The_Lodge_at_the_entrance_to_Stowell_Park_-_geograph

Stowell Park Estate is a historic agricultural and sporting estate in the

Cotswold Hills The Cotswolds (, ) is a region in central-southwest England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and Evesham Vale. The area is defined by the bedrock of ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

, England. The estate includes the village of

Yanworth Yanworth is a small rural parish located in the county of Gloucestershire, England 14 miles south east of Cheltenham and 88 miles North West of London. It has a population of 300, decreasing to 112 at the 2011 census. The village itself is pa ...

. The main house is a Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

and surrounded by extensive parkland, a mill, and church. The landscaped park is listed Grade II on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.

History

The house was built around 1600 for Robert Atkinson, on the site of a previous house. The manor is first recorded in 1086 when it was held by the Archbishop of York. The house is Grade II* listed. The Church of St Leonard was the chapel for the owners of the previous house, having been built in the 12th century. The church has been described as "of very great interest, as it contains quite well-preserved fragments of twelfth-century wall-paintings". The estate was passed to relatives of Atkinson until 1685 when it was bought by John Grubham Howe whose descendants owned the estate until 1811 when it was bought by the judge William Scott. He took the title of Baron Stowell from the estate when raised to the peerage upon the coronation of

George IV George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from the death of his father, King George III, on 29 January 1820, until his own death ten y ...

in 1821. On his death in 1824 the estate was inherited by his brother

John Scott, 1st Earl of Eldon John Scott, 1st Earl of Eldon, (4 June 1751 – 13 January 1838) was a British barrister and politician. He served as Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain between 1801 and 1806 and again between 1807 and 1827. Background and education Eldon ...

and passed down through the family until sold in 1923 to 1st Lord Vestey, whose great-great grandson William Vestey, 4th Lord Vestey, is the current head of the family and Chairman of the

Vestey Group Vestey Holdings, formerly Vestey Group and previously also known as Vestey Brothers, is a privately-owned UK group of companies comprising an international business focused mainly on food products and services. The company has owned vast holdin ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

Stowell Park was used for evacuees from Great Ballard School.

Architecture

The main house is "L" shaped. The west front is

Elizabethan The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The symbol of Britannia (a female personif ...

and has five

bays A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a na ...

as does the north front. Each is surmounted by

hipped In vertebrate anatomy, hip (or "coxa"Latin ''coxa'' was used by Celsus in the sense "hip", but by Pliny the Elder in the sense "hip bone" (Diab, p 77) in medical terminology) refers to either an anatomical region or a joint. The hip region ...

and

crenellated A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (i.e., a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at interv ...

roofs. The west front includes a door with paired Roman Doric

pilaster In classical architecture, a pilaster is an architectural element used to give the appearance of a supporting column and to articulate an extent of wall, with only an ornamental function. It consists of a flat surface raised from the main wal ...

s. The current main entrance on the south front was added in the 19th century. The drawing room has

panelling Panelling (or paneling in the U.S.) is a millwork wall covering constructed from rigid or semi-rigid components. These are traditionally interlocking wood, but could be plastic or other materials. Panelling was developed in antiquity to make ro ...

remaining from the 16th century. Within the grounds is a 17th-century

dovecote A dovecote or dovecot , doocot (Scots Language, Scots) or columbarium is a structure intended to house Domestic pigeon, pigeons or doves. Dovecotes may be free-standing structures in a variety of shapes, or built into the end of a house or ba ...

. The former mill powered by water from the River Coln was built in the late 18th century. The Lodge, iron gates and gate piers at the eastern entrance to the estate were added in the late 19th century, when

balustrade A baluster is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its ...

s and steps were added between the house and the lawns. The stable block, which was probably designed by Sir John Belcher, was also added in the late 19th century.

Grounds

The grounds include terraced lawns with surrounding

herbaceous border A herbaceous border is a collection of perennial herbaceous plants (plants that live for more than two years and are soft-stemmed and non-woody) arranged closely together, usually to create a dramatic effect through colour, shape or large scale. ...

s. There are walled gardens containing fruit and flower beds. It is opened for the

National Gardens Scheme The National Garden Scheme opens privately owned gardens in England, Northern Ireland, Wales, and the Channel Islands on selected dates for charity. It was founded in 1927 with the aim of "opening gardens of quality, character and interest to th ...

each year. The landscaped park is listed Grade II on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens. The estate hosts

shoots In botany, a plant shoot consists of any plant stem together with its appendages, leaves and lateral buds, flowering stems, and flower buds. The new growth from seed germination that grows upward is a shoot where leaves will develop. In the sp ...

for

pheasant Pheasants ( ) are birds of several genera within the family Phasianidae in the order Galliformes. Although they can be found all over the world in introduced (and captive) populations, the pheasant genera native range is restricted to Eurasia ...

s. It has also been the home of a polo team with one of the players being the Argentine born

Héctor Barrantes Héctor Barrantes Sansoni (1939–1990) was an Argentine polo player. He was the stepfather of Sarah, Duchess of York. Biography Early life He was a member of the patrician Figueroa family, and was born in 1939 in Argentina. He was the son of ...

.Héctor Barrantes, Argentine polo player
''

Bangor Daily News The ''Bangor Daily News'' is an American newspaper covering a large portion of central and eastern Maine, published six days per week in Bangor, Maine. The ''Bangor Daily News'' was founded on June 18, 1889; it merged with the ''Bangor Whig and ...

'', 13 August 1990

References

{{reflist, 30em

External links

Official site
Country houses in Gloucestershire Grade II* listed houses Grade II* listed buildings in Gloucestershire