Encombe House
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Encombe House is a privately owned,
Grade II* 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, H ...
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 ...
built in 1735 on the Encombe Estate near the village of
Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the six most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...
and about inland of
Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...
's
Jurassic Coast The Jurassic Coast, also known as the Dorset and East Devon Coast, is a World Heritage Site on the English Channel coast of southern England. It stretches from Exmouth in East Devon to Studland Bay in Dorset, a distance of about , and was ins ...
in southern
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
. The parkland is Grade II* listed in 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 ...
{{R from move ...
.


History

The estate was given in A.D. 948 to the Abbess of Shaftesbury by
King Eadred Eadred (also Edred, – 23 November 955) was King of the English from 26 May 946 until his death in 955. He was the younger son of Edward the Elder and his third wife Eadgifu of Kent, Eadgifu, and a grandson of Alfred the Great. His elder b ...
and probably remained in the possession of
Shaftesbury Abbey Shaftesbury Abbey was an abbey that housed nuns in Shaftesbury, Dorset. It was founded in about 888, and Dissolution of the monasteries, dissolved in 1539 during the English Reformation by the order of Thomas Cromwell, minister to King Henry VI ...
during the
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...
until
Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...
dissolved the monasteries.''Kingston (near Corfe Castle)''
at www.kingstonopc.org.uk. Retrieved 25 December 2014 After
Shaftesbury Abbey Shaftesbury Abbey was an abbey that housed nuns in Shaftesbury, Dorset. It was founded in about 888, and Dissolution of the monasteries, dissolved in 1539 during the English Reformation by the order of Thomas Cromwell, minister to King Henry VI ...
surrendered in 1539, the manor of Encombe was granted to John Zouche in May 1540, who is presumed to have been a kinsman of Elizabeth Zouche, the last Abbess of Shaftesbury who signed the deed of surrender. He immediately passed on the property to Sir Thomas Arundel, who was related to the Zouche family. Arundel had previously administered the estates of Shaftesbury Abbey, and as a commissioner of Thomas Cromwell in the south west, acquired much of the property of the abbey in Dorset and Wiltshire. However, he fell out of favour in the reign of Edward VI and was beheaded in 1552, forfeiting all his possessions to the crown. Later in 1552, the estate was acquired by Robert Culliford and it remained in the Culliford family until 1734. The family only prevented
Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English statesman, politician and soldier, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in British history. He came to prominence during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, initially ...
from seizing the property by providing men to help slight nearby
Corfe Castle Corfe Castle is a fortification standing above the Corfe Castle (village), village of the same name on the Isle of Purbeck peninsula in the English county of Dorset. Built by William the Conqueror, the castle dates to the 11th century and ...
in 1645. The last member of the Culliford family to own the property,
William Culliford William Culliford (died 1724) was a politician who sat in the House of Commons of England representing Corfe Castle. Biography Culliford’s father Robert Culliford had represented Wareham in the reign of Charles II. Culliford was a high rank ...
, who had run into debt, sold the house to George Pitt of
Stratfield Saye Stratfield Saye is a small village and civil parish in the Borough of Basingstoke and Deane and the English county of Hampshire. The parish includes the hamlets of West End Green, Fair Oak Green and Fair Cross. In 2021 the parish had a popula ...
in
Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...
. The estate was inherited by his second son, John Pitt, a second cousin of
William Pitt the Elder William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham (15 November 170811 May 1778) was a British Whig statesman who served as Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1766 to 1768. Historians call him "Chatham" or "Pitt the Elder" to distinguish him from his son ...
, prime minister and first
Earl of Chatham Earl of Chatham, of Chatham in the County of Kent, was a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1766 for William Pitt the Elder on his appointment as Lord Privy Seal, along with the subsidiary title of Viscount Pitt, of Burton ...
. He pulled down the first house and built a new one that incorporated elements of the original building. This house then became the seat of the Earls of Eldon.


Today

The present owner is a former
Irish Guards The Irish Guards (IG) is one of the Foot guards#United Kingdom, Foot Guards regiments of the British Army and is part of the Guards Division. Together with the Royal Irish Regiment (1992), Royal Irish Regiment, it is one of the two Irish infant ...
officer, James Gaggero, who paid £20M for the 2,000-acre estate in 2009, the Gaggeros becoming only the sixth family to own the house in 1100 years. He made his fortune by operating the former
Gibraltar Airways GB Airways was a British airline; prior to its sale, it was headquartered in 'Beehive, Gatwick Airport, The Beehive', a former terminal building, at City Place Gatwick, London Gatwick Airport in Crawley, West Sussex, England. The airline wa ...
, later
GB Airways GB Airways was a British airline; prior to its sale, it was headquartered in ' The Beehive', a former terminal building, at City Place Gatwick, London Gatwick Airport in Crawley, West Sussex, England. The airline was originally created as ...
, which was finally bought out by
easyJet EasyJet plc (styled as easyJet) is a British multinational low-cost airline group headquartered at London Luton Airport. It operates domestic and international scheduled services on 927 routes in more than 34 countries via its affiliate airlin ...
.''Airline tycoon snaps up Encombe estate''
at www.bournemouthecho.co.uk. Retrieved 25 December 2014


References

Country houses in Dorset Grade II* listed buildings in Dorset Grade II* listed parks and gardens in Dorset Corfe Castle {{Dorset-struct-stub