Melbury House
Melbury House is an
History
Melbury House has been the seat of the Strangways family of
It was altered and extended in 1692 by Thomas Strangways (1643–1713), under the direction of a certain "Watson", a local mason-builder who is probably to be identified with John Watson of Glashampton, Gloucestershire.[7] It was further modernized in the 19th century.
The house passed to the Fox family from the Strangways heiress Elizabeth Horner, daughter and sole heiress of Thomas Horner (1688–1741), MP, of
When Horace Walpole visited Melbury, he admired the paintings and tapestries in "apartments most richly and abundantly furnished". The pioneer of photography Henry Fox Talbot was born in the house.[10] Thomas Hardy made use of Melbury House, as "King's Hintock Court", for passing mentions in "The Duke's Reappearance" in A Changed Man and Other Tales and in A Group of Noble Dames, 1891.[11]
The buildings
The house and its stable yard to the north are Grade I listed buildings.[12]
The landscaped gardens are Grade II* listed in the
Notable residents
References
- ^ Melbury House (map).
- ^ Shrubsole, Guy (4 January 2020). "The ten landowners who own one-sixth of Dorset". Who Owns England?.
- History of Parliament: House of Commons 1509–1558, ed. S.T. Bindoff, 1982 [1]
- ^ But see J. Coker, in A Survey of Dorsetshire 1732 (on-line quote).
- ^ Sir Giles Strangeways, Knight"
- ^ Mark Girouard, Life in the English Country House: A Social and Architectural History (Yale University Press) 1978, p.78f and fig. 44)
- ^ Howard Colvin, A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects 1600–1840, 3rd ed., (Yale University Press), 1995, s.v. "Watson, John"; Fox-Strangways archives are deposited at Wiltshire County Record Office.
- ^ "HORNER, Thomas (1688–1741), of Mells, Som. And Melbury, Dorset. | History of Parliament Online".
- ^ Montague-Smith, P.W. (ed.), Debrett's Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage and Companionage, Kelly's Directories Ltd, Kingston-upon-Thames, 1968, p.608
- ^ Photograph of Melbury House by John Dillwyn Llewelyn Archived 2011-09-27 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ M. C. Rintoul, Dictionary of real people and places in fiction, 1993, s.v. "King's Hintock Court"
- ^ Historic England. "Melbury House (1119248)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
- ^ Historic England. "Melbury Park (1000531)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 11 February 2016.