Stowell Park

Stowell Park Estate is a 6,000-acre (24 km2) historic agricultural and sporting estate in the Cotswold Hills, Gloucestershire, England. The estate includes the village of Yanworth. The main house is a Grade II* listed building and surrounded by extensive parkland, a mill, and church. The landscaped park is listed Grade II on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.

The Lodge at the entrance to Stowell Park

History

The house was built around 1600 for Robert Atkinson, on the site of a previous house.[1] The manor is first recorded in 1086 when it was held by the Archbishop of York [2]. The house is Grade II* listed.[3] The Church of St Leonard was the chapel for the owners of the previous house, having been built in the 12th century.[4] The church has been described as "of very great interest, as it contains quite well-preserved fragments of twelfth-century wall-paintings".[5] 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.[3] He took the title of Baron Stowell from the estate when raised to the peerage upon the coronation of George IV in 1821.[6] On his death in 1824 the estate was inherited by his brother John Scott, 1st Earl of Eldon and passed down through the family until sold in 1923 to 1st Lord Vestey,[3] whose great grandson Sam Vestey, 3rd Lord Vestey, is the current head of the family and Chairman of the Vestey Group. During World War II Stowell Park was used for evacuees from Great Ballard School.[7]

Architecture

The main house is "L" shaped. The west front is Elizabethan and has five bays as does the north front. Each is surmounted by hipped and crenellated roofs.[3] The west front includes a door with paired Roman Doric pilasters.[8] The current main entrance on the south front was added in the 19th century.[3] The drawing room has panelling remaining from the 16th century.[8]

Within the grounds is a 17th-century dovecote.[9] The former mill powered by water from the River Coln was built in the late 18th century.[10] The Lodge, iron gates and gate piers at the eastern entrance to the estate were added in the late 19th century,[11] when balustrades and steps were added between the house and the lawns.[12] The stable block, which was probably designed by Sir John Belcher, was also added in the late 19th century.[13]

Grounds

The grounds include terraced lawns with surrounding herbaceous borders. There are walled gardens containing fruit and flower beds. It is opened for the National Gardens Scheme each year.[14] The landscaped park is listed Grade II on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.[15]

The estate hosts shoots for pheasants.[16] It has also been the home of a polo team with one of the players being the Argentine born Héctor Barrantes.[17]

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References
  1. "Stowell Park". National Heritage List for England. Historic England. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
  2. "Parishes: Stowell - A History of the County of Gloucester: Volume 9, Bradley Hundred. The Northleach Area of the Cotswolds". Retrieved 5 May 2016.
  3. "Stowell Park". National Heritage List for England. Historic England. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
  4. "Church of St. Leonard". National Heritage List for England. Historic England. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
  5. David Verey, Cotswold Churches (B. T. Batsford Ltd., 1976), at page 88
  6. "No. 17724". The London Gazette. 14 July 1821. p. 1462.
  7. "History of the school". Great Ballard School. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
  8. "Stowell Park". National Heritage List for England. Historic England. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
  9. "he Dovecote c50m north-west of Stowell Park House". National Heritage List for England. Historic England. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
  10. "Former mill by the River Coln". National Heritage List for England. Historic England. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
  11. "The Lodge, gates and gate piers at eastern entrance to Stowell Park". National Heritage List for England. Historic England. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
  12. "Balustrading and steps around lawn immediately south of Stowell Park House". National Heritage List for England. Historic England. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
  13. "The Stableblock". National Heritage List for England. Historic England. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
  14. "Stowell Park". National Gardens Scheme. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
  15. "Stowell Park". National Heritage List for England. Historic England. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
  16. "Stowell Park - Gloucestershire". Field Sports Magazine. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
  17. Héctor Barrantes, Argentine polo player, Bangor Daily News, 13 August 1990
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