Wrest Park
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Wrest Park is a country estate located near Silsoe, Bedfordshire, England. It comprises Wrest Park, a Grade I listed country house, and Wrest Park Gardens, formal gardens surrounding the mansion.
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[edit] Wrest Park
The present house was built in 1834-36, to designs by its owner the second Earl de Grey, an amateur architect who was inspired by 18th-century French chateaux; the works were professionally superintended on site by James Clephan,[1] who had been clerk of the works at the Liddell seat, Ravensworth Castle, County Durham, and had recently performed as professional amanuensis and builder for Lord Barrington, whose house, Beckett Park, Berkshire, was designed by his brother-in-law, Tom Liddell, another amateur architect.[2] Wrest has some of the earliest Rococo revival interiors in England. Reception rooms in the house are open to the public.
[edit] Wrest Park Gardens
Wrest Park Gardens are spread over 150 acres (607,000 m²) and were originally laid out in the early 18th century, probably by George London and Henry Wise for Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Kent, then modified by Capability Brown in a more informal landscape style, without sacrificing the parterres. Wrest Park House was for generations the seat of the de Grey family, whose mausoleum is at nearby Flitton.
In the Great Garden, water catches the eye in every direction while intersecting alleys provide splendid vistas of the many garden buildings and ornaments. The park's centrepiece is an example of French parterres divided by a wide gravel central walk, continued as a canal that leads to a very fine free-standing domed pavilion designed in full Baroque style by Thomas Archer in 1710 (decorated inside by Louis Hauduroy in 1712), later provided with a naturalistic lake by Capability Brown. The surveyor John Rocque made a map of the gardens and garden houses at Wrest, 1735, dedicated to Duke Henry[3] The central formal area was retained instead of being swept away when it was ringed by a canal and woodland planned by Brown, circa 1758. During the later 18th and 19th centuries, the Bath House, and marble fountains were added. The huge Orangery was built by Earl de Grey.
The estate at Wrest is the oldest lay estate in Bedfordshire.[4]
Wrest Park Gardens are now in the care of English Heritage.
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- ^ Country Life, 25 June and 2 July 1970, noted in Howard Colvin, A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects 1600-1840 3rd ed. 1995: "James Clephan".
- ^ Thomas Liddell (1800-1856), the second son of Sir Thomas Henry Liddell, created Baron Ravensworth; he oversaw the rebuilding of Ravensworth Castle to designs of Thomas Nash and gained architectural competence in the process, to the extent that he was appointed to the committee to select a design for the new Houses of Parliament. His sister married the sixth Viscount Barrington (1823) and he Lord Barrington's sister (1843) (Colvin 1995:"Thomas Liddell").
- ^ Rocque catalogue: 5
- ^ [1]
[edit] External links
[edit] Further reading
- Nicola Smith, "Wrest Park" published by English Heritage, ISBN 1-85074-481-5
- Linda Cabe Halpern, "Wrest Park 1686–1730s: exploring Dutch influences" in Garden History Journal vol 30.2
- Jean O’Neill, "John Rocque as a guide to gardens" in Garden History Journal vol 16.1
