Eastbury Park
Eastbury Park was a country estate near Tarrant Gunville in Dorset, England. It contained a large mansion designed by Sir John Vanbrugh. The mansion has not survived, but its former service wing has become a country house known as Eastbury House, a Grade I listed building.
History
[edit]The house was designed by Vanbrugh for George Dodington, who was Secretary to the Treasurer of the Navy.[1] Construction started in 1718 and was completed under the stewardship of Dodington's nephew, George Dodington, 1st Baron Melcombe, in 1738 at a final cost £140,000:[2] it had a large garden which was designed by Charles Bridgeman.[1] The house was inherited by Richard Grenville-Temple, 2nd Earl Temple in 1762, who had no use for it, and he had it demolished in 1782.[1]
It was bought by Thomas Wedgwood, son of Josiah Wedgwood and pioneer of early photography in 1800; his brother Josiah Wedgwood II had bought the adjacent Gunville House in Tarrant Gunville in 1799.[3]
The service wing, designed by Vanbrugh and built at the same time as the rest of the mansion, survived the demolition and became known as Eastbury House. It became a Grade I listed building in 1955.[4] The parklands are Grade II* listed in the National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.[5]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c "A lost mansion of Dorset". Dorset Life. Retrieved 27 December 2013.
- ^ "Eastbury House". Mysterious Britain. Retrieved 27 December 2013.
- ^ Wedgwood, Barbara; Wedgwood, Hensleigh (1980). The Wedgwood Circle 1730-1897. Studio Vista. ISBN 0289708923.
- ^ Historic England. "Eastbury House including attached west courtyard and gateway (1324303)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 15 July 2015.
- ^ Historic England. "Eastbury (1000549)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 11 February 2016.