Donnington Grove is a

Strawberry Hill Gothic Strawberry Hill House—often called simply Strawberry Hill—is a Gothic Revival architecture, Gothic Revival villa that was built in Twickenham, London, by Horace Walpole (1717–1797) from 1749 onward. It is a typical example of the "#Strawb ...

mansion, now a

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...

and

country club A country club is a privately-owned Club (organization), club, often with a membership quota and admittance by invitation or sponsorship, that generally offers both a variety of recreational sports and facilities for dining and entertaining. Ty ...

, and associated

Golf Course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, tee box, a #Fairway and rough, fairway, the #Fairway and rough, rough and other hazard (golf), hazards, and ...

at Donnington in the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

Shaw-cum-Donnington Shaw-cum-Donnington is a civil parish in West Berkshire, England with all of its urban or suburban area immediately north of the largest town in the district, Newbury. It comprises the villages of Shaw and Donnington and contains the partial ...

, near Newbury, in the English county of

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

. It is overlooked by

Donnington Castle Donnington Castle is a ruined medieval castle, situated in the small village of Donnington, just north of the town of Newbury in the English county of Berkshire. It was founded by Sir Richard Abberbury the Elder in 1386 and was bought by Tho ...

History

Donnington Grove was built in 1763 for James Pettit Andrews the half-brother of the lord of Shaw Manor. The Grove was built in "Strawberry Hill Gothic" a style named after the house created for

Horace Walpole Horatio Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford (; 24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English Whig politician, writer, historian and antiquarian. He had Strawberry Hill House built in Twickenham, southwest London ...

at Strawberry Hill in London. Records show that Donnington House was expensive to construct and costly to maintain. Twenty years later Andrews sold the property to William Brummell who was responsible for turning Donnington Grove into the landscape it is today and here that his son,

Beau Brummell George Bryan "Beau" Brummell (7 June 1778 – 30 March 1840) was an important figure in Regency England, and for many years he was the arbiter of British men's fashion. At one time, he was a close friend of the Prince Regent, the future King ...

, grew up. By the time Brummell died, the estate covered , the house and stables had been extended and entrance lodges erected. William Brummell died in 1794 and left the estate to be divided amongst his children. After the estate was requisitioned by Allied Supplies in 1940 it was sold on to the Hon Reginald Fellows, second husband of Daisy Fellowes, heiress to the

Singer sewing machine Singer Corporation is an American manufacturer of consumer sewing machines, first established as I. M. Singer & Co. in 1851 by Isaac M. Singer with New York lawyer Edward C. Clark. Best known for its sewing machines, it was renamed Singer Man ...

fortunes, and remained in the family until the early 1990s. Donnington Grove Country Club opened in 1993. For some years in the early 2000s, it was called 'Parasampia', but the name has returned to its traditional form.

Donnington Grove Country Club

The course opened in 1993 and the architect was Dave Thomas, the

Ryder Cup The Ryder Cup is a biennial men's golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States, with hosting duties alternating between venues in Europe and the United States for each edition. The cup is named after the English businessman S ...

player who was responsible for several courses such as the Brabazon at the Belfry and Bowood in Wiltshire. The course is well known for the change in character across its 18 holes: the front 9 are on notably higher ground whilst the back 9 are in classic parkland with an abundance of trees and water hazards.

References

Royal Berkshire History: Donnington GroveGoogle Timelines: Donnington GroveOfficial WebsiteToday's Golfer: Donnington Grove
{{coord, 51.41779, N, 1.34207, W, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title West Berkshire District Country houses in Berkshire Golf clubs and courses in Berkshire Hotels in Berkshire Gothic Revival architecture in Berkshire Sport in Newbury, Berkshire Country house hotels