Rousham House (also known as Rousham Park) is a country house at Rousham in Oxfordshire, England. The house, which has been continuously in the ownership of one family, was built circa 1635 and remodelled by

William Kent William Kent (c. 1685 – 12 April 1748) was an English architect, landscape architect, painter and furniture designer of the early 18th century. He began his career as a painter, and became Principal Painter in Ordinary or court painter, bu ...

in the 18th century in a free Gothic style. Further alterations were carried out in the 19th century. The celebrated gardens are open to the public every day; the house is open by appointment.

History

In the 1630s Sir Robert Dormer bought the manor of Rousham. He immediately began construction of the present house but work was halted by the start of the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...

. The Dormers were a

Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of governm ...

family and the house was attacked by

Parliamentary A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...

soldiers. In 1649 the estate was inherited by Robert Dormer's son, also Robert. He left the house much as his father had created it, only repairing the damage of the Civil War. However, he did more to restore the family fortunes by marrying twice, each time to an heiress. His second wife was the daughter of Sir Charles Cottrell, a high-ranking courtier of Charles II. Colonel Robert Dormer-Cottrell, the grandson of the house's builder, inherited Rousham in 1719 and began the huge transformation of the gardens to its current appearance. Initially he employed

Charles Bridgeman Charles Bridgeman (1690–1738) was an English garden designer who helped pioneer the naturalistic landscape style. Although he was a key figure in the transition of English garden design from the Anglo-Dutch formality of patterned parterres an ...

to lay out the gardens in the new and more naturalistic style that was becoming popular. Bridgeman's layout of the garden was completed circa 1737. Rousham was then inherited by the Colonel's brother, General

James Dormer James Dormer (1679–1741) was a British Army officer, a lieutenant-general, and colonel of the 1st troop of Horse Grenadier Guards Life The son of Robert Dormer (1628?–1689) of Dorton, Buckinghamshire, and his second wife, Anne, daughter o ...

(1679–1741), who called in

to further enhance and develop the garden that Bridgeman created. This Kent did with considerable success over the next four years. On the death of James Dormer in 1741, unmarried and without issue, the estate passed to his first cousin Sir Clement Cottrell-Dormer(1686–1758) (the son of his aunt Anne Cottrell) who added the surname Dormer to his

patronymic A patronymic, or patronym, is a component of a personal name based on the given name of one's father, grandfather (avonymic), or an earlier male ancestor. Patronymics are still in use, including mandatory use, in many countries worldwide, alt ...

. At this time Kent also embellished the house itself, with

crenellation A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (i.e., a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at interva ...

s and two wings containing a drawing room and a "delightful" library, according to Horace Walpole who said of Rousham in 1760 "it reinstated Kent with me; he has no where shewn so much taste".Walpole to George Montagu, 19 July 1760 The interiors were altered a century later but the hall, the principal room of the house, has survived alteration by successive generations unchanged, and remains as completed in the 17th century. Kent's exterior work is today almost as built, but in 1876 the original octagonal paned glazing was replaced with innovative large sheets of plate glass, during a heavy-handed restoration of the house by the architect

James Piers St Aubyn James Piers St Aubyn (6 April 1815 – 8 May 1895), often referred to as J P St Aubyn, was an English architect of the Victorian era, known for his church architecture and confident restorations. Early life St Aubyn was born at Powick Vicara ...

. The house contains fine collections of Jacobean and 18th-century furniture, paintings and statuary, all displayed in a domestic setting. Rousham04

The gardens, created by Bridgeman and then Kent, overlook a curve of the

River Cherwell The River Cherwell ( or ) is a tributary of the River Thames in central England. It rises near Hellidon, Northamptonshire and flows southwards for to meet the Thames at Oxford in Oxfordshire. The river gives its name to the Cherwell local g ...

. Bridgeman had laid out the garden, with meandering walks through the woods, and pools of varying degrees of formality. Kent's theme was to create and transform the naturalistic landscape created by Bridgeman by introducing ' Augustan' traits to recall the glories and atmosphere of ancient

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. Thus the Roman Forum was to be recreated in the verdant English countryside. "The garden is Daphne in little", Walpole told George Montagu: "the sweetest little groves, streams, glades, porticoes, cascades, and river, imaginable; all the scenes are perfectly classic."

The house and garden today

Away and unseen from the house, Kent's garden extends past classical

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

s, follies and statuary representing the spirit of that era, dying gladiators, a horse being savaged by a lion and other statues depicting similar themes. Paths lead through woods where the abundant water from the Cherwell is fully utilised: small rills lead to larger ponds and formal pools, classical statuary of

Roman gods The Roman deities most widely known today are those the Romans identified with Greek counterparts (see ''interpretatio graeca''), integrating Greek myths, iconography, and sometimes religious practices into Roman culture, including Latin lite ...

and mythological creatures are skilfully positioned to catch the eye as one progresses from a cascade to the cold bath and on to the next temple or arcade, each set in its own valley or glade, a succession of picturesque tableaux. The statues are by

Peter Scheemakers Peter Scheemakers or Pieter Scheemaeckers II or the Younger (10 January 1691 – 12 September 1781) was a Flemish sculptor who worked for most of his life in London. His public and church sculptures in a classicist style had an important influenc ...

. Among the most revealing and thought-provoking of the follies is a grotto with a small cascade with the inscription: "In Front of this Stone lie the Remains of Ringwood an otter-hound of extraordinary Sagacity": this shows that while the English

squire In the Middle Ages, a squire was the shield- or armour-bearer of a knight. Use of the term evolved over time. Initially, a squire served as a knight's apprentice. Later, a village leader or a lord of the manor might come to be known as a ...

who created this garden attempted to achieve Arcadia, his interests and loves remained hunting and

hound A hound is a type of hunting dog used by hunters to track or chase prey. Description Hounds can be contrasted with gun dogs that assist hunters by identifying prey and/or recovering shot quarry. The hound breeds were the first hunting dogs. ...

s. A separate garden closer to the house evokes the spirit of the Tudor and Stuart eras of

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

gardening. Box-edged beds and borders of old

rose A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be ...

s and herbaceous plants are surrounded by walls of ancient red brick; here an historic circular

dovecote A dovecote or dovecot , doocot ( Scots) or columbarium is a structure intended to house pigeons or doves. Dovecotes may be free-standing structures in a variety of shapes, or built into the end of a house or barn. They generally contain pige ...

still retains its

dove Columbidae () is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily ...

s and close by through a small gate is the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

where generations of Cottrell-Dormers are buried. One memorial in the church commemorates three sons of the family killed in combat in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. The house and grounds have been used as filming locations for productions including ITV's ''

Lewis Lewis may refer to: Names * Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name * Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname Music * Lewis (musician), Canadian singer * "Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohead ...

'' (episode "The Dead of Winter") and BBC's 2021 miniseries ''

The Pursuit of Love ''The Pursuit of Love'' is a novel by Nancy Mitford, first published in 1945. It is the first in a trilogy about an upper-class English family in the interwar period focusing on the romantic life of Linda Radlett, as narrated by her cousin, Fa ...

''. English horticulturist

Monty Don Montagu Denis Wyatt Don (born George Montagu Don; 8 July 1955) is a British horticulturist, broadcaster, and writer who is best known as the lead presenter of the BBC gardening television series '' Gardeners' World''. Born in Germany and rais ...

considers Rousham his favourite garden in England.

Around the World in 80 Gardens ''Around the World in 80 Gardens'' is a television series of 10 programmes in which British gardener and broadcaster Monty Don visits 80 of the world's most celebrated gardens. The series was filmed over a period of 18 months and was first broadc ...

, episode 9 Rousham House is still the home of the Cottrell-Dormer family.

References

Sources and further reading

* * * * * * * *

External links

Rousham House and Garden – information on garden history, design

Official Rousham house website

Images of Rousham House and Park
at the

English Heritage Archive The Historic England Archive is the public archive of Historic England, located in The Engine House on Fire Fly Avenue in Swindon, formerly part of the Swindon Works of the Great Western Railway. It is a public archive of architectural and arch ...

Images of Rousham House
at th
Country Life Picture Library
{{Coord, 51, 54, 48, N, 1, 18, 18, W, region:GB-LND_type:landmark_source:dewiki, display=title Country houses in Oxfordshire English gardens in English Landscape Garden style Gardens in Oxfordshire Gothic Revival architecture in Oxfordshire Grade I listed houses in Oxfordshire Houses completed in 1635 West Oxfordshire District William Kent buildings 1635 establishments in England Gardens by William Kent