Cassiobury House
Cassiobury House | |
---|---|
![]() Cassiobury House (The County Seats of the Noblemen and Gentlemen of Great Britain and Ireland, by Francis Orpen Morris) | |
Former names | Manor of Cashio |
General information | |
Status | Demolished |
Type | English country house |
Architectural style | Neoclassical, later renovated in the Gothic Revival style |
Town or city | Watford, Hertfordshire |
Country | United Kingdom |
Coordinates | 51°39′54″N 00°25′08″W / 51.66500°N 0.41889°W |
Construction started | 1546 |
Completed | 1556 |
Renovated | c.1677–80; 1805 |
Closed | 1922 |
Demolished | 1927 |
Grounds | 693 acres (2.80 km2) |
Design and construction | |
Other designers | Grinling Gibbons, Antonio Verrio, Moses Cook Humphry Repton Jeffry Wyatville |
Renovating team | |
Architect(s) | Hugh May; James Wyatt |
Other information | |
Number of rooms | 56 |
Website | |
Cassiobury Park - house history |
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b7/Cassiobury_house_1707.png/220px-Cassiobury_house_1707.png)
Cassiobury House was a country house in Cassiobury Park, Watford, England. It was the ancestral seat of the Earls of Essex. Originally a Tudor building, dating from 1546 for Sir Richard Morrison, it was substantially remodelled in the 17th and 19th centuries and ultimately demolished in 1927. The surrounding Cassiobury Park was turned into the main public open space for Watford.
History
Beginnings
17th century
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e0/Map_of_Watford_and_Cassiobury_Park_by_John_Cary.jpg/220px-Map_of_Watford_and_Cassiobury_Park_by_John_Cary.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d8/1stEarlOfEssex1672.jpg/130px-1stEarlOfEssex1672.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b3/Grinling_Gibbons_clock_surround.png/220px-Grinling_Gibbons_clock_surround.png)
Date | Event |
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1546–1556 | Sir Richard Morrison |
1556–1599 | Sir Charles Morison |
1599–1628 | Sir Charles Morrison, 1st Baronet |
1628–1649 | Elizabeth Morrison m. Arthur Capell, 1st Baron Capell of Hadham |
1649–1660 | The Interregnum |
1661–1683 | Arthur Capell, 1st Earl of Essex |
1683–1710 | Algernon Capell, 2nd Earl of Essex |
1710–1743 | William Capell, 3rd Earl of Essex |
1743–1799 | William Capell, 4th Earl of Essex |
1799–1839 | George Capel-Coningsby, 5th Earl of Essex |
1839–1892 | Arthur Algernon Capell, 6th Earl of Essex
|
1892–1916 | George Capell, 7th Earl of Essex |
1927 | Cassiobury House demolished |
In 1627 Sir Charles Morrison's daughter, Elizabeth (the heir to Cassiobury), married Arthur Capell, 1st Baron Capell of Hadham (1610–1649) and the estate passed into the Capel family.[2] The Capels were settled at Little Hadham in Hertfordshire, but after the marriage they became closely associated with Cassiobury. Arthur Capel was a politician and a supporter of the Royalist cause in the English Civil War; during Cromwell's rise to power, Capel was tried and condemned to death by the Parliamentarians, and beheaded in May 1649.[3][4] Cassiobury had been sequestrated by Parliament. Arthur Capell's widow Lady Elizabeth Capell successfully petitioned Parliament for Cassiobury (and the other lands she had inherited from her father Charles Morrison) to be returned to her on (7–8 May 1649).[5]
After Capell's execution, his son
The diarist John Evelyn visited Cassiobury on 16 April 1680 "On the earnest invitation of the Earl of Essex," and dedicated an insightful passage to the merits and disadvantages of the house and grounds, describing some of the interior fittings and decorations.[8]
The house, is new, a plain fabric, built by my friend, Mr. Hugh May. There are divers fair and good rooms, and excellent carving by Gibbons, especially the chimney-piece of the library. There is in the porch, or entrance, a painting by Verrio, of Apollo and the Liberal Arts. One room pargetted with yew I liked well. Some of the chimney mantels are of Irish marble, brought by my Lord from Ireland, when he was Lord Lieutenant, and not much inferior to Italian. The tympanum, or gable, at the front is a bass-relievo of Diana hunting, cut in Portland stone, handsomely enough ... The library is large and very nobly furnished.
— John Evelyn, Diary and Correspondence[8]
Among the internal decorations was the ornately carved main staircase, a work attributed to Gibbons (although more recently attributed to Edward Pearce)[9] which featured flower and fruit formations, oak leaves and acorns, acanthus flowers and foliation, bursting seed pods and pine-cones on the bannister finials. The staircase was built of oak wood, with the balustrade and decorations and executed in pine and ash.[10]
The park and gardens were laid out by Moses Cook who devised woodland walks and avenues, and provided "an excellent collection of the choicest fruits".[8] Later, the gardeners George London and Charles Bridgeman also worked at Cassiobury. Between 1672 and 1720 an avenue of 296 lime trees was planted, linking the gardens to Whippendell Wood. Remnants of this can still be seen today.
The building of Little Cassiobury (the dower house) also dates from this period and still exists in Hempstead Road, Watford.
Late 18th and 19th centuries
The Grand Union Canal dates from the late eighteenth century. The 4th Earl was one of the noblemen on the board of the canal company; at his insistence the canal was widened and landscaped where it passed through his property.
The
Humphry Repton was commissioned to landscape the park. A number of lodges and other buildings for the estate were constructed. These were designed by Wyatt's nephew, Jeffry Wyatville (1766–1840). Only one now survives: Cassiobury Lodge,[12] in Gade Avenue, "... the most elaborate in execution — its whole exterior being covered or cased with sticks of various sizes split in two", wrote a Victorian visitor. At this time the park comprised 693 acres (2.80 km2), the Home Park and the Upper Park being separated by the River Gade. The Upper Park became the West Herts Golf Course.
From 1846 to 1848, Cassiobury House temporarily became a royal residence when the
In 1841 a fire destroyed the orangery, which was filled with newly collected plants and fine orange trees, some of which had been presented to the 6th Earl by Louis XVIII. Herds of deer roamed the park. Parties were a regular feature at the weekends. The public were allowed to ride and walk through the grounds, but had to apply for a ticket in advance.
20th century
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Cassiobury_Park_012.jpg/220px-Cassiobury_Park_012.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d1/Cassiobury_Tennis_Club_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1171565.jpg/220px-Cassiobury_Tennis_Club_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1171565.jpg)
In 1893 the
George Capell died in 1916 aged 59, after being knocked down by a taxi. The death of the 7th Earl of Essex set in motion events that were to bring about the demise of Cassiobury House and change the town of Watford.
A large sale of the contents was held over a period of ten days in June 1922. The lavish interior fixtures and fittings, furniture and fine art collection were split up and sold to private collectors and museums around the world, mainly in the United States (see below). Adele did not, however, find a buyer for Cassiobury House; in July 1922 she died of a heart attack in her bath,[19] and the house remained unoccupied for a further five years. Finally, in 1927 it was demolished and sold for its materials.[20] Posters advertised "To lovers of the antique, architects, builders, etc., 300 tons of old oak: 100 very fine old oak beams and 10,000 Tudor period bricks".[21] Much of the building material salvaged from the house, along with some interior fittings, were used to build a new house of the same name in Bedford, New York.[22][23][24]
The expansion of London's railways played a significant part in the demise of Cassiobury House. The incursion of the
Sale of estate assets
As with many British country houses, when the Cassiobury estate was sold off in 1923, museums in America and elsewhere bought the fixtures and much of the art collection.[27] As a result of the disposal of the Earl's assets, valuable remnants of Cassiobury House can now be seen in various museum collections around the world.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York acquired a number of notable Cassiobury pieces, including the ornately carved wooden staircase by Grinling Gibbons/Edward Pearce,[9][10] as well as three paintings from the house: a double portrait by Sir Joshua Reynolds of George Capel, Viscount Malden (the Fifth Earl of Essex) as a boy of ten with his sister, Lady Elizabeth Capel;[28] a double portrait of Mary and Elizabeth Capel painted by the Dutch artist Sir Peter Lely;[29] and a portrait of their brother Sir Henry Capel, also by Lely.[30]
Other interior wood carvings by Gibbons were salvaged from the house and sold to wealthy buyers around the world to adorn private residences. Some carvings were acquired by the art collector
The
The mechanism of the clock which was designed in 1610 by
A
-
The Cassiobury turret clock (British Museum)
-
One of the Cassiobury stained-glass panels (V&A)
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1670s portrait by Sir Peter Lely of Mary & Elizabeth Capel (Metropolitan Museum of Art)
-
1659 portrait by Sir Peter Lely ofHenry Capel (Metropolitan Museum of Art)
-
1768 portrait by Sir Joshua Reynolds portrait of George and Elizabeth Capel (Metropolitan Museum of Art)
-
The Cassiobury grand staircase (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New york)
Cassiobury today
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fc/Little_Cassiobury%2C_Watford.jpg/220px-Little_Cassiobury%2C_Watford.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e2/Cassiobury_Court%2C_Watford.jpg/220px-Cassiobury_Court%2C_Watford.jpg)
When the Cassiobury Estate was put up for sale, Watford Borough Council purchased the park land to use for public amenities, and today a large area of the Cassiobury grounds now form the public Cassiobury Park.[46] The site of the house lay in the area of land which was sold for housing development and is now occupied by the residential properties which lie between Temple Close and Parkside Drive.
Although Cassiobury House was demolished in 1927, some minor associated buildings have survived to the present day. The Cassiobury House stables (built c.1805–15) survived and were converted into a retirement home.[47] Now called Cassiobury Court,[48] the buildings have been Grade II listed[49] and are now used as a drug rehabilitation centre.[50]
The Cassiobury Estate also included a
The Essex Chapel
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/ff/Essex_Chapel%2C_Saint_Mary%27s_Watford.jpg/370px-Essex_Chapel%2C_Saint_Mary%27s_Watford.jpg)
The Parish Church of St Mary, Watford, 1.24 miles (2.00 km) south-east of Cassiobury House, was the burial place for the Morison and Capel families. In 1595, the church vestry was converted into a memorial chapel by Bridget, Dowager Countess of Bedford and widow of Sir Richard Morison, and Francis Russell, 2nd Earl of Bedford.[53][54]
The Essex Chapel (originally known as the Morison Chapel) can be seen in Saint Mary's today. Described by Pevsner as "the chief glory of Watford Church", the chapel is noted for its large, ornate wall monuments by the sculptor Nicholas Stone. On the south side is the memorial to Sir Charles Morison (d.1599), and opposite is another to his son and heir, Sir Charles Morrison, 1st Baronet (d.1628). Both are lavishly decorated and feature sculpted effigies of the deceased and their family members. Monuments to various Earls of Essex are mounted on the chapel walls.[55]
In Saint Mary's churchyard can be found the grave of
See also
- Cassiobury
- British country house contents auctions
- Destruction of country houses in 20th-century Britain
References
- ^ "The hundred of Cashio - Introduction | A History of the County of Hertford: volume 2 (pp. 319-322)". www.british-history.ac.uk. 1908. Retrieved 29 January 2013.
- ^ "'Watford: Manors', A History of the County of Hertford: volume 2 (1908), pp. 451-464". Retrieved 11 March 2012.
- ^ "A Brief History of Little Hadham". The Hadhams. Archived from the original on 1 November 2014. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
- ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 5 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 248–249.
- ^ "Petition to Parliament". Friends of Little Cassiobury. Archived from the original on 14 May 2018. Retrieved 13 May 2018.
- Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008, accessed 3 Sept 2014
- ^ Robinson 2014, p. 55.
- ^ a b c Bray, William, ed. (1850). Diary and Correspondence of John Evelyn Vol. II. London: Henry Colburn. pp. 140–141. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
- ^ a b "Staircase from Cassiobury Park, Herfordshire". Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Retrieved 19 October 2014.
- ^ JSTOR 3257759. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
- ^ Frances Calvert (1911). An Irish beauty of the regency. John Lane., pp 269–270
- ^ Cf. the contemporary image of Cassiobury Lodge on flickr.
- ^ Sandars, Mary Frances (1915). The life and times of Queen Adelaide. Stanley Paul & Co. p. 280. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
- ^ Lancelott, Francis (1859). The queens of England and their times. D. Appleton and Co. p. 1046. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
Dowager Queen Adelaide cassiobury.
- ^ Robinson 2014, p. 57.
- ^ Robinson 2014, p. 28.
- ^ Lost Heritage Archived 2014-09-04 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ a b Baty, Patrick. "Cassiobury, Hertfordshire". Retrieved 31 October 2014.
- ^ "Countess of Essex dies in her bath" (PDF). New York Times. 28 July 1922. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
- ISBN 9780954218997.
- ISBN 9781445626376. Retrieved 2 November 2014.
- ^ Youens, Arabella (21 July 2009). "English country house in New York". Country Life. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
- ^ Churton, Nick (15 February 2010). "Cassiobury House, Watford". Hertfordshire Life. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
- ^ a b Baty, Patrick. "Cassiobury, Bedford Hills, New York USA". Retrieved 31 October 2014.
- ISBN 9781907396861. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
- ISBN 9781445632032. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
- ^ Beckett, Matthew (15 September 2011). "The Lost Rooms: the sale of architectural salvages to America". The Country Seat. Retrieved 19 October 2014.
- ^ "George Capel, Viscount Malden (1757–1839), and Lady Elizabeth Capel (1755–1834) - Sir Joshua Reynolds". Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
- ^ "Mary Capel (1630–1715), Later Duchess of Beaufort, and Her Sister Elizabeth (1633–1678), Countess of Carnarvon". Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved 19 October 2014.
- ^ "Sir Henry Capel (1638–1696)". Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved 19 October 2014.
- ISBN 9780300095814.
- ISBN 9780300124200. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
- ^ Harris, p.222
- ^ "The Pine Room Gallery". Edward-Dean Museum & Gardens. Archived from the original on 31 October 2014. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
- ISBN 9780738559520. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
- ^ Harris, p.209
- NBC New York. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
- ^ "Cassiobury Park turret clock". British Museum. Retrieved 19 October 2014.
- ^ "Labours of the Months; Month of July". Victoria & Albert Museum. Retrieved 19 October 2014.
- ^ "Grinling Gibbons, Overdoor (picture surround)". Victoria & Albert Museum. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
- ^ "The Cassiobury Collection". Watford Museum. Archived from the original on 28 November 2015. Retrieved 19 October 2014.
- ^ "The Earls of Essex, their wives and children". Watford Museum: The Cassiobury Collection. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
- ^ "Table Desk (Bureau Plat), c. 1750–1760". Cleveland Museum of Art. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
- ^ "Overmantel, c. 1675–1677 Grinling Gibbons (British, 1648–1721)". Cleveland Museum of Art. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
- ^ "Overdoor Decoration, c. 1675–1677 Grinling Gibbons (British, 1648–1721)". Cleveland Museum of Art. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
- ^ Cassiobury Park
- ^ Watford councillors delay Cassiobury Court decision Watford Observer, 2 February 2011
- ^ "Cassiobury Court - Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation Centre". Cassiobury Court.
- ^ "Cassiobury Court, Watford". British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 2 November 2014.
- ^ "Cassiobury Court". NHS. Retrieved 2 November 2014.
- ^ "Little Cassiobury (Education Office, Watford College) and Former Stable Block to Rear, Watford". British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 2 November 2014.
- ^ "Watford Buildings At Risk Survey 2011". Watford Borough Council. May 2012. Archived from the original on 2 November 2014. Retrieved 2 November 2014.
- ISBN 9781445638805. Retrieved 26 December 2014.
- ISBN 9781905313440. Retrieved 20 May 2017.
- ISBN 9780300096118. Retrieved 30 December 2014.
- ^ "Guide to St Mary's Tombs" (PDF). Watford Museum. Watford Borough Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 December 2014. Retrieved 27 December 2014.
Bibliography
- Rabbitts, Paul; Priestley, Sarah (2014). Cassiobury: The Ancient Seat of the Earls (Google eBook). Amberley Publishing Limited. ISBN 9781445638805. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
- Robinson, John (2014). Felling the ancient oaks : how England lost its great country estates. [S.l.]: Aurum Pr Ltd. ISBN 9781781313343.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Cassiobury Park - History Archived 2019-03-29 at the Wayback Machine
- Watford Museum's Cassiobury pages
- Photographs of Cassiobury House rooms and gardens from the Country Life picture archive
- The Friends of Little Cassiobury - The Cassiobury Dower House (designed by Lady Elizabeth Wilbraham and built in 1670)
- The "Grinling Gibbons" staircase
- The Cassiobury House Turret Clock at the British Museum