Charlecote Park
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Charlecote Park (grid reference SP263564) is a grand 16th-century country house in an ancient deer park on the banks of the River Avon, 6 km east of Stratford-upon-Avon and 9 km south of Warwick, Warwickshire, England. It has been administered by the National Trust since 1946 and is open to the public.
The Lucy family, who came to England with William the Conqueror, has owned the land since 1247. Charlecote Park was built in 1558 by Sir Thomas Lucy, and Queen Elizabeth I stayed in the room that is now the drawing room. Although the general outline of the Elizabethan house remains, nowadays it is in fact mostly Victorian. Successive generations of the Lucy family had modified Charlecote Park over the centuries, but in 1823, George Hammond Lucy inherited the house and set about recreating the house in its original style.
In the middle of the 19th century the Fairfax Baronets inherited the property when the male line of the Lucy family failed. The baronets changed their family name to Lucy to reflect the traditions of Charlecote.
The Great Hall has a barrel-vaulted ceiling made of plaster painted to look like timber and is a fine setting for the splendid collection of family portraits. Other rooms have richly coloured wallpaper, decorated plaster ceilings and wood panelling. There are magnificent pieces of furniture and fine works of art, including a contemporary painting of Queen Elizabeth I. The original two-storey Elizabethan gateway that guards the approach to the house remains unaltered.
Charlecote Park covers 185 acres (75 hectares), backing on to the Avon. Apocryphal stories recount that William Shakespeare poached deer in the park. It was landscaped by Capability Brown circa 1760.
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