Capriccio with a view of Mereworth Castle, Kent

Mereworth Castle is a grade I listed

Neo-Palladian Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective ...

country house in

Mereworth Mereworth is a village and civil parish near the town of Maidstone in Kent, England. The Wateringbury Stream flows through the village and powered a watermill, the site of which now lies within the grounds of Mereworth Castle. Mereworth is pronou ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, England. This source attributes the plasterwork to Francesco Bagutti, but Giovanni Bagutti would appear to be more likely.

History

Mereworth by Paul Amsinck & engraved by Letitia Byrne, 1809

Mereworth Castle, Kent, a Fane & Colen Campbell collaboration, a postcard franked 1911

Originally the site of a

fortified A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...

with

licence to crenellate In medieval England, Wales and the Channel Islands a licence to crenellate (or licence to fortify) granted the holder permission to fortify his property. Such licences were granted by the king, and by the rulers of the counties palatine within th ...

in 1332, the manor of Mereworth was inherited by

Francis Fane, 1st Earl of Westmorland Francis Fane, 1st Earl of Westmorland (1 February 158023 March 1629), (styled Sir Francis Fane between 1603 and 1624) of Mereworth in Kent and of Apethorpe in Northamptonshire was an English landowner and politician who sat in the House of Com ...

(1580-1629) (son and heir of Sir Thomas Fane (died 1589) of Badsell in the parish of

Tudeley Tudeley is a village in the Tunbridge Wells borough of Kent, England. The village is home to All Saints' Church, the only church in the world that has all its windows in stained glass designed by Marc Chagall. The East window was commissioned by ...

in Kent) from his mother Mary Neville, suo jure Baroness le Despenser (c. 1554–1626), sole daughter and heiress of

Henry Nevill, 6th Baron Bergavenny Henry Nevill, 6th and ''de jure'' 4th Baron Abergavenny KB (between 1527 and 153510 February 1587) was an English peer. He was the son of Sir George Nevill, 5th Baron Bergavenny, and Mary Stafford (daughter of Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Bucki ...

(died 1587). The present building is not actually a castle, but was built in the 1720s by

John Fane, 7th Earl of Westmorland John Fane, 7th Earl of Westmorland (24 March 1685 – 26 August 1762), styled The Honourable John Fane from 1691 to 1733 and Lord Catherlough from 1733 to 1736, of Mereworth Castle in Kent, was a British Army officer and politician who sat in t ...

to the 1723 design of the architect Colen Campbell being an almost exact copy of Palladio's Villa Rotunda near

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

. The interior features plasterwork by Giovanni Bagutti and fresco painting by Francesco Sleter. The house is situated in a landscaped park and valley with a number of surrounding pavilions and lodges which are also

Grade I In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

listed. The house passed through descent to Barons Oranmore and Browne whose family seat it became. It was sold in 1930 and used as a

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of w ...

camp during World War II. In the 1950s and 1960s it was owned by artist Michael Lambert Tree (1921–1999), a son of

Ronald Tree Arthur Ronald Lambert Field Tree (26 September 1897 – 14 July 1976) was a British Conservative Party politician, journalist and investor who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Harborough constituency in Leicestershire from 1933 t ...

and an heir to the

Marshall Field Marshall Field (August 18, 1834January 16, 1906) was an American entrepreneur and the founder of Marshall Field and Company, the Chicago-based department stores. His business was renowned for its then-exceptional level of quality and customer ...

mercantile fortune, and his wife, Lady Anne Cavendish, daughter of the 10th Duke of Devonshire. Tree inherited the house from his uncle,

Peter Beatty Peter Randolph Louis Beatty (2 April 1910 – 26 October 1949) was an English racehorse owner and breeder, businessman and member of the aristocracy. Early life and personality Born on 2 April 1910, Beatty was the younger son of David Bea ...

, who died on 26 October 1949. The Wateringbury Stream passes through the grounds of the castle. It powered a

fulling Fulling, also known as felting, tucking or walking ( Scots: ''waukin'', hence often spelled waulking in Scottish English), is a step in woollen clothmaking which involves the cleansing of woven or knitted cloth (particularly wool) to elimin ...

mill Mill may refer to: Science and technology * * Mill (grinding) * Milling (machining) * Millwork * Textile mill * Steel mill, a factory for the manufacture of steel * List of types of mill * Mill, the arithmetic unit of the Analytical Engine early ...

at the eastern end of the castle grounds.Watermills of the East Malling and Wateringbury Streams, Part 2, Chapter 1Watermills (Kent and the Borders of Sussex) p134. Mereworth Castle is owned by Mahdi Al-Tajir, the former

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia ( The Middle East). It is located at t ...

ambassador to the United Kingdom and owner of the Highland Spring bottled water company, who purchased it in 1976 for $1.2 million. It is not generally accessible to the public, but does open on rare occasions for guided tours.

References

Sources

*Stutchbury, Howard, ''The Architecture of Colin Campbell'', Harvard University Press, 1967, 54–58. *Harris, John, ''The Palladians'', Trefoil Publications Ltd, 1981, 66–67. * ''Country Life'', XLVII, 808,876,912; XCV, 242; CIV,728; CXVI, 209 * *

External links

The DiCamillo Companion to British & Irish Country Houses1930s photographs
{{Authority control Buildings by Colen Campbell Country houses in Kent Grade I listed buildings in Kent Grade I listed houses Houses completed in 1725 Tonbridge and Malling Neoclassical architecture in England Rotundas in the United Kingdom Palladian architecture in England World War II prisoner of war camps in England Villas in the United Kingdom 1725 establishments in England

History

See also

References

Sources

External links