Croome Park

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Croome Court and surrounding grounds

Croome Park is a landscaped country park surrounding Croome Court, near Besford in Worcestershire, England. It was Lancelot 'Capability' Brown's first complete landscape design, begun in 1751 for George Coventry, 6th Earl of Coventry. The mansion house was also designed by Brown and is a rare example of his architectural work.

Given the overwhelming predominance of Brown's aesthetic in the 18th and 19th centuries, Croome Park has often been described as the single most influential landscape in Europe. Robert Adam and James Wyatt designed temples and follies for the park and surrounding estate.

In 1996 670 acres of the park were acquired by the National Trust, which has undertaken its ambitious restoration.

Croome landscape park is made up of many different buildings, the Court being the central focus. Named "eyecatchers" these building are set high on ridges seen from near the court such as Pirton Castle, The Panorma Tower and Dunstall Castle.

1 The Landscape Park
2 Croome Court
3 References
4 External links

[edit] The Landscape Park

The Court and Its Park The Court and its Park was disturbingly cut right through the middle by the building of the M5 motorway in 1963 when it opened as a two lane motorway, later on it was widened to a 3 lane motorway. It was a land purchase order so nothing could be done. This is also why there is the Worcester Gatehouse which appears to lead to nowhere, as the access route to the court disappeared when the M5 was built. A foot bridge near the church also was removed for the heavy machinery to get to the site to build the motorway and nowadays many people stop and wonder what the railway-like embankment was.

The motorway has created a lot of problems for the park due to the run off that comes from the motorway, all the salts, oils and litter polluted the natural balance of the lake otherwise known as Croome River.

The Worcester Gate House: A lodge from 1801 it was rebuilt in in 1879. Not far away is also the Keeper's house of the menagerie which is also cut off from the main park by the M5.

The Rotunda: Also in poor repair is the Rotunda.

The Panorma Tower:. Situated on Knight's Hill it was designed by James Wyatt and constructed in 1801. It was based on a design by Robert Adam

Pirton Castle: An eye catcher folly now sadly in need of urgent repair as it is being ravaged by thick ivy.

Dunstall Castle: Designed by Robert Adam this eye catcher Folly around 1766 is cut off from the park as its hidden by trees from with in the park. The stones from the tops of the 3 towers have fallen off so that now about a metre is missing from the central tower. The right arch also had a wall at the bottom which has been removed somehow.

The Owl's Nest: Better known as the Park Seat Buit in 1770-2 it is also by Adam. Currently this is being restored. It is situated as a look out over the park.

The London Arch: The main Entrance to the house, this once had railings either side, most likely to have been taken down during the war for ammunition.

Temple Greenhouse: This was designed by Robert Adam, completed in 1763. It used to have large sash windows in the front of it, now only the grooves where they used to slide can be seen. It housed the Earl's collection of exotic plants and was heated in the winter by a fire lit in a brick brothy at the back, then the heat was channeled underneath through gaps in the floor.

Around The Lake: The grotto and various features were designed by capability Brown. 50,000 cubic metres of silt and vegetation were removed when restoring the lake. Nearby are the Punch Bowl gates designed by Wyatt in 1793 to 1974. On one of the islands in the lake is the temple pavilion (1776-7)

St Mary Magdalene Church: It was built in 1763 by Capability Brown for the Earl of Coventry, a medieval church was demolished to make way for this church, its interior is designed by Robert Adam.

[edit] Croome Court

Croome Court is one of the best houses of its era to be designed by Capability Brown and Robert Adam. It was designed by Brown, it being his first private commission, it is said he used his Palladian styled Croome Court with interiors by Robert Adam as a prototype for his other great landscapes such as Chatsworth House and Blenheim Palace.

The house has been visited by George III, Queen Victoria and George V. During the second world war it housed the Dutch Royal family who were escaping the Nazi occupation in Holland. In the 1940's the Coventry family had to sell the Court. It was thus used as a school and also by Hare Krishnas. It lay empty for 12 years until rescue arrived (though at expense of part of the walled garden being built on for garages) and it was patched up and it became a private home once more with its 17 bedrooms.

One room was removed and is displayed in the Metropolitan Museum in New York: The Tapestry Room "George William, sixth earl of Coventry, commissioned this set of tapestries in Paris in 1763 for the tapestry room at his country seat, Croome Court (Worcestershire), which was then being remodeled by Robert Adam"

The Tapestry room

The kitchen gardens saved in 2000 are now slowly being restored.

November 2007: Croome court has recently been bought from the private owner by The Croome Heritage Trust and will be managed along with the National Trust, they are hoping to open the Mansion in 2008.