Ammerdown House, Kilmersdon

Last updated

Ammerdown House
Ammerdown House gateway.jpg
The gateway to Ammerdown House
Location Kilmersdon, Somerset, England
Coordinates 51°16′21″N2°24′56″W / 51.27250°N 2.41556°W / 51.27250; -2.41556 Coordinates: 51°16′21″N2°24′56″W / 51.27250°N 2.41556°W / 51.27250; -2.41556
Built1788
Architect James Wyatt
Listed Building – Grade I
Designated11 March 1968 [1]
Reference no.267916
Somerset UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location of Ammerdown House in Somerset

Ammerdown House in Kilmersdon, Somerset, England, was built in 1788. It has been designated as Grade I listed building. [1]

Contents

It was built as a country house with stables and an adjacent formal garden within landscaped parkland in emparked landscape by James Wyatt for Thomas Samuel Jolliffe. The house has been handed down through the Jolliffe family to William Jolliffe, a politician, who was made Baron Hylton in the mid-19th century; the house was enlarged in 1855 & 1877, with further alteration to the west front being undertaken in 1901, possibly by Sir Edwin Lutyens. [1]

A pair of lodges, gate piers and gates, associated with Ammerdown House, which were also built in 1788–94 by James Wyatt, are Grade II* listed buildings and on the English Heritage Heritage at Risk Register. [2] Since 1973 the stables have been significantly altered and converted into a study centre. [1]

The orangery and walled garden were built around 1793. [3]

In 1853 John Twyford Jolliffe & Thomas Robert Jolliffe, the children of the builder of the house, Thomas Samuel Jolliffe, built a 150-foot (46 m) high column, known as the Ammerdown Park Column, Ammerdown Lighthouse or the Jolliffe Column. It was a near replica of Eddystone Lighthouse with a glass dome or viewing lantern which could be illuminated. [4] It is a Grade II* listed building. [5] In the late 19th century a local quarry owner, John Turner of Faulkland, took out a lawsuit against his neighbour Hedworth Jolliffe, 2nd Baron Hylton who owned Ammerdown House in Kilmersdon. When Turner lost he erected a tower of around 180 feet (55 m) high to rival the column at Ammerdown, with a dance hall and tea garden at the base. When Turner died in 1894, Lord Hylton bought the structure to demolish it. The base and dance hall were converted into workers cottages and eventually demolished in 1969. [6]

The gardens include gothic fountains [7] and statues [8] surrounded by mature yews nearly 4 metres (13.1 ft) high, hedging, Portugal laurels and honeysuckles trained over wired umbrellas. Spring colour is provided by daffodils, cowslips and magnolia with roses, dahlias and wild orchids flowering in the summer. [9] The gardens are listed, Grade II*, on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of special historic interest in England. [10]

The current residents of the house are Diana Jolliffe, daughter in law of the 5th Baron Hylton, the current Lord Hylton, and her children. The family estate covers many of the villages around including Kilmersdon, although much of the former residential property of the estate is run by a charitable housing association set up by the current Lord Hylton.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Belton House</span> Country house in Belton near Grantham, Lincolnshire, England

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bretton Hall, West Yorkshire</span> Building in West Bretton, England

Bretton Hall is a country house in West Bretton near Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. It housed Bretton Hall College from 1949 until 2001 and was a campus of the University of Leeds (2001–2007). It is a Grade II* listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lyme Park</span> Grade I listed building in Cheshire East, UK

Lyme Park is a large estate south of Disley, Cheshire, England, managed by the National Trust and consisting of a mansion house surrounded by formal gardens and a deer park in the Peak District National Park. The house is the largest in Cheshire, and is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Badminton House</span> Country house in Gloucestershire, England

Badminton House is a large country house and Grade I Listed Building in Badminton, Gloucestershire, England, which has been the principal seat of the Dukes of Beaufort since the late 17th century. The house, which has given its name to the sport of badminton, is set among 52,000 acres of land. The gardens and park surrounding the house are listed at Grade I on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Weston Park</span> House in Weston-under-Lizard, Staffordshire

Weston Park is a country house in Weston-under-Lizard, Staffordshire, England, set in more than 1,000 acres (400 ha) of park landscaped by Capability Brown. The park is located 10 miles (16 km) north-west of Wolverhampton, and 8 miles (13 km) north-east of Telford, close to the border with Shropshire. The 17th-century Hall is a Grade I listed building and several other features of the estate, such as the Orangery and the Stable block, are separately listed as Grade II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baron Hylton</span> Barony in the Peerage of the United Kingdom

Baron Hylton is a title that has been created twice, once in the Peerage of England and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The first creation came in the Peerage of England 1295 when Robert Hylton was summoned to the Model Parliament as Lord Hylton by writ. His son, Alexander, was called to Parliament in 1332 and 1335, but no further summons were sent for his descendants. Therefore, the title has only been held de jure after the death of the second baron. Indeed, the last baron was Member of Parliament for Carlisle after "inheriting" the title, due to this anomaly. Despite this, the creation is deemed to have fallen into abeyance on the death of the eighteenth baron without male heirs in 1746.

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

Kilmersdon is a village and civil parish on the north eastern slopes of the Mendip Hills in Somerset between the towns of Radstock and Frome. It is located on the B3139 between Wells and Trowbridge in Wiltshire. The settlement is recorded in William I's Domesday book and dates back at least 1,000 years; though the core of the village dates from the mid nineteenth century. The parish includes the hamlets of Charlton, South View and Green Parlour.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mells, Somerset</span> Village in Somerset, England

Mells is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, near the town of Frome.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hestercombe House</span> Grade II listed building in Somerset, UK

Hestercombe House is a historic country house in the parish of West Monkton in the Quantock Hills, near Taunton in Somerset, England. The house is a Grade II* listed building and the estate is Grade I listed on the English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England.

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

Hemington is a village and civil parish 5.5 miles (8.9 km) north west of Frome, in the Mendip district of Somerset, England. It is located just off the A366 between Trowbridge and Radstock. The parish includes the villages of Hardington, Faulkland and Foxcote.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dodington Park</span>

Dodington Park is a country house and estate in Dodington, South Gloucestershire, England. The house was built by James Wyatt for Christopher Bethell Codrington. The family had made their fortune from sugar plantations in the Caribbean and were significant owners of slaves. It remained in the Codrington family until 1980; it is now owned by the British businessman James Dyson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raymond Jolliffe, 5th Baron Hylton</span> British Crossbench peer and landowner

Raymond Hervey Jolliffe, 5th Baron Hylton, ARICS, DL, is a British peer and landowner. He is one of 92 hereditary peers elected to remain in the House of Lords after the passing of the House of Lords Act 1999, sitting as a crossbencher. He is currently the longest-serving Crossbench member of the House of Lords.

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

Marston Bigot is a small village in the civil parish of Trudoxhill, near Nunney and 3 miles (5 km) south of Frome in Somerset, England.

Babington is a small village between Radstock and Frome, Somerset, England, which has now largely disappeared.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grade I listed buildings in Somerset</span> Buildings of exceptional interest in Somerset

The Grade I listed buildings in Somerset, England, demonstrate the history and diversity of its architecture. The ceremonial county of Somerset consists of a non-metropolitan county, administered by Somerset County Council, which is divided into five districts, and two unitary authorities. The districts of Somerset are West Somerset, South Somerset, Taunton Deane, Mendip and Sedgemoor. The two administratively independent unitary authorities, which were established on 1 April 1996 following the breakup of the county of Avon, are North Somerset and Bath and North East Somerset. These unitary authorities include areas that were once part of Somerset before the creation of Avon in 1974.

Mendip is a local government district in the English county of Somerset. The Mendip district covers a largely rural area of 285 square miles (738 km2) ranging from the Mendip Hills through on to the Somerset Levels. It has a population of approximately 11,000. The administrative centre of the district is Shepton Mallet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Church of St Peter and St Paul, Kilmersdon</span> Church in Somerset, England

The Anglican Church of St Peter and St Paul in Kilmersdon, Somerset, England, dates back to the Norman period, though much of the current structure was built during the 15th and 16th centuries and restored in the Victorian era. It is a Grade I listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ven House</span> Historic site in Somerset, England

Ven House in Milborne Port, Somerset, England is an English manor house that has been designated as a Grade I listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grade II* listed buildings in Mendip</span>

Mendip is a local government district in the English county of Somerset. The Mendip district covers a largely rural area of 285 square miles (738 km2) ranging from the Mendip Hills through on to the Somerset Levels. It had a population of approximately 110,000 in 2014. The administrative centre of the district is Shepton Mallet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Perrott Manor House</span> School in North Perrott, England

North Perrott Manor House which later became Perrott Hill School in North Perrott, Somerset, England was built in 1877 by Thomas Henry Wyatt. It is a Grade II* listed building.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Historic England. "Ammerdown House and stables now known as Ammerdown Study Centre (1058685)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 27 May 2009.
  2. "Kilmersdon Lodges". Heritage at Risk. English Heritage. Archived from the original on 20 October 2013. Retrieved 14 October 2013.
  3. Historic England. "Orangery and walled garden at rear of Ammerdown House (1345115)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 27 May 2009.
  4. Warren, Derrick (2005). Curious Somerset. Stroud: Sutton Publishing. p. 73. ISBN   978-0-7509-4057-3.
  5. Historic England. "Jolliffe Column (1058687)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 29 March 2011.
  6. Reid, R. D. (1979). Some Buildings of Mendip. Mendip Society. p. 54. ISBN   978-0905459165.
  7. Historic England. "Fountain and pool adjacent to south-west corner of Ammerdown House (1177397)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 27 May 2009.
  8. "Ammerdown House and Park, Kilmersdon". Somerset Historic Environment Record. Somerset County Council. Retrieved 27 May 2009.
  9. "Ammerdown House". Gardens Guide. Archived from the original on 13 May 2009. Retrieved 27 May 2009.
  10. Historic England. "Amnmerdown House (1001136)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 9 February 2016.