Neston Park

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Neston Park is an English country house and estate, 2 miles (3 km) south of Corsham, Wiltshire, in the village of Neston. The name of the village comes from the name of the house.

The house was built just after 1790.[1] Since the early 19th century, it has been the home of the Fuller family, known for their participation in the Fuller, Smith and Turner brewery in London, producer of Fuller's London Pride cask ale.[1][2][3] In 1910, Neston Park proprietor John Fuller, a politician, was created a baronet on the recommendation of the Asquith government.[4] Baronetcies are hereditary, and James Fuller became the proprietor, estate manager and fourth Baronet in 1998.[3][4]

The grounds of the house contain farmland: the estate extends from north of Neston village, southwards beyond Atworth, to South Wraxall, and includes the certified organic home farm with a herd of Jersey cattle and unusual Aberdeen Angus and Jersey cross-bred cattle.[1][5]

The raised course of the Roman road has been reduced by 19th century landscaping

Noted explorer of Africa, John Hanning Speke, a nephew of the Fuller family, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound while hunting partridge at Neston Park in 1864.[6]

In the late 1990s, the estate obtained a Countryside Stewardship Scheme agreement from the government, supporting a programme of hedge, wall and wild flower field margin restoration.[1] The estate's farm shop and coffee shop were established in Atworth in 2006.[5]

The estate has been used as the filming location of a number of productions, including the outdoor sets for the 2008 BBC television adaptation of Lark Rise to Candleford, and some scenes of the ITV series Persuasion.[7][8][9]

Unlike the neighbouring estate of Great Chalfield Manor, occupied by other members of the Fuller family, Neston Park is not open to the public, though several public paths cross the land. The route of the ancient Roman road from London to Bath crosses the home farm from east to west, about 200 metres (700 feet) south of the house. The local portion of the road is sometimes known as the Wansdyke.[10]

In 2011 the estate applied for planning permission to reopen a Bath Stone mine, called Park Lane quarry, on the estate.[11]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "Neston Park Estate". Neston Park Farm Shop. 2007. Archived from the original on 2008-02-24. Retrieved 2008-08-14. 
  2. ↑ The History of Fuller, Smith & Turner P.L.C. from the brewery's website. Retrieved on August 14, 2008.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 FULLER, Sir James (Henry Fleetwood), Who's Who 2008, A & C Black, 2008; online edn (subscription or library card required), Oxford University Press, Dec 2007. Accessed 15 Aug 2008
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Leigh Rayment's Peerage Page: The Baronetage of England, Ireland, Nova Scotia, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Fletcher-Vane to Fytche". Archived from the original on February 27, 2006. Retrieved February 6, 2008. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Neston Park Farm, Atworth". thisiswiltshire.co.uk (Newsquest). 2006-11-22. Retrieved 2008-08-14. 
  6. ↑ Roy Bridges, Speke, John Hanning (1827–1864) (subscription or library card required), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, May 2006. Accessed 15 Aug 2008.
  7. ↑ Scott McPherson (2008-03-11). "Lark Rise returning". Gazette and Herald. Retrieved 2008-08-14. 
  8. ↑ "Lark Rise to Candleford - Locations". IMDb. Retrieved 2008-08-16. 
  9. ↑ "The South-Central Region On Screen". Retrieved 2008-08-16. 
  10. ↑ Robert Vermaat (2001). "Wansdyke and the Roman Road". self-published. 
  11. ↑ "Mine plan causes drama in Lark Rise". Bath Chronicle. 3 February 2012. Retrieved 5 February 2012. 

External links

Coordinates: 51°24′11″N 2°12′00″W / 51.403°N 2.200°W / 51.403; -2.200 (Neston Park)

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