Mereworth Castle

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Mereworth Castle in the 18th century
Mereworth Castle in the 18th century
Capriccio with a view of Mereworth Castle, 1746
Capriccio with a view of Mereworth Castle, 1746

Mereworth Castle is a grade I listed[1] Palladian country house in Mereworth, Kent, England.

Originally the site of a fortified manor licensed in 1332. The present Grade 1 listed building was built in the 1720s as an almost exact copy of Palladio's Villa Rotunda.[2]. It was designed in 1723 by Colen Campbell who had been commissioned by John Fane, 7th Earl of Westmorland.[3] The interior features plasterwork by Francesco Bagutti and fresco painting by Francesco Sleter. The house is situated in a landscaped park and valley with a number of surrounding pavilions and lodges which are also Grade I listed.[4][5]

The house passed through descent to Barons Oranmore and Browne whose family seat it became. It was sold in 1930 [6] and used as a prisoner of war camp during World War II.[7] In the 1950s and 1960s it was owned by Michael Lambert Tree, a son of Ronald Tree and an heir to the Marshall Field mercantile fortune, and his wife, the former Lady Anne Cavendish, a daughter of the 10th Duke of Devonshire.

The Wateringbury Stream passes through the grounds of the castle. It powered a fulling mill at the eastern end of the castle grounds.[8][9]

Mereworth Castle is privately owned, and not open to the public.

[edit] References

  1. ^ MEREWORTH CASTLE (MAIN BLOCK) WITH MOAT WALLS TO NORTH, MAIDSTONE ROAD (south side), MEREWORTH, TONBRIDGE AND MALLING, KENT. English Heritage. Retrieved on 2008-05-20.
  2. ^ 5 Palladian houses were built in Britain based on Palladio's Villa Rotunda (the others being Nuthall Temple, Nottinghamshire [demolished]; Henbury Hall, Cheshire; Chiswick House, Greater London; and Foots Cray Place, Kent [demolished])
  3. ^ The Peerage
  4. ^ PAVILION TO THE NORTH EAST OF MEREWORTH CASTLE, MAIDSTONE ROAD (south side), MEREWORTH, TONBRIDGE AND MALLING, KENT. English Heritage. Retrieved on 2008-05-20.
  5. ^ PAVILION TO THE NORTH WEST AND STABLES OF MEREWORTH CASTLE, MAIDSTONE ROAD (south side), MEREWORTH, TONBRIDGE AND MALLING, KENT. English Heritage. Retrieved on 2008-05-20.
  6. ^ Lord Oranmore and Browne's obituary (Telegraph)
  7. ^ Island farm website
  8. ^ Watermills of the East Malling and Wateringbury Streams, Part 2, Chapter 1
  9. ^ Watermills (Kent and the Borders of Sussex) p134.

[edit] Sources

  • Stutchbury, Howard, The Architecture of Colin Campbell, Harvard University Press, 1967, 54-58. ISBN 0-674-04400-2
  • Harris, John, The Palladians, Trefoil Publications Ltd, 1981, 66-67. ISBN 0-86294-000-1
  • Country Life, XLVII, 808,876,912; XCV, 242; CIV,728; CXVI, 209
  • Fuller, Michael (1980). The Watermills of the East Malling and Wateringbury Streams. Maidstone: Christine Swift.. 
  • Fuller & Spain (1986). Watermills (Kent and the Borders of Sussex). Maidstone: Kent Archaeological Society, p134. ISBN 0 906746 08 6. 

[edit] External links

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