Roundway Park

Last updated

Roundway Park
Wiltshire UK relief location map.jpg
Red pog.svg
Location of Roundway Park in Wiltshire
TypeFormer English country estate
Location Roundway, Wiltshire
Coordinates 51°21′47″N1°59′29″W / 51.363°N 1.9914°W / 51.363; -1.9914
Built1777–1783
Demolished1955
Architect James Wyatt

Roundway Park (or New Park) was a 750-hectare (1,584-acre) estate [1] in the former parish of Roundway in the centre of the English county of Wiltshire. The estate was about 1+1⁄4 miles (2 km) northeast of the town of Devizes and included a house, stables, gardens, farmland and woodland. After passing through several owners, the house was demolished in 1955 and the estate has since been divided up into residences and farmland. [2]

Contents

Willy-Sutton era

The land that New Park stood upon was originally owned by the Crown Estate and was later purchased by an unknown party. Roundway House was built in 1777–1783 by George Willy, whose son William Willy MP later inherited the estate. He died without issue in 1770 and the estate passed to his nephew Willey Sutton who died five years later.

The estate passed to Willey's younger brother James Sutton MP, [3] recently married to Eleanor Addington, and he ordered alterations to the house. These were completed in Neoclassical style in 1777–1783 by architect James Wyatt [4] and the house became known as New Park; the architecture resembles Wyatt's other works such as Heaton Hall. Changes to the landscape were designed by Humphry Repton. [4] Sutton's daughter Eleanor inherited the estate in 1801 and lived there with her husband Thomas Grimston Estcourt MP until 1839 when the Dowager Sutton died.

Colston era

The house was sold in 1840 to Edward Francis Colston, formerly of Filkin's Hall in Oxfordshire. [5] Colston ordered alterations in 1841–2 including the construction of fencing around the estate, which caused local resentment, a new deer park and two driveways with gatehouses: one towards London Road and one towards the centre of Devizes, bringing about the street name 'New Park Street' (which still exists today). Church services for the villagers of Roundway were held in the house between 1937 and 1944.

The estate, now known as Roundway Park, continued in the Colston family until circa 1948; owners included Charles, 1st Baron Roundway (1854–1925) and Edward, 2nd Baron (1880–1944). [6] Further renovations were made during the Colston's ownership including moving the main entrance to the courtyard, the addition of a porte-cochere and a semi-circular balustrade, refurbishing the greenhouse into a library, transforming the sash windows into mullion windows and the addition of bedrooms and bathrooms. The 2nd Baron's wife Gladys, Lady Roundway continued to live at Roundway Park until 1949 before moving to London, at which point the estate was divided up and sold.

Fate

In 1949, the estate land of 1584 acres was sold to the Bristol Merchant Venturers for use by Henry Herbert Wills' charity for Chronic and Incurable Sufferers, although it is unknown what the involvement of Wills' charity was. Bristol Merchant Venturers still own the land and lease it to local farmers. In 2016, they built a modern housing estate on a small amount of land.

In 1954, Wiltshire County Council purchased the house, gardens and paddocks for Civil Defence purposes. [7] After six years, the council sold the house, which was suffering from dry rot at this point, to Peter White, a property speculator. [1] White demolished the north and west wings of the house, leaving only the stables, coach house and the east wing of the house, which was converted into a private residence. The stable block was recorded as Grade II listed in 1962. [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Devizes</span> Town in Wiltshire, England

Devizes is a market town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. It developed around Devizes Castle, an 11th-century Norman castle, and received a charter in 1141. The castle was besieged during the Anarchy, a 12th-century civil war between Stephen of England and Empress Matilda, and again during the English Civil War when the Cavaliers lifted the siege at the Battle of Roundway Down. Devizes remained under Royalist control until 1645, when Oliver Cromwell attacked and forced the Royalists to surrender. The castle was destroyed in 1648 on the orders of Parliament, and today little remains of it.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Wyatt</span> English architect (1746 - 1813)

James Wyatt was an English architect, a rival of Robert Adam in the neoclassical and neo-Gothic styles. He was elected to the Royal Academy of Arts in 1785 and was its president from 1805 to 1806.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bishops Cannings</span> Human settlement in England

Bishops Cannings is a village and civil parish in the Vale of Pewsey in Wiltshire, England, 3 miles (5 km) north-east of Devizes. The parish includes the village of Coate and the hamlets of Bourton, Horton and Little Horton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chirton</span> Human settlement in England

Chirton is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, on the southern edge of the Vale of Pewsey about 5 miles (8 km) south-east of Devizes. The parish includes the hamlet of Conock, about half a mile west of Chirton village.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Erlestoke</span> Human settlement in England

Erlestoke is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, on the northern edge of Salisbury Plain. The village lies about 6 miles (10 km) east of Westbury and the same distance southwest of Devizes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fonthill Gifford</span> Human settlement in England

Fonthill Gifford is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, to the north of the Nadder valley, 14 miles (23 km) west of Salisbury.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hartham Park</span> Georgian manor house in England

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.

Colston is a surname, and also a given name. The name has several origins. It is sometimes from a Middle English given name Colstan, probably from Old Norse kol "charcoal" and steinn "stone". It may also be an English habitation name, from Colston Bassett or Car Colston in Nottinghamshire, or from Coulston in Wiltshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sutton Court</span> Grade II listed building in Stowey, UK

Sutton Court is an English house remodelled by Thomas Henry Wyatt in the 1850s from a manor house built in the 15th and 16th centuries around a 14th-century fortified pele tower and surrounding buildings. The house has been designated as Grade II* listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Croft Castle</span> Country house estate near Leominster, England

Croft Castle is a country house in the village of Croft, Herefordshire, England. Owned by the Croft family since 1085, the castle and estate passed out of their hands in the 18th century, before being repurchased by the family in 1923. In 1957 it was bequeathed to the National Trust. The castle is a Grade I listed building, and the estate is separately listed as Grade II*. The adjacent Church of St Michael is listed Grade I.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roundway</span> Human settlement in England

Roundway is a hamlet, ward and former civil parish adjacent to Devizes in the English county of Wiltshire. The hamlet lies about 1+1⁄4 miles (2.0 km) northeast of Devizes town centre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Colston, 1st Baron Roundway</span> British politician

Charles Edward Hungerford Atholl Colston, 1st Baron Roundway was a British Conservative Party politician. He sat in the House of Commons from 1892 to 1906, and was later elevated to the peerage, taking his seat in the House of Lords.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Devizes White Horse</span>

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ramsbury Manor</span> Historic site in Wiltshire, England

Ramsbury Manor is a Grade I listed country house at Ramsbury, Wiltshire, on the River Kennet between Hungerford and Marlborough, in the south of England.

Brigadier-General Edward Murray Colston, 2nd Baron Roundway was a British Army officer in the Second Boer War and World War I.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roundway Hospital</span> Hospital in Wiltshire, England

Roundway Hospital was a psychiatric hospital in the parish of Roundway near Devizes, Wiltshire, England. It was originally called the Wiltshire County Lunatic Asylum and later the Wiltshire County Mental Hospital. It opened in 1851 and closed in 1995.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Mompesson</span> Member of the Parliament of England

Sir Richard Mompesson was a member (MP) of the Parliament of England for Devizes in 1593.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Benjamin Haskins-Stiles</span>

Benjamin Haskins-Stiles, of Bowden Park, near Chippenham, Wiltshire and Moor Park, Hertfordshire, was an English landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1721 to 1734.

James Sutton, of New Park, Devizes, Wiltshire, was an English politician.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wadham Locke</span>

Wadham Locke (1779–1835) was an English banker and politician.

References

  1. 1 2 "Devizes Heritage - Roundway Park and House - the New Park". Devizes Heritage. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
  2. ↑ "Roundway Park". Lost Heritage. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
  3. ↑ "SUTTON, James (c.1733-1801), of New Park, Devizes, Wilts". History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  4. 1 2 Orbach, Julian; Pevsner, Nikolaus; Cherry, Bridget (2021). Wiltshire. The Buildings Of England. New Haven, US and London: Yale University Press. p. 527. ISBN   978-0-300-25120-3. OCLC   1201298091.
  5. ↑ "Person Page". Thepeerage.com. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  6. 1 2 Historic England. "Roundway House (1243319)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  7. ↑ "Image of Roundway Park". Wiltshire Community History. Wiltshire Council. Archived from the original on 14 August 2020 – via Internet Archive.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.