Swallowfield Park | |
---|---|
Type | Country house |
Location | Church Road, Swallowfield |
Coordinates | 51°23′1.61″N0°56′55.38″W / 51.3837806°N 0.9487167°W |
OS grid reference | SU 73119 65516 |
Area | Berkshire |
Built | 1689 |
Architect | William Talman |
Owner | Private |
Listed Building – Grade II* | |
Official name | Swallowfield Park and adjoining stable block |
Designated | 1 August 1952 |
Reference no. | 1313056 |
Swallowfield Park is a Grade II* listed [1] stately home and estate in the English county of Berkshire. The house is near the village of Swallowfield, some 4 miles south of the town of Reading.
Swallowfield Park was the home of the Backhouse family from the late 16th century, who had lived in a now demolished Tudor mansion. [2] The most famous member of this family was of William Backhouse, the Rosicrucian philosopher. [2] The present house at Swallowfield Park was erected in 1689 by Henry Hyde, 2nd Earl of Clarendon, when he acquired the estate on his marriage to William Backhouse's daughter Flower. [2] The architect was William Talman, "comptroller of the works" to William III. [3] Talman built an H-shaped house with short projections to the front and more extended ones to the rear. The house was the childhood home of Edward Hyde, 3rd Earl of Clarendon. [4]
In 1717, Thomas 'Diamond' Pitt, the Governor of Fort St. George, bought Swallowfield Park from Edward Hyde, reputedly using part of the proceeds of his sale of the Regent Diamond to Philippe II, Duke of Orléans. [2] The Pitt family sold the property to John Dodd for £20,000, and it remained in that family till purchased in 1783 by Silvanus Bevan. The sale, at Christie's, lasted seven days and included a large number of magnificent pictures and objets d'art. After a quarrel with a neighbour about shooting rights Bevan sold the property in 1789. The Bevan crest, a griffin, still remains over the stone carved mantelpiece in the Hall.
The house was bought in 1820 by Sir Henry Russell, Chief Justice of Bengal in India, [5] who employed William Atkinson to undertake many adaptations and alterations to the house. [6] Internally, little of Talman's house survives as a result of these changes. A new staircase was installed, which resulted in the removal of a carved cornice made for the Earl of Clarendon by Grinling Gibbons. In 1852 the house was inherited by his grandson, Sir Charles Russell VC. [4]
In 1923 the house was recorded as containing many fine portraits, including George Romney's painting of Lady Russell and son (1786–87), of Michael Russell (1785) and of Henry Russell; portraits of the Shelley family, Captain the Hon. William Fitzwilliam, Mr. Benyon and Mrs. Beard by Hogarth; George Richmond's portraits of Sir Henry Russell, bart., and of Charles Russell, afterwards third baronet, and another portrait of the same by Sir John Millais. At this time, the library held a large collection of books and many treasures, including Dr. Dee's magic mirror. [3]
The house was purchased by the Country Houses Association about 1975 and refurbished to provide retirement flats with communal living areas. After the CHA went into liquidation in 2003 [7] the mansion was acquired by property developers, Sunley Heritage, and converted into self-contained apartments.
The gardens were visited and described by John Evelyn, who wrote much about 'the delicious and rarest fruits,' the 'innumerable timber trees in the ground about the seate,' the walks and groves of elms, limes, oaks and other trees, the quarters, walks and parterres, nurseries, kitchen garden, two very noble orangeries, and, 'above all, the canall and fishponds, the one fed with a white, the other with a black running water,' stocked with pike, carp, bream and tench. [3]
Sir John Wildman was an English politician and soldier.
Earl of Clarendon is a title that has been created twice in British history, in 1661 and 1776.
Hurst is a village in the civil parish of St Nicholas Hurst in the Borough of Wokingham, Berkshire, England. The village lies between Twyford and Wokingham, about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north of the M4 motorway.
Barkham is a village and civil parish in the borough of Wokingham in Berkshire, England, located around 2 miles (3.2 km) southwest of the town of Wokingham.
Finchampstead is a village and civil parish in the Wokingham Borough in the shire of Berkshire, England. Its northern extremity is 2 miles (3 km) south of Wokingham, 5 miles (8 km) west of Bracknell, 8 miles (13 km) south-east of Reading, and 34 miles (55 km) west of Central London. It is an affluent area, with the village ranking as Britain's 31st wealthiest. It has a high standard of living and is rated as one of the most desirable places to live in the United Kingdom.
Henry Hyde, 2nd Earl of Clarendon, PC was an English aristocrat and politician. He held high office at the beginning of the reign of his brother-in-law, King James II.
Three Mile Cross is a village in the Borough of Wokingham, Berkshire, England, around 3 miles (4.8 km) to the south of Reading town centre. Along with the adjoining village of Spencers Wood to the south, it forms a part of the civil parish of Shinfield.
William Talman (1650–1719) was an English architect and landscape designer.
Swallowfield is a village and civil parish in Berkshire, England, about 5 miles (8 km) south of Reading, and 1 mile (1.6 km) north of the county boundary with Hampshire.
Dinton is a village, civil parish and former manor in Wiltshire, England, in the Nadder valley on the B3089 road about 8 miles (13 km) west of Salisbury. The parish population was 696 at the 2011 census, estimated at 733 in 2019. The civil parish includes the village of Baverstock, about 1 mile (1.6 km) east of Dinton village.
William Backhouse was an English philosopher, alchemist, astrologer, translator, and the esoteric mentor of Elias Ashmole.
Sir Henry Russell, 1st Baronet was a British lawyer. He was made a Privy Counsellor in 1816, during the reign of George III. The Russell baronetcy of Swallowfield in Berkshire, was created in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom on 10 December 1812 for him. Russell was the Chief Justice of Bengal.
Beaumys Castle, also known as Beams Castle, was a 14th-century fortified manor house in the parish of Swallowfield in the English county of Berkshire.
Samuel Backhouse was an English merchant who later became a country gentleman based in the county of Berkshire. He was a member of Parliament (MP) twice early in James I's reign, first for New Windsor in 1604 and then for Aylesbury in 1614.
Sir John Backhouse, KB was an English landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1625 to 1629. He supported the Royalist cause in the English Civil War.
Foliejon Park is a manorial country house in the civil parish of Winkfield in the English county of Berkshire. The building has been listed as Grade II since 7 December 1966 and was the temporary residence of King Haakon VII during the Nazi occupation of Norway.
Villiers is an aristocratic family in the United Kingdom. Over time, various members of the Villiers family were made knights, baronets, and peers. Peerages held by the Villiers family include the dukedoms of Buckingham (1623–1687) and Cleveland (1670–1709), as well as the earldoms of Anglesey (1623–1661), Jersey, and Clarendon. Perhaps the most prominent members of the family were those who received the two dukedoms: George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham (1592–1628) rose to fame and influence as favourite of King James I of England, while Barbara Villiers, Duchess of Cleveland (1640–1709) became a mistress of King Charles II of England, by whom she had five children.
Flower Backhouse, Countess of Clarendon was an English courtier, notable as First Lady of the Bedchamber to Princess Anne, the future Queen Anne of Great Britain. She was Countess of Clarendon from 1670 until her death.
Coleshill House was a country house in England, near the village of Coleshill, in the Vale of White Horse. Historically, the house was in Berkshire but since boundary changes in 1974 its site is in Oxfordshire.
Sir Henry Russell, 2nd Baronet, was an English diplomat and landowner.
Media related to Swallowfield Park at Wikimedia Commons