Mereworth Castle 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 ...

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 and ...

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 ...

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. History In the ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

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

History

Originally the site of a

fortified A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Lat ...

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 ...

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 the ...

in 1332, the manor of Mereworth was inherited by Francis Fane, 1st Earl of Westmorland (1580-1629) (son and heir of Sir Thomas Fane (died 1589) of Badsell in the parish of

Tudeley Tudeley is a village in the civil parish of Capel, 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. Th ...

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 (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 ...

to the 1723 design of the architect

Colen Campbell Colen Campbell (15 June 1676 – 13 September 1729) was a pioneering Scottish architect and architectural writer who played an important part in the development of the Georgian style. For most of his career, he resided in Italy and England. As ...

being an almost exact copy of

Palladio Andrea Palladio ( , ; ; 30 November 1508 – 19 August 1580) was an Italian Renaissance architect active in the Venetian Republic. Palladio, influenced by Roman and Greek architecture, primarily Vitruvius, is widely considered to be one ...

's Villa Rotunda near

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

. The interior features plasterwork by Giovanni Bagutti and

fresco Fresco ( or frescoes) is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting become ...

painting by

Francesco Sleter Francesco Sleter (1685 – 29 August 1775) was an Italian painter, active in England. He was born in Venice. He is believed to have studied under Gregorio Lazzarini. He was in England by 1719 when he designed the stained glass windows for Jame ...

. 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 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 ...

listed. The house passed through descent to Barons Oranmore and Browne (Anglo-Irish Peers, the 3rd Lord Oranmore and Browne became also Baron Mereworth in 1926 and since then the titles are united) 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 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 war for a ...

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 and an heir to the

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

mercantile fortune, and his wife, Lady Anne Cavendish, daughter of the 10th Duke of Devonshire. Tree inherited the house from his uncle, Peter Beatty, who died on 26 October 1949. The Wateringbury Stream passes through the grounds of the castle. It powered a

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

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

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), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

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