Pixton Park

Pixton Park
Location within Somerset
General information
Town or city	Dulverton, Somerset
Country	England
Coordinates	51°01′58″N 3°31′56″W / 51.0329°N 3.5323°W / 51.0329; -3.5323
Completed	c1760

Pixton Park is a country house in the parish of Dulverton, Somerset, England. It is associated with at least three historically significant families or dynasties: the Acland baronets, the politicians and diplomats the Herberts, and the Waughs, a series of writers. The Grade II* listed building was built around 1760 for the Acland family and later altered by the Earl of Carnarvon.^[1]

History

John Dyke Acland was a British officer who fought in the American Revolutionary War. He lived at Pixton Park with his wife Harriet, a remarkable woman in her own right, and died there in 1778^[2] Their daughter Elizabeth Kitty married Henry George Herbert, 2nd Earl of Carnarvon, and thus Pixton Park passed into the Herbert family, which was prominent in the political and intellectual life of Britain throughout the nineteenth century. Their son Henry John George Herbert, 3rd Earl of Carnarvon (1800–1849) was a writer, traveller and politician. His son Henry Howard Molyneux Herbert, 4th Earl of Carnarvon (1831–1890), a leading member of the Conservative Party, a cabinet minister and eventuallyLord Lieutenant of Ireland, redesigned the estate. It was inherited by Col Molyneux Herbert who lies in the memorial chapel in Brushford Church.

The estate passed to Aubrey Nigel Henry Molyneux Herbert (1880–1923), diplomat, traveller and intelligence officer, associated with Albanian independence and twice offered the throne of that country. Aubrey Herbert was the second son of the 4th Earl and his second wife, Elizabeth Howard of Greystoke Castle, Cumberland, sister of Esme Howard, 1st Baron Howard of Penrith. He was given Pixton Park by his mother, with 5,000 acres (20 km²).^[3] Aubrey and Mary Herbert had four children before he died at the age of 43. Pixton Park passed to his son Auberon (1922–1974), who died a bachelor. Aubrey Herbert's daughter Laura married the novelist Evelyn Waugh, and their son Auberon was born at Pixton Park in 1939.^[4] In World War II the estate was used for child evacuees.

Estate

At one time the estate had a herd of Sika Deer (Cervus nippon), and was used for pheasant rearing.

The stables to Pixton Park were built in the mid 18th century and are now a private dwelling.^[5] In 2007 the stables were bought by Richard Caring, the owner of Annabel's nightclub and The Ivy restaurant, and subject to a planning application for a "Winter Palace".^[6][7][8]

Pepperpot Castle in Upton, which is also known as Haddon Lodge, was built by Lady Harriet Acland, during the long period of her widowhood, 1778–1815, as a lodge to the drive to connect Pixton Park in Dulverton where her daughter the Countess of Carnarvon lived, with her own estates near Wiveliscombe.^[9]

South Haddon Cottage, which was built in 1830, formed part of the estate.^[10]

Two gate lodges were built to the estate. No 1 Jury Lodge^[11] and No 2 Jury Lodge^[12] In 1870 the Earl of Carnavon resited the entrance to Pixton Park and created a new driveway, more convenient for guests arriving by train from Dulverton railway station, and added a new lodge.^[13] Towards Brushford the River Barle is crossed by the New Bridge dating from 1870, which led to Pixton Park,^[14]

References