Biddesden House (or Biddesden Park) is a

Grade I listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

English country house image:Blenheim - Blenheim Palace - 20210417125239.jpg, 300px, Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a Townhou ...

in east Wiltshire, about north-west of

Andover, Hampshire Andover ( ) is a town in the Test Valley district of Hampshire, England. The town is on the River Anton, a major tributary of the River Test, Test, and lies alongside the major A303 road, A303 trunk road at the eastern end of Salisbury Plain, ...

. The house stands in parkland about east of Ludgershall village, and is home to an

Arabian Horse The Arabian or Arab horse ( , DIN 31635, DMG ''al-ḥiṣān al-ʿarabī'') is a horse breed, breed of horse with historic roots on the Arabian Peninsula. With a distinctive head shape and high tail carriage, the Arabian is one of the most easi ...

stud farm A stud farm or stud in animal husbandry is an establishment for selective breeding of livestock. The word "stud (animal), stud" comes from the Old English ''stod'' meaning "herd of horses, place where horses are kept for breeding". Historically, ...

History

Biddesden manor was bought in 1693 by

John Richmond Webb General (United Kingdom), General John Richmond Webb (26 December 1667 – 5 September 1724), of Biddesden House, Ludgershall, Wiltshire, was a British general and Tory politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1695 to 1724. Politically ...

(1667–1724), an army officer who would rise to the rank of General. His purchase may have been aided by wealth brought by his wife: in 1690 he had married Henrietta Borlase, daughter of

William Borlase William Borlase (2 February 169631 August 1772), Cornish antiquary, geologist and naturalist. From 1722, he was Rector of Ludgvan, Cornwall, where he died. He is remembered for his works ''The Antiquities of Cornwall'' (1754; 2nd ed., 1769) a ...

MP and the widow of Sir Richard Astley, 1st Baronet. After his retirement from the army, Webb replaced the

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 usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...

at Biddesden with the present house, built in stages around 1711–1712. On the General's death the estate passed to his son

Borlase Richmond Webb Borlase Richmond Webb (c. 1696–1738), of Biddesden House, Wiltshire, was a British landowner and Tory politician who sat in the British House of Commons, House of Commons from 1722 to 1734. Webb was the second son of John Richmond Webb of Bidd ...

(c. 1696–1738) and then the latter's half-brother, also

(1721–1766). The

Victoria County History The Victoria History of the Counties of England, commonly known as the Victoria County History (VCH), is an English history project which began in 1899 with the aim of creating an encyclopaedic history of each of the historic counties of Englan ...

traces later owners. About 1909 it was bought sight unseen by George Gribble, on the recommendation of his wife Norah Royd and their son Philip; the family moved there from

Henlow Grange Henlow Grange is an English country house in Henlow, Bedfordshire. It is now operated as a spa hotel. Family home The house chiefly dates from the early 18th century. For generations it was the family seat of the Edwards. By 1869 the manor was ...

, Bedfordshire. In 1929 Biddesden House and about 200 acres were sold, probably by Olive Baring, to E. R. Fothergill, who in 1931 sold them to Bryan Guinness, later Lord Moyne. Guinness descendants still live there.

Architecture and design

Biddesden house is built in Flemish bond brick with stone dressings. The architect is unknown, perhaps Webb himself. It has two stories plus attic, seven bays to its south front and both sides, and domestic quarters to the rear. At the north-east a round turret carries a bell brought by Webb from the 1708 siege of Lille. Inside is a double height entrance hall, lit by three round windows at first floor height, and there is mid-18th-century panelling in several rooms. Pevsner describes Biddesden as "a very remarkable house" for its place in English architecture. It was designated as Grade I listed in 1952. On the west front,

Dora Carrington Dora de Houghton Carrington (29 March 1893 – 11 March 1932), known generally as Carrington, was an English painter and decorative artist, remembered in part for her association with members of the Bloomsbury Group, especially the writer Lytt ...

painted a blank window in 1931 with a trompe-l'oeil cook, cat and canary behind glazing bars. Richard Pym painted two more on the east front in 1935, showing

Regency In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...

people.

Park and gardens

Formal terraced gardens west of the house were probably created by General Webb, together with the walled kitchen garden. By 1841, during the ownership of the Everett family, there was an orchard, flower garden and shrubbery. Bryan Guinness made improvements to the gardens in the early 1930s. The gardens and surrounding park, which extend south of Biddesden Lane into Hampshire, in all some , were recorded on the national

Register of Historic Parks and Gardens #REDIRECT Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England #REDIRECT Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England {{R from move ...

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History

Architecture and design

Park and gardens

Biddesden Stud

References

External links