Tottenham House

Last updated

Tottenham House, Wiltshire, east front, in 2006 Tottenham House front.jpg
Tottenham House, Wiltshire, east front, in 2006

Tottenham House is a large Grade I listed English country house in the parish of Great Bedwyn, Wiltshire, about five miles southeast of the town of Marlborough. It is separated from the town by Savernake Forest, which is part of the Tottenham Park estate.

Contents

The site of the house was part of the much larger Savernake Forest, and in the Middle Ages was controlled by the heads of the Esturmy family. In the 15th century, the land passed by marriage to the House of Seymour of nearby Wulfhall, about one mile to the south. The original house was probably built in about 1575 by Edward Seymour, 1st Earl of Hertford, a nephew of Queen Jane Seymour, when it was known as Totnam Lodge. The present house incorporates parts of the earlier houses on the site built by the Seymours. In 1675, the estate passed to Lady Elizabeth Seymour, who married Thomas Bruce, 2nd Earl of Ailesbury, thus bringing the house into the Bruce family. [1]

In 1721, Elizabeth Seymour's son and heir, Charles Bruce, 3rd Earl of Ailesbury, rebuilt Totnam Lodge to the design of his brother-in-law, the pioneering Palladian architect Lord Burlington, and parts of the grounds, including the kitchen garden, were laid out by Capability Brown between 1764 and about 1770, commissioned by Thomas Brudenell-Bruce, 1st Earl of Ailesbury. [2] [3] The house underwent a number of further rebuilds, and the current house, containing more than one hundred rooms, mostly dates from the 1820s, having then been remodelled by Charles Brudenell-Bruce, 1st Marquess of Ailesbury, who in 1818 (while still Earl of Aylesbury) had added a new range of stables designed by Thomas Cundy.

The Bruce family lived in the house until 1946. Thereafter it was used as a preparatory school until 1994, and then leased to a charity until 2005, after which it was unoccupied for some ten years, apart from a period in 2006, when the band Radiohead recorded part of their album In Rainbows at the house. It was then leased for 150 years to a US-based consortium with the intention of creating a luxury hotel and golfing centre, but the consortium went bankrupt in 2008. In 2014, the house was sold for £11.25m to an undisclosed buyer who had plans to turn it back into a private home. [4]

Early history

Tottenham House, depicted circa 1790, the Palladian building designed by Lord Burlington circa 1721, largely lost following remodelling in the 1820s Tottenham House about 1790.JPG
Tottenham House, depicted circa 1790, the Palladian building designed by Lord Burlington circa 1721, largely lost following remodelling in the 1820s

The site of Tottenham House was known by 1200 as Tottenham Wood, a part of the much larger Savernake Forest, and was under the control of the Esturmy family. The land passed to the Seymour family by the marriage of Maud Esturmy to Roger II Seymour in the 15th century. [1] It was probably Edward Seymour, 1st Earl of Hertford (1539–1621), son and heir of the 1st Duke, of nearby Wulfhall, who in about 1575 built the first house, known as Totnam Lodge, and enclosed its surrounding land to form a deer park. [1] Wulfhall was partly demolished, and the building materials used to construct Tottenham House. [5]

The house was still known as the Lodge in 1623, in which year the parish register of Great Bedwyn records the baptism of the 1st Earl's great-granddaughter Frances Seymour, the daughter of Sir Francis Seymour (c. 1590 – 1664) (later created Baron Seymour of Trowbridge), which was performed "at the Lodge in the Great Parke by Henrie Taylor, Vicar of Great Bedwin". [6] John Seymour, 4th Duke of Somerset (1629–1675), an uncle, inherited the estate in 1671 on the death of his nephew the 3rd Duke, and in 1672 he rebuilt Totnam Lodge and redesigned the deer park, which at that date included long tree-lined walks and a deer chase. [1] The 4th Duke of Somerset bequeathed the unentailed Seymour estates to his niece Elizabeth Seymour, the wife of Thomas Bruce, 2nd Earl of Ailesbury (1656–1741), thus passing some of the Seymour estates to the Bruce family. In 1721 Elizabeth Seymour's son and heir, Charles Bruce, 3rd Earl of Ailesbury, rebuilt Totnam Lodge to the design of his brother-in-law, the pioneering Palladian architect Lord Burlington. Henry Flitcroft was the executant architect. [7] The 3rd Earl added wings to Burlington's block in the 1730s, and also built in 1743 a Banqueting House in the park to the design of Burlington (demolished in 1824). [8] Thomas Brudenell-Bruce, 1st Earl of Ailesbury inherited the estate in 1747 from his uncle, Charles Bruce, 3rd Earl of Ailesbury in 1747. Parts of the grounds, including the kitchen garden, were laid out by Capability Brown from 1764 to c 1770, commissioned by Thomas Brudenell-Bruce. [1] [2] [3]

In 1818, Charles Brudenell-Bruce, 2nd Earl of Ailesbury, added stables to the design of Thomas Cundy II. In 1823–26 he enlarged and remodelled the house, again to the designs of Thomas Cundy. [9]

Modern use

The Ailesbury family lived in the house, sharing it during the Second World War with the US Army, until 1946. Thereafter it was used by Hawtreys Preparatory School until 1994 when Hawtreys merged with Cheam School, Newbury. It was then leased for ten years to the Amber Foundation, a charity which helped unemployed troubled young people to rebuild their lives, but its work there ended due to cuts in government support. [10]

In 1966, the house was designated as Grade I listed, [11] while the small octagonal folly building (c. 1720) [12] in the deer park, and the stable block (1819) [13] were designated Grade II*.

David Brudenell-Bruce, Earl of Cardigan owned 49% and his son Thomas James Brudenell-Bruce, Viscount Savernake owned 51%.[ citation needed ] Between 2011 and 2017, the impoverished Earl was involved in a bitter legal battle with the trustees. [14] [15]

In 2006 the house, with its 50-horse stable block, outbuildings and some farmland, was leased for 150 years to a consortium of Golf Club Investment Holdings, Conduit Investments, and (as operator) the Buena Vista Hospitality Group of Orlando, Florida, with the intention of creating a luxury hotel, conference, spa, and golfing centre. Full planning permission was obtained, with the co-operation of the local Planning Authority and English Heritage, and an investment in the project of £50 million was announced. However 18 months later, before starting any building work, the consortium failed during the recession, and the lease ended.[ citation needed ]

In 2014, the trustees sold the house and 800 acres for £11.25m to an undisclosed buyer, which was believed to be multi-millionaire property developer Jamie Ritblat [16] after overcoming a legal challenge from the Earl of Cardigan. [17] In November 2014 the Earl was reported in the Daily Telegraph newspaper to be living with his second wife and baby daughter in an unheated lodge in the grounds of Tottenham House on a £71-a-week jobseeker's allowance while training to be a lorry driver. [18] He is still theoretically the hereditary Warden of Savernake Forest and has stated he was: "put on this earth to take care of Savernake and I will never let it go". [19] He was due to benefit from the sale proceeds and would still own jointly with the trustees 3,700 acres, mainly woodland, in Savernake Forest. [19] In 2017 he was able to remove both trustees from office, and restore his family’s income. [20]

As of 2017, the house had been unoccupied since 2005. [21] Plans were submitted in December 2017 to return the house, stables, outbuildings, and park to a family residence. [22]

The house featured as the boys' school in the 1995 film A Feast at Midnight , starring Christopher Lee. [23] In 2006, the band Radiohead recorded part of their 2007 album In Rainbows at the house. [24] In 2013, the house and Savernake estate were used as the location for a short film commissioned by electronica pioneers Goldfrapp to promote the song 'Drew' from their album Tales of Us . Shot in black and white by film editor Lisa Gunning, the internal and external aspects of the house and surrounding forest feature extensively in the five-minute film. In 2015, the house featured in season 6 of the romantic-drama TV series, Downton Abbey . The house, in the show called Dryden Park, is the rather run-down estate of Sir Michael Reresby; Thomas Barrow visits Dryden Park in 1925 to interview for a job as a man servant.[ citation needed ]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marquess of Ailesbury</span> Title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom

Marquess of Ailesbury, in the County of Buckingham, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 17 July 1821 for Charles Brudenell-Bruce, 2nd Earl of Ailesbury.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Earl of Cardigan</span> Title in the Peerage of England

Earl of Cardigan is a title in the Peerage of England, currently held by the Marquesses of Ailesbury, and used as a courtesy title by the heir apparent to that Marquessate, currently Thomas Brudenell-Bruce, Earl of Cardigan, son of the 9th Marquess. The Brudenell family descends from Sir Robert Brudenell, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas from 1520 to 1530. His great-grandson, Sir Thomas Brudenell, was created a Baronet in the Baronetage of England, styled "of Deene in the County of Northampton", on 29 June 1611. On 26 February 1628, he was raised to the Peerage of England as Baron Brudenell, of Stanton Wyvill in the County of Leicester, and on 20 April 1661 he was further honoured when he was made Earl of Cardigan, also in the Peerage of England. On his death, the titles passed to his son, Robert, the 2nd Earl, and on the 2nd Earl's death to his grandson, George, the 3rd Earl, the 2nd Earl's only son, Francis, Lord Brudenell, having predeceased his father.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lord Kinloss</span> Title in the Peerage of Scotland

Lord Kinloss is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1602 for Edward Bruce, later Master of the Rolls, with remainder to his heirs and assigns whatsoever. In 1604 he was also made Lord Bruce of Kinloss, with remainder to his heirs male, and in 1608 Lord Bruce of Kinloss, with remainder to any of his heirs. He was succeeded by his son, the second Lord, who was killed in a duel in 1613.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Bruce, 2nd Earl of Ailesbury</span> English politician and memoirist

Thomas Bruce, 2nd Earl of Ailesburyand 3rd Earl of Elgin, styled Lord Bruce between 1663 and 1685, was an English politician and memoirist. He was the son of Robert Bruce, 2nd Earl of Elgin, and Lady Diana Grey. His maternal grandparents were Henry Grey, 1st Earl of Stamford, and Lady Anne Cecil, daughter of William Cecil, 2nd Earl of Exeter. His Memoirs, which were not published until long after his death, are a valuable source for English history in the last quarter of the seventeenth century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">House of Seymour</span> English noble family of Welsh origin

Seymour, Semel or St. Maur, is the name of an English family in which several titles of nobility have from time to time been created, and of which the Duke of Somerset is the head.

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

Savernake Forest stands on a Cretaceous chalk plateau between Marlborough and Great Bedwyn in Wiltshire, England. Its area is approximately 4,500 acres.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ernest Brudenell-Bruce, 3rd Marquess of Ailesbury</span> British politician

Ernest Augustus Charles Brudenell-Bruce, 3rd Marquess of Ailesbury,, styled Lord Ernest Bruce from 1821 until 1878, was a British courtier and politician. He served for many years as Vice-Chamberlain of the Household.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deene Park</span> Country manor north-east of Corby in the county of Northamptonshire, England

Deene Park, the seat of the Brudenell family since 1514, is a country manor located 5 miles north-east of Corby in the county of Northamptonshire, England. The hall itself is a Grade I listed building dating back to the 14th century which has been modified several times since then to create the current structure.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Brudenell-Bruce, 1st Marquess of Ailesbury</span> British peer and politician

Charles Brudenell-Bruce, 1st Marquess of Ailesbury,, styled Hon. Charles Brudenell-Bruce from birth until 1783, Lord Bruce until 1814 and Earl of Ailesbury until 1821, was a British peer and politician.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Brudenell-Bruce, 4th Marquess of Ailesbury</span>

George William Thomas Brudenell-Bruce, 4th Marquess of Ailesbury, styled Viscount Savernake from 1878 to 1886, was the son of George John Brudenell-Bruce and Lady Evelyn Mary Craven, and succeeded his grandfather as 4th Marquess on the latter's death on 18 October 1886. On his death in 1894 he was succeeded in the marquessate, and his other titles, by his uncle. According to family records, he went by the name William and was known informally as Willie.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cedric Brudenell-Bruce, 7th Marquess of Ailesbury</span> British peer

Chandos Sydney Cedric Brudenell-Bruce, 7th Marquess of Ailesbury, styled Earl of Cardigan or Lord Cardigan between 1911 and 1961, was a British peer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Brudenell-Bruce, 8th Marquess of Ailesbury</span> British peer (1926–2024)

Michael Sydney Cedric Brudenell-Bruce, 8th Marquess of Ailesbury, styled Viscount Savernake until 1974, was a British peer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Brudenell-Bruce, 9th Marquess of Ailesbury</span> British peer (born 1952)

David Michael James Brudenell-Bruce, 9th Marquess of Ailesbury, styled The Hon. David Brudenell-Bruce until 1974 and Earl of Cardigan between 1974 and 2024, is a British peer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Brudenell-Bruce, 1st Earl of Ailesbury</span> British courtier

Thomas Brudenell-Bruce, 1st Earl of Ailesbury, KT, styled The Honourable Thomas Brudenell until 1747 and known as The Lord Bruce of Tottenham between 1747 and 1776, was a British courtier.

Henry Seymour, Lord Beauchamp was an English nobleman, third son of William Seymour, 2nd Duke of Somerset.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Bruce, 3rd Earl of Ailesbury</span> British politician

Charles Bruce, 3rd Earl of Ailesburyand 4th Earl of Elgin, of Ampthill, Bedfordshire and Savernake Park, Wiltshire, styled Viscount Bruce of Ampthill from 1685 to 1741, was a British landowner and Tory politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons from 1705 until 1711 when he was raised to the peerage as one of Harley's Dozen and sat in the House of Lords.

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

Hippenscombe is a hamlet within the civil parish of Tidcombe and Fosbury, Wiltshire, in the southwest of England. Marked only on large-scale maps, it lies to the southwest of Oakhill Wood and the northwest of Conholt Park, about 8 miles (13 km) south of Hungerford, Berkshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Brudenell, 3rd Earl of Cardigan</span> British peer

George Brudenell, 3rd Earl of Cardigan, styled Lord Brudenell between 1698 and 1703, was a British peer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ailesbury Mausoleum</span> Historic site in Bedfordshire, England

The Ailesbury Mausoleum situated in the churchyard of St Mary's Church, Maulden, in Bedfordshire, is a Grade II listed structure built in 1656 by Thomas Bruce, 1st Earl of Elgin (1599–1663), of nearby Houghton House in the parish of Maulden, for the purpose of housing the coffin and "splendid monument" of his second wife, Lady Diana Cecil, a daughter of William Cecil, 2nd Earl of Exeter and widow of Henry de Vere, 18th Earl of Oxford. In the opinion of the architectural historian Sir Howard Colvin (1991) it is one of the first two free-standing mausoleums ever built in England, together with the Cabell Mausoleum at Buckfastleigh in Devon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elizabeth Brudenell, Countess of Cardigan (1689–1745)</span> English noblewoman and petitioner

Elizabeth Brudenell, Countess of Cardigan, formerly, was a Scottish noblewoman and a petitioner for the foundation of the Foundling Hospital in London. Her husband was George Brudenell, 3rd Earl of Cardigan, and she was the mother of the 4th Earl, who later became 1st Duke of Montagu.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Historic England. "Tottenham House and Savernake Forest (1000472)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 24 December 2021.
  2. 1 2 Stroud, Dorothy (1 October 1984). Capability Brown (5th ed.). Boston: Faber & Faber. ISBN   9780571134052.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  3. 1 2 Willis, Peter (1984). "Capability Brown's account with Drummonds Bank, 1753-1783". Architectural History, Volume 27: Design and Practice in British Architecture. 27: 382–391.
  4. ↑ Tony Millett (12 September 2018). "Analysis: Tottenham House development – a win-win decision for Wiltshire Council". marlboroughnewsonline.
  5. ↑ John Murray (1869). A Handbook for Travellers in Wiltshire, Dorsetshire and Somersetshire. John Murray. p. 46.
  6. ↑ Frederic Madden; Bulkeley Bandinel; John Gough Nichols, eds. (1838). Collectanea Topographica Et Genealogica. Vol. 5. p. 31.
  7. ↑ Rudolf Wittkower, in Architectural Journal102 1945, noted in Howard Colvin, A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects, 1600–1840, 3rd ed. 1995, s.v. "Boyle, Richard, Earl of Burlington".
  8. ↑ Colvin, "Boyle".
  9. ↑ Howard Colvin, A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects, 1600–1840, 3rd ed. 1995, s.v. "Cundy, Thomas", "Wyatville, Sir Jeffry".
  10. ↑ Weaver, Matt (9 March 2005). "On the pile". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 28 March 2017.
  11. ↑ Historic England. "Tottenham House (1183809)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
  12. ↑ Historic England. "Garden folly in Tottenham House deerpark (1300392)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
  13. ↑ Historic England. "Stable Block to Tottenham House (1365488)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
  14. ↑ Simon de Bruxelles, 'Penniless earl claims jobseeker's allowance after ex-wife's entire £1.5m estate goes to the children', The Times , March 07, 2013, No. 70826, p. 3
  15. ↑ Mills, Richard (20 March 2017). "Earl of Cardigan wins High Court battle to oust Savernake Estate trustees". The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
  16. ↑ Hicks, Amber (27 January 2016). "Hotel dream 'still alive' for Tottenham House". The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
  17. ↑ "Earl of Cardigan loses appeal over sale of Tottenham House". BBC News. BBC. 17 October 2014. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
  18. ↑ Davidson, Max (15 November 2014). "What's happening to Henry's houses?". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
  19. 1 2 Rayner, Gordon (17 October 2014). "Earl of Cardigan admits defeat in battle to keep ancestral home on Savernake estate". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
  20. ↑ Mills, Richard (20 March 2017). "Earl of Cardigan wins High Court battle to oust Savernake Estate trustees". The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  21. ↑ "Tottenham House & Estate: Vision Statement". Wiltshire Council – planning application 18/00195/LBC. December 2017. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  22. ↑ "Planning application 18/00195/LBC". Wiltshire Council. December 2017. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
  23. ↑ A Feast at Midnight at IMDb
  24. ↑ Kent, Nick (1 August 2006). "Ghost in the Machine". Mojo . pp. 74–77.

Further reading

Commons-logo.svg Media related to Tottenham House at Wikimedia Commons 51°22′26″N1°38′35″W / 51.374°N 1.643°W / 51.374; -1.643

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.