, King's Brompton to Exebridge and up the valley to Oldways End. [25]
The westernmost boundary of the historic estate is marked by "Porchester's Post", a 10 foot high oak obelisk first erected in 1796 for that purpose, by Henry George Herbert, 2nd Earl of Carnarvon (1772-1833), of Highclere Castle in Hampshire, husband of Elizabeth "Kitty" Acland, heiress of Pixton. He was then aged 24 and until his father's death in 1811 was known by his courtesy title of Lord Porchester. It is located high up on Exmoor between Withypool Hill and Halscombe Allotment (grid reference SS 828 334), 7 miles north-west of Pixton Park. It was renewed and re-erected in 2002 by the Exmoor National Park Authority. A brass plaque attached to it is inscribed as follows: [26]
The stables to Pixton Park were built in the mid-18th century and are now a private dwelling. [27] In 2007 the stables were bought by Richard Caring, the owner of Annabel's nightclub and The Ivy restaurant, and subject to a planning application for a "Winter Palace". [28] [29]
Pepperpot Castle in Upton, which is also known as Haddon Lodge, was built by Lady Harriet Acland, during the long period of her widowhood, 1778–1815, as a lodge to the drive to connect Pixton Park in Dulverton where her daughter the Countess of Carnarvon lived, with her own estates near Wiveliscombe. [30]
South Haddon Cottage, which was built in 1830, formed part of the estate. [31]
Two gate lodges were built to the estate. No 1 Jury Lodge [32] and No 2 Jury Lodge [33] In 1870 the Earl of Carnavon resited the entrance to Pixton Park and created a new driveway, more convenient for guests arriving by train from Dulverton railway station, and added a new lodge. [34] Towards Brushford the River Barle is crossed by the New Bridge dating from 1870, which led to Pixton Park, [35]
At one time the estate had a herd of Sika Deer (Cervus nippon), and was used for pheasant rearing.
Lady Christian Henrietta Caroline Acland was a British noblewoman and diarist. She accompanied her husband to British North America and became celebrated for her personal courage. She is commemorated on one of the bronze reliefs on second floor of the Saratoga Monument in the State of New York.
Henry Howard Molyneux Herbert, 4th Earl of Carnarvon,, known as Lord Porchester from 1833 to 1849, was a British politician and a leading member of the Conservative Party. He was twice Secretary of State for the Colonies and also served as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.
Earl of Carnarvon is a title that has been created three times in British history. The current holder is George Herbert, 8th Earl of Carnarvon. The town and county in Wales to which the title refers are historically spelled Caernarfon, having been Anglicised to Carnarvon or Caernarvon. The traditional Welsh spelling is itself a modified form of the original name of antiquity, Caer-yn-Arfon, meaning fortification opposite the island of Mona.
Auberon Alexander Waugh was a British journalist and novelist, and eldest son of the novelist Evelyn Waugh. He was widely known by his nickname "Bron".
Dulverton is a town and civil parish in west Somerset, England, near the border with Devon. The town had a population of 1,408 at the 2011 Census. The parish includes the hamlets of Battleton and Ashwick which is located approximately 4 miles (6.4 km) north west of Dulverton.
Colonel The Honourable Aubrey Nigel Henry Molyneux Herbert, of Pixton Park in Somerset and of Teversal, in Nottinghamshire, was a British soldier, diplomat, traveller, and intelligence officer associated with Albanian independence. He was twice offered the throne of Albania. From 1911 until his death he was a Conservative Member of Parliament. His eldest half-brother was George Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon (1866–1923), who discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun.
Brushford is a village and civil parish 2 miles (3.2 km) south of Dulverton and 12 miles (19 km) north of Tiverton in Devon, in the Somerset West and Taunton district of Somerset, England. According to the 2001 census, it had a population of 535 in 243 households, reducing to 519 at the 2011 Census. It covers an area of 1,149 hectares (11 km2) of which 3 hectares (0.030 km2) is within the Exmoor National Park.
Auberon Mark Yvo Henry Molyneux Herbert (1922–1974) was a British landowner and advocate of Eastern European causes after World War II.
Colonel John Dyke Acland, of Tetton and Pixton in Somerset, was Tory Member of Parliament for Callington in Cornwall and fought in the American War of Independence in 1776.
Holnicote in the parish of Selworthy, West Somerset, England, is a historic estate consisting of 12,420 acres of land, much situated within the Exmoor National Park.
Henry John George Herbert, 3rd Earl of Carnarvon, FRS, styled Lord Porchester from 1811 to 1833, was a British writer, traveller, nobleman, and politician.
Colonel Henry George Herbert, 2nd Earl of Carnarvon DL, FSA, styled The Honourable Henry Herbert from 1780 to 1793 and Lord Porchester from 1793 to 1811, was a British peer, nobleman, and Whig politician.
Sir Thomas Dyke Acland, 7th Baronet of Killerton in Devon and Petherton Park in Somerset, was Member of Parliament for Devon, 1746–1747, for Somerset, 1767–1768, and was High Sheriff of Somerset in 1751. He was a prominent member of the West Country gentry, and a famous staghunter who used as his hunting seats his wife's Exmoor estates of Pixton and Holnicote.
Sir Thomas Dyke Acland, 9th Baronet of Killerton in Devon and Holnicote in Somerset, was a prominent landowner and member of the West Country gentry. He was especially noted for his passion for staghunting, in which respect he took after his father. Like his father he was known locally in Devon and Somerset as "Sir Thomas his Honour".
Mordaunt Fenwick Bisset, of Bagborough, Somerset, was a British Conservative Member of Parliament and a famous west-country Master of Staghounds.
The red deer of Exmoor have been hunted since Norman times, when Exmoor was declared a Royal Forest. Collyns stated the earliest record of a pack of Staghounds on Exmoor was 1598. In 1803, the "North Devon Staghounds" became a subscription pack. In 1824/5 30 couples of hounds, the last of the true staghounds, were sold to a baron in Germany. Today, the Devon and Somerset is one of three staghounds packs in the UK, the others being the Quantock Staghounds and the Tiverton Staghounds. All packs hunt within Devon and Somerset. The Chairman as of 2016 is Tom Yandle, who was previously High Sheriff of Somerset in 1999.
Tetton is an historic estate in the parish of Kingston St Mary in the English county of Somerset. The present grade II* listed Tetton House dates from 1790 and was enlarged and mainly rebuilt in 1924–6 by Hon. Mervyn Herbert (1882–1929) to the design of the architect Harry Stuart Goodhart-Rendel.
Combe is a historic estate in Somerset, England, situated between the town of Dulverton and the village of Brushford.
Elizabeth "Kitty" Herbert, Countess of Carnarvon, formerly Kitty Acland, was an English noblewoman. She was the wife of Henry Herbert, 2nd Earl of Carnarvon.
The descent of the Holnicote estate in Somerset, England, is as follows: