Wormleybury is an 18th-century house surrounded by a landscaped park of 57 ha (140 acres) near Wormley in Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, England, a few miles north of Greater London. The house was rebuilt in the 1770s from an earlier house built in 1734. The house is a Grade I listed building. The garden is well known for its historic rare plant collection. There is a crescent shaped lake in the grounds, bordered by woods on three sides.
The estate of Wormleybury, originally known as Wormley Bury, was one of several estates which King Harold endowed and granted to the Canons of Waltham Abbey (Waltham Holy Cross). In 1220 the Canons of Waltham constructed a conduit for carrying water from Wormley to the monastery. [1]
A house was built on the site in 1525, just north of the present building. The first house's owner was Edward Sharnebrook. Wormley Bury was in the Abbey's possession until the Dissolution of the Monasteries, between 1536 and 1541. Afterwards, the estate was granted to Edward North and his heirs. North, Treasurer of the Court of Augmentations, at once alienated it to William Woodliffe or Woodcliffe, mercer of London. He died in 1548, and one half came to one of his two daughters, Ann, who married John Purvey. North sold the other half of the manor to Elizabeth Woodcliffe. [2] The house was subsequently bequeathed to William Woodcliffe. John Purvey was succeeded by a son, William Purvey, who appears to have been in possession of the reunited manor in 1597. It then passed to the Tookes, descendants of the other sister, until it was sold to Richard Woollaston, who died in 1691. Richard Woollaston conveyed the manor to William Fellowes, whose eldest son, Coulston Fellowes, was the possessor in 1728. [1]
From the latter, the manor passed in 1733 by sale to John Deane.. The sixteenth century house was replaced by a new house built in 1734 by John Deane who sold it in 1739 to Alexander Hume (1693–1765). [1] [3]
Sir Abraham Hume, 1st Baronet (1703–1772), inherited the estate from his brother Alexander when he died in 1765. [4] Architect, Robert Mylne supervised the house remodel from 1767 to 1769, and from 1781 to 1782, after Abraham's son, Sir Abraham Hume, 2nd Baronet (1749–1838) inherited the estate after his father's death in 1772. The interior decoration of the house was supervised by Robert Adam from 1777 to 1779. Adam also designed the garden buildings for the estate. [5] The drawing room has painted roundels by Angelica Kauffman. [6]
In 1838, after the 2nd baronet died without male issue, the Wormleybury estate passed to the male children of his daughter Sophia, Lady Brownlow, the wife of Brownlow Cust, 1st Baron Brownlow (1744–1807) (Viscount Alford and the Hon. Charles Henry Cust). They sold it in 1853 to Henry John Grant, on whose death it passed to his widow, Mary Grant. In 1880, Under the will of H. J. Grant, the manor passed to his cousin, Henry Jeffreys Bushby, and then to his son, Mr. Henry North Grant Bushby. The late Sir Whittaker Ellis took a lease of the property, and did a good deal! to modernise the house. On his death, this long lease was purchased by Mr. Albert Pam. [7]
The estate then passed through several owners, and is currently divided into flats. [3] The house is a Grade I listed building. [8]
The 2nd baronet and his wife Lady Amelia (1751–1809) were well known among leading horticulturalists during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, both in England and abroad. With the help of their gardener, James Mean, they established many exotic plant species in the gardens and greenhouses at Wormleybury. They introduced into England, between 1785 and 1825, a large collection of rare plants, primarily from India and the Far East. [4] [9] In 1793 British botanist James Sowerby made some of his observations of exotic mushrooms in the hothouses and greenhouses of Wormleybury as detailed in his 1796 illustrated book 'Coloured figures of English fungi or mushrooms.' [10] The tropical species Leucocoprinus birnbaumii , commonly known as the plantpot dapperling, was observed growing here and was likely introduced along with these exotic plant species.
Botanist James Edward Smith, along with other notable botanists at the time, discussed the Humes's contribution to English horticulture in their publications. Many new plant species were first cultivated at Wormleybury after they arrived in England. According to Smith, in his volume, Exotic Botany, "Dr. Roxburgh ... has sent Lady Hume a fine young tree of this species, Dellinia speciosa, Malabar, which is now in a very thriving state. It is presumed to be the first ever brought alive to Europe". The Humes introduced the first white pomegranate (Punica granatum fl. Alba) in England in 1796, and the 'Maiden's Blush' ( Camellia japonica ) and the large Mandarin orange ( Citrus nobilis ) in 1805.
The Hume's most important introduction, the first Tea Rose from China, 'Hume's Blush Tea Scented China Rose' (Rosa odorata) was planted at Wormleybury in 1810. [11]
Wormleybury is listed Grade II in the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens. [12]
Belton House is a Grade I listed country house in the parish of Belton near Grantham in Lincolnshire, England, built between 1685 and 1687 by Sir John Brownlow, 3rd Baronet. It is surrounded by formal gardens and a series of avenues leading to follies within a larger wooded park. Belton has been described as a compilation of all that is finest of Carolean architecture, said to be the only truly vernacular style of architecture that England had produced since the Tudor period. It is considered to be a complete example of a typical English country house; the claim has even been made that Belton's principal façade was the inspiration for the modern British motorway signs which give directions to stately homes.
Cheshunt is a town in the Borough of Broxbourne in Hertfordshire, England, 13 miles (21 km) north of London on the River Lea and Lee Navigation and directly south of Broxbourne. It contains a section of the Lee Valley Park, including much of the River Lee Country Park. To the north lies Broxbourne and Wormley, Waltham Abbey to the east, Waltham Cross and Enfield to the south, and Cuffley to the west.
Baron Brownlow, of Belton in the County of Lincoln, is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1776 for Sir Brownlow Cust, 4th Baronet. The Cust family descends from Richard Cust (1622-1700) of The Black Friars, Stamford, who represented Lincolnshire and Stamford in Parliament. In 1677 he was created a baronet, "of Stamford in the County of Lincoln". He was succeeded by his grandson Richard Cust, 2nd Baronet, who married Anne Brownlow, daughter of Sir William Brownlow, 4th Baronet, "of Humby", Lincolnshire, and sister and sole heiress of John Brownlow, 1st Viscount Tyrconnel, 5th Baronet of Belton House, Lincolnshire. The 2nd Baronet's son Sir John Cust, 3rd Baronet, sat as a Member of Parliament for Grantham and served as Speaker of the House of Commons from 1761 to 1770 and in 1754 inherited the Brownlow estates, including Belton, on the death of his childless maternal uncle Viscount Tyrconnel. His son Brownlow Cust, 4th Baronet, represented Ilchester, Somerset, and Grantham in Parliament and in 1776 was raised to the peerage as Baron Brownlow, "of Belton in the County of Lincoln", chiefly in recognition of his father's services. He was succeeded by his son John Cust, 2nd Baron Brownlow, who had sat as a Member of Parliament for Clitheroe, Lancashire, and also served as Lord Lieutenant of Lincolnshire for many years. In 1815 he was created Viscount Alford, "in the County of Lincoln", and Earl Brownlow, both in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. In 1810 the future 1st Earl had married Sophia Hume, a daughter of Sir Abraham Hume, 2nd Baronet, of Wormleybury, by his wife Lady Amelia Egerton, a great-granddaughter of John Egerton, 3rd Earl of Bridgewater.
Aldbury is a village and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England, near the borders of Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire in the Bulbourne valley of the Chiltern Hills, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The nearest towns are Tring and Berkhamsted. Uphill from the narrow valley are the Bridgewater monument and the Ashridge Estate, a country estate owned and managed by the National Trust.
Clevedon Court is a manor house on Court Hill in Clevedon, North Somerset, England, dating from the early 14th century. It is owned by the National Trust and is designated as a Grade I listed building.
Wallingwells is a small civil parish and hamlet in the Bassetlaw district of Nottinghamshire, England, with a population at the 2001 census of 22. The population remained less than 100 at the 2011 census. Details are included in the civil parish of Carlton in Lindrick. It lies about five miles north of Worksop.
Brocket Hall is a neo-classical country house set in a large park at the western side of the urban area of Welwyn Garden City in Hertfordshire, England. The estate is equipped with two golf courses and seven smaller listed buildings, apart from the main house. The freehold on the estate is held by the 3rd Baron Brocket. The house is Grade I-listed.
Viscount Tyrconnel was a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1718 for Sir John Brownlow, 5th Baronet, Member of Parliament for Grantham and Lincolnshire. He was made Baron Charleville, in the County of Cork, at the same time, also in the Peerage of Ireland. The Brownlow Baronetcy, of Humby in the County of Lincolnshire, was created in the Baronetage of England on 27 July 1641 for William Brownlow. His grandson, the third Baronet, represented Grantham in Parliament. The latter had no surviving male issue and was succeeded by his younger brother, the fourth Baronet. He sat as Member of Parliament for Peterborough and Bishop's Castle. He was succeeded by his son, the aforementioned fifth Baronet, who was elevated to the Peerage of Ireland as Viscount Tyrconnel. The three titles became extinct on Lord Tyrconnel's death in 1754. The Brownlow estates were passed on to the late Viscount's nephew, Sir John Cust, 3rd Baronet, whose son was created Baron Brownlow in 1776.
John Cust, 1st Earl Brownlow, GCH was a British Peer and Tory politician.
Sir John Brownlow, 3rd Baronet of Belton House near Grantham in Lincolnshire, was an English member of parliament. He built the grand mansion of Belton House, which survives today.
Leucocoprinus is a genus of fungi in the family Agaricaceae. Its best-known member is the distinctive yellow mushroom Leucocoprinus birnbaumii, which is found in plant pots and greenhouses worldwide. The type species is Leucocoprinus cepistipes. The genus has a widespread distribution and contains over 80 recognised species, however many of these species are very scarcely recorded and little known with only a small number of Leucocoprinus species which are commonly observed. The majority of the species in this genus are exclusive to tropical environments however numerous species have become a common sight in plant pots and greenhouses resulting in them becoming well known worldwide.
The Gnoll Country Park is a park in Wales. It is an early-18th-century landscaped garden covering over 100 acres (0.40 km2) in the Vale of Neath, in Neath Port Talbot county borough in south Wales. The park is designated Grade II* on the Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales.
Amelia Hannah Long, Lady Farnborough (1772-1837) was a watercolour painter who specialised in landscapes and botanical subjects.
Tyttenhanger House is a 17th-century country mansion, now converted into commercial offices, at Tyttenhanger, near St Albans, Hertfordshire. It is a Grade I listed building.
Wormley is a village and former civil parish, lying between Hoddesdon and Cheshunt in the Broxbourne district, in the county of Hertfordshire, England. The village is part of the ward of Wormley and Turnford, which had a population of 8,146 at the 2001 census. In 1931 the parish had a population of 930. The parish was abolished in 1935 and absorbed into Hoddesdon.
Sir Abraham Hume, 2nd Baronet was a British floriculturist and Tory politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1774 and 1818.
Marianne Margaret Egerton, Viscountess Alford, generally known as Lady Marian Alford, (1817–1888), was an English artist, art patron, and author. She was known for her work with the Royal School of Art Needlework, and for writing a history of needlework.
Pendley Manor is a hotel, conference and function centre near Tring, Hertfordshire, UK. It is a historic country house and is Grade II listed as an important example of Victorian architecture.
Ashlyns Hall is a country house at the edge of Berkhamsted in Hertfordshire, England. It is a Grade II* listed building.
Amelia Egerton, also known as Lady Amelia Hume, was a British horticulturalist. She and her husband, Sir Abraham Hume, 2nd Baronet, are best known for their rare plant collection at Wormleybury and their introduction of many rare plant species into England.