Panshanger was a large country house located between the outer edge of

Hertford Hertford ( ) is the county town of Hertfordshire, England, and is also a civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district of the county. The parish had a population of 26,783 at the 2011 census. The town grew around a Ford (crossing), ford on ...

and

Welwyn Garden City Welwyn Garden City ( ) is a town in Hertfordshire, England, north of London. It was the second Garden city movement, garden city in England (founded 1920) and one of the first New towns in the United Kingdom, new towns (designated 1948). It is ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

, England.

History

Earl Cowper Earl Cowper ( ) was a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1718 by George I for William Cowper, 1st Baron Cowper, his first Lord Chancellor, with remainder in default of male issue of his own to his younger brother, Spencer ...

, who later became

Lord Chancellor The Lord Chancellor, formally titled Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom. The lord chancellor is the minister of justice for England and Wales and the highest-ra ...

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

, acquired the Cole Green estate c. 1700.Robinson, p. 157 He remodelled the estate in 1704 and made alterations to the house in 1711.Robinson, p. 158 The 5th Earl Cowper commissioned

Samuel Wyatt Samuel Wyatt (8 September 1737 – 8 February 1807) was an English architect and engineer. A member of the Wyatt family, which included several notable 18th- and 19th-century English architects, his work was primarily in a neoclassical style. C ...

and then William Atkinson to design a new house in a slightly different location in Regency-Gothic style; construction work started on site in 1806. The park was landscaped with advice from

Humphry Repton Humphry Repton (21 April 1752 – 24 March 1818) was the last great designer of the classic phase of the English landscape garden, often regarded as the successor to Capability Brown. His style is thought of as the precursor of the more intric ...

, starting in 1799. Following the death of the 7th Earl Cowper in 1905, the estate was inherited by

Ethel Grenfell, Baroness Desborough Ethel Anne Priscilla Grenfell, Baroness Desborough (née Fane; 27 June 1867 – 28 May 1952) was a British society hostess. Life Ethel (Ettie) Fane was born into an aristocratic family. However, at the age of three she was orphaned when her fat ...

and, after she died in 1952 with no heir, the estate was sold in lots by auction the following year, but there was no interest in the house itself and it was demolished between 1953 and 1954. A large portion of the outlying farms forming part of the estate had been sold by auction on 30 May 1919. Panshanger orangery

The park contains the largest maiden (not pollarded) oak in the country, with a circumference of 7.6 metres. It is believed to have been planted by

Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudor. Her eventful reign, and its effect on history ...

. Acorns from the tree have been used as seedlings for notable oaks in other parts of the country, such as the

Prince Consort A prince consort is the husband of a monarch who is not a monarch in his own right. In recognition of his status, a prince consort may be given a formal title, such as ''prince''. Most monarchies do not allow the husband of a queen regnant to be ...

Oak in the

Forest of Dean The Forest of Dean is a geographical, historical and cultural region in the western part of the Counties of England, county of Gloucestershire, England. It forms a roughly triangle, triangular plateau bounded by the River Wye to the west and no ...

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

planted a sapling from the tree in the park and the tree can still be seen in the grounds.

Panshanger Park and nature reserve

Panshanger Park is owned by Tarmac which extracts sand and gravel from the site. Although Panshanger House was demolished, the

orangery An orangery or orangerie is a room or dedicated building, historically where orange and other fruit trees are protected during the winter, as a large form of greenhouse or conservatory. In the modern day an orangery could refer to either ...

, nursery garden wall, stables, and a number of cottages and estate buildings remain, all of which are listed by

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...

. The eastern end has been open since 31 March 2014 as a 1,000 acre country park and nature reserve - with 200 acres open to the public. The park consists of

wetlands A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...

grasslands A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge ( Cyperaceae) and rush ( Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes such as clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur ...

and reedbeds which serve as a home for a wide variety of

damselfly Damselflies are flying insects of the suborder Zygoptera in the order Odonata. They are similar to dragonflies (which constitute the other odonatan suborder, Epiprocta) but are usually smaller and have slimmer bodies. Most species fold the win ...

and

dragonfly A dragonfly is a flying insect belonging to the infraorder Anisoptera below the order Odonata. About 3,000 extant species of dragonflies are known. Most are tropical, with fewer species in temperate regions. Loss of wetland habitat threat ...

species. The park is also home to

kingfishers Kingfishers are a family, the Alcedinidae, of small to medium-sized, brightly coloured birds in the order Coraciiformes. They have a cosmopolitan distribution, with most species living in the tropical regions of Africa, Asia, and Oceania, ...

waterfowl Anseriformes is an order of birds also known as waterfowl that comprises about 180 living species of birds in three families: Anhimidae (three species of screamers), Anseranatidae (the magpie goose), and Anatidae, the largest family, which i ...

and

osprey The osprey (; ''Pandion haliaetus''), historically known as sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor, reaching more than in length and a wingspan of . It ...

. The rest of the site will be opened as gravel extraction is completed.

Panshanger district

The Panshanger district of Welwyn Garden City, and the nearby

Panshanger Aerodrome Panshanger Aerodrome was a former general aviation aerodrome located on the most eastern tip of Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, England, west of Hertford, East Hertfordshire. Wartime history During the Second World War, a decoy aerodrome f ...

, are named after the Panshanger estate. However, Panshanger Park does not lie within the Panshanger

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

of Welwyn Garden City, nor indeed any part of Welwyn Garden City. It actually lies within the parishes of Hertford and

Hertingfordbury Hertingfordbury is a small village in Hertfordshire, England, close to the county town of Hertford. It was mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. Hertingfordbury is also the name of a neighbouring civil parish, which does not contain the villa ...

References

Sources

*Robinson, John, ''Felling the Ancient Oaks'', Aurum Press, 2011, {{coord, 51.8023, -0.1305, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Country houses in Hertfordshire British country houses destroyed in the 20th century East Hertfordshire District Grade II* listed parks and gardens in Hertfordshire Gardens by Humphry Repton Gardens by Capability Brown