Hartwell House, Buckinghamshire
Hartwell House is a country house in the parish of Hartwell in Buckinghamshire, Southern England. The house is owned by the Ernest Cook Trust, has been a Historic House Hotel since 1989, and in 2008 was leased to the National Trust. The Grade I listed house is Jacobean with a Georgian front and Rococo interiors, set in a picturesque landscaped park, and is most famous as the home of exiled French king Louis XVIII in the early 19th century.[1]
Location
The house is in the village of Stone along the A418, about 3 miles (4.8 km) from the centre of Aylesbury, the nearest large town, which is about 40 miles (64 km) from the centre of London via the A41.
History
The property was first mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 and belonged to William Peverel.
The core of the present house was constructed in the early 17th century for the Hampden family and then the Lee family. The Lees, an old Buckinghamshire family, acquired Hartwell c.1650 by marriage into the Hampdens.[citation needed]
Bourbon Court
Between 1809 and 1814 the owner of the house, Sir Charles Lee, let the mansion to the French prince
Scientific hub
In 1827, Dr John Lee, an astronomer, inherited the house from the unmarried Revd Sir George Lee. During his ownership, the British Meteorological Society, now the Royal Meteorological Society, was founded in the library in 1850.
The Hartwell Observatory
William Henry Smyth, one of Lee's regular scientist guests invited to discuss theories "year after year" at Hartwell,[2] who had helped with the design of the telescope and cupola that Lee had installed, described the house and the Hartwell Observatory established there, in Ædes Hartwellianæ: Or, Notices of the Manor and Mansion of Hartwell (Printed for private circulation, by J.B. Nichols and Son, London, 1851).[3] Many of the illustrations in the book are by Smyth's wife Annarella and by his son-in-law, Rev. Prof. Baden Powell.[citation needed]
Subsequent use
Revd Nicholas Lee inherited the house when his brother, Dr John, died on 25 February 1866 at Hartwell. The house remained a private residence until 1938, when, at risk of demolition, the estate was acquired by the philanthropist
In the 1960s the house became a girls'
Architectural description
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The Jacobean north front of the house is constructed of ashlar and has a projecting porch with a bow window above. At each end of this facade are two flanking canted bays, each with a double height oriel window. Immediately on each side of the porch are two large windows of the hall inside. Hiding the roofscape is a parapet with vases erected in 1740.
Between 1759 and 1761, architect
The 1980s conversion to a hotel was overseen by the architect Eric Throssell who created a new dining room in the style of Sir
Gardens
The 90 acres (36 ha) of gardens at Hartwell were laid out by Capability Brown c.1750.[4] The North Avenue is a grand vista through trees planted in 1830, sadly today terminated by the ever encroaching town of Aylesbury. The gardens are reminiscent of nearby Stowe, with statues, an obelisk and ornamental bridge.
The Hartwell Estate currently covers 1,800 acres (7.3 km2) of farmland surrounding Hartwell House.
Hartwell's Egyptian Spring is a
Acquisition by the National Trust
In September 2008 the National Trust acquired a long lease of the house from the Ernest Cook Trust (until 2111).[6] The gift had been under discussion for almost 30 years and in 1997 the National Trust accepted restrictive covenants over all three properties. The house and grounds were gifted the Trust by the directors of Historic House Hotels (HHH).[7] The house continues its present use as a hotel under the existing HHH management. Three National Trust directors joined the HHH board and all profits will go to Trust funds to provide for the long-term care of the three houses.
Public access
It is envisaged that arrangements will be put in place for the gardens and grounds of the hall to be open to visitors, along with tours of the ground floor rooms.[6]
References
- ^ Historic England. "Hartwell House (Grade I) (1118471)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
- ^ Baden-Powell, Tim Jeal, Yale University Press, 2007, p. 4
- ^ Available to read on line at https://archive.org/details/deshartwelliano00smytgoog/page/n4
- ^ "Hotel Review: Hartwell House". The London Economic. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
- ^ "Hellenic Link Newsletter" (PDF).
- ^ a b "National Trust gifted Historic House Hotels ~". Archived from the original on 2008-11-23. Retrieved 2009-02-07.
- ^ "Historic House Hotels – official website including history by Dr David Watkin December 1983". Retrieved 2009-02-07.
External links
