Sherfield House,210.
Shillinglee Park,38.
Shirley House,220.
Shockerwick,186.
Shuldham, —— Esq.115. (seeDeer Park)
Shute Park,114.
Sion Hill,70, an elegant little villa belonging to the Duke of Marlborough. The house is a handsome building, and the grounds pleasant and well wooded.
Sion House,70, a seat belonging to the Duke of Northumberland. The approach to this mansion from the road is ornamented by a beautiful arch, with an open colonnade, and a handsome lodge on each side, forming an elegant piece of architecture. Sion House derives its name from a monastery, founded by Henry the Fifth, the walls of which, with some alterations, still remain. This magnificent structure is built of stone, in the form of a hollow square, having at each angle a square tower, considerably higher than the intermediate parts of the building: the roof is flat, surrounded by embattled turrets, and the east front is supported on arches, forming a noble piazza. It is most charmingly situated in a spacious lawn, on the northern bank of the Thames, diversified by a pleasing variety of woody scenery, and commanding fine views of the royal gardens of Richmond. The apartments are spacious, fitted up and decorated in the antique style, and are worthy of notice by the curious. The great hall is two stories high, ornamented by antique marble figures, standing on pedestals.
Sion House,114.
Slab House,189.
Slindon House,42,216, the seat of the Earl of Newburgh. At the north end of a well-wooded park, stands this noble old mansion, on a fine eminence, commanding a magnificent view of the sea to the south, Chichester Cathedral, and numerous other objects. The internal arrangements are judicious, and the decorations appropriate, with some good paintings, chiefly portraits. Here is also an elegant chapel, and a well-furnished library.
Sloane, Hans, Esq.86. (seePaultons Park)
Smith, W. Esq.78. (seeBambridge)
Somers, Lord,47. (seeThe Priory)
South Broom House,199.
Southwick Park,214.
Speke, W. Esq.168. (seeJordans House)
Spencer, Earl,23. (seeWimbledon Park)
Spicer, J. Esq.25. (seeEsher Place)
Spring Grove,70, a neat house, the summer residence of Sir Joseph Banks, President of the Royal Society, and celebrated for his great knowledge in botany.
Spy Park,185, the seat of Col. Thornton. Near the south-west extremity of the park, on lofty ground, stands the house, commanding a fine and distant prospect. The structure itself is old, but it is ornamented with a modern front. It is remarkable as having been once the property and residence of the celebrated Earl of Rochester.
Stalbridge Park,140.
Standerwick Court,205.
Standlinch House,209. (now)Trafalgar Park, the seat of Earl Nelson. This edifice is built of brick, composed of a centre and two wings. The pleasure grounds are extensive, abundantly supplied with wood, and bounded on one side by the river Avon, which greatly heightens the beauty of the scenery. In this neighbourhood are some delightfully diversified and extensive views.
Stanhope, Earl,17. (seeChevening)
Stanmer Park,60, the seat of the Earl of Chichester. This mansion is a plain stone edifice, consisting of a centre and two wings, which together form three sides of a square. The principal front, facing the east, projects in the centre, and is terminated with a pediment. The mansion encloses a quadrangular court on the side towards the pleasure grounds. The park is laid out with much taste and judgment, but the wood is chiefly young plantations.
Stanwell Place,174.
Stawell, Lord,81.
Stead, Col.180. (seeDonnington Castle)
Stirling, —— Esq.62. (seeThorn Croft)
Stinsford House,109.
Stockton House,207.
Stoke Park,175, the seat of John Penn, Esq. one of the most charming residences in this part of the country. The house is built with brick, and covered with stucco: it consists of a large square centre, with two wings. The north front is ornamented with a colonnade, and approached by a flight of steps leading to the marble hall. The south front, 196 feet in length, is also adorned with a colonnade, above which is a projecting portico, sustaining an ornamental pediment. This mansion combines exterior magnificence with internal elegance and convenience, and is enriched with some good pictures. The park, though rather flat, commands some fine views, and is laid out with considerable taste.
Stoke Place,26.
Stone Castle,3, the seat of R. Talbot, Esq. originally a castellated dwelling; but a small square tower, now standing at the east end of the present mansion, is the only part that has any appearance of a fortress.
Stone Quarry House,57.
Stour Head House,172, the seat of Sir Richard Colt Hoare, Bart. The mansion was erected about the year 1721, by Henry Hoare, Esq. ancestor of the present possessor. Various alterations have subsequently been made, among which the erection of two wings, in 1798, are the most considerable, the one of which is appropriated to a picture gallery, and the other to a library; and, together with the other apartments, contain an exceedingly valuable and choice collection of paintings, drawings, books, and curiosities.
The pleasure grounds of Stour Head have an exalted claim to our attention, being replete with sylvan beauties, and picturesque varieties. The scenery, naturally grand and diversified, consisting of ridges of hills, deep narrow vallies, and rivulets, has been most judiciously cultivated. The sides and summits of the eminences are clothed with wood; one of the vallies is filled with water, by means of an artificial dam; and the woods and groves are enlivened throughout with walks, temples, seats, &c. From the house a close avenue of laurel hedges leads to the brow of a precipice, beneath which is seen the village church, and a few neat cottages in a dale; beyond it another hill rises equally rapid, covered with wood. From this spot a path, winding through a fine plantation, conducts to a spacious lake, which, though formed by art, presents a beautifully wild and diversified appearance, in some places, forming narrow creeks, and at other parts spreading its expansive bosom “to the garish eye of day.” In many parts it is enveloped in hanging woods, through which several temples appearing, greatly increase the beauty of thecoup-d’œil. The description here given can convey but a very faint idea of the numerous beauties contained in these extensive and truly delightful gardens.
Within the grounds is an encampment of a circular form, consisting of a double ditch and vallum, with entrances towards the east and west: it occupies the entire ridge of a hill, and from the precipitous nature of the ground on all sides, must have been of considerable strength. The area within the outer ditch embraces an extent of seven acres, and its circuit is upwards of three furlongs. Near this entrenchment rises the Stour river, contiguous to the springs of which the ground ascends, rising westward to the summit of a considerable eminence, called King’s Settle, on which stands a lofty tower, built in honour of Alfred the Great, by Henry Hoare, Esq. grandfather to the present proprietor of Stour Head. Its form is triangular, with round towers at each corner, and it is one hundred and sixty feet high: a flight of steps on the inside leads to the top, which commands a most extensive and richly diversified prospect. Over the entrance is a statue of the Saxon Prince, with a tablet underneath, bearing the following inscription: “Alfred the Great, A. D. 879, on this summit erected his standard against Danish Invaders. To him we owe the origin of Juries, and the Creation of a Naval Force. Alfred, the light of a benighted Age, was a Philosopher and a Christian, the Father of his People, and Founder of the English Monarchy and Liberties.” Westward of this tower is an immense tumulus, denominated Jack’s Castle, which, when opened, was found to contain some burnt bones, with a small lance head of brass, and an axe, made of Sienite stone. The latter in a very perfect state.
Stover House,118.
Stratton Park,76.
Streatham Park,52, late Mrs. Piozzi.
Stretfield, R. T. Esq.58. (seethe Rocks)
Sulhampsted House,178.
Sullivan, Right Hon. John,175. (seeRichings Lodge)
Sutton Place,26, the seat of J. W. Weston, Esq. This structure, which was built about the year 1530, is composed of brick, finished with a double sculptured plat band of a yellowish brick, running round the top, with coins and window cases of the same; and, according to the style of the time in which it was built, is a handsome building. The form is quadrangular, encompassing an area of near eighty feet square; the principal entrance being by a gateway, having a lofty hexagonal turret at each angle, with coins of the yellow brick above mentioned, alternately charged with R. W. and a Tun, being a quaint device for the name of the builder, R. Weston. The north side of this edifice is entirely occupied by a hall, 50 feet long, 25 wide, and 31 high. The present owner has made great improvements in the house and grounds.
Tadworth Court,47.
Talbot, R. Esq.3. (seeStone Castle)
Talbot, Sir C. H.63. (seeChart Park)
Tangier,99.
Templar, —— Esq.118. (seeStover House)
Temple, Earl,84. (seeAvington Park)
Tessier, L. Esq.62. (seeWoodcott Park)
Thanks,123.
Thiselthwayt, —— Esq.214. (seeSouthwick Park)
Thorn Croft,62.
Thornton, Col.185. (seeSpy Park)
Thoyts, —— Esq.178. (seeSulhampstead House)
Tilehurst Place,178.
Tilgate House,49.
Tilney Hall,74.
Tinison, —— Esq.81. (seeMoor Park)
Tortington House,217.
Townsend, Henry Hare, Esq.27. (seeBusbridge Park)
Tregrehan,127.
Trelawny, Capt.124. (seeColdrinick)
Trewithan,128, the seat of Sir Christopher Hawkins. The mansion is spacious, and advantageously situated on elevated ground, commanding some very extensive views.
Tucker, —— Esq.113. (seeCoryton House)
Turner, —— Esq.214. (seeBedhampton Place)
Twyford Lodge,78.
Ugbrook House,118, the seat of Lord Clifford. This mansion is situated on the declivity of an eminence: its form is quadrangular, with two fronts and four towers, with battlements, and it is rough casted. The apartments are spacious, elegant, and most superbly decorated, assisted by a valuable collection of pictures. The library contains an ample and choice collection of ancient and modern books. The grounds surrounding this mansion are upwards of seven miles in circumference, containing every variety of object that constitute beautiful scenery, happily blended, and forming one of the most enchanting spots imaginable. On an eminence, in these grounds, is the remains of a Danish encampment, of an eliptic shape, surrounded with a trench, and overhung with majestic oaks, from whence the most noble and extensive prospects are obtained. To attempt a particular description of the internal beauties of this demesne, would, from the limits of our work, be absolutely impossible.
Upland House,222.
Upper Gatton House,47, is a handsome mansion, standing on a hill, surrounded by a park of about 100 acres.
Upton House,220.
Uxbridge, Earl of,140. (seeStalbridge Park) (seeMarquis of Anglesea)
Vale Lodge,62.
Verst,112.
Waddington, —— Esq.213. (seeCold Harbour)
Walcot, —— Esq.94.
Wales, H. R. H. the Princess Charlotte of, and H. S. H. the Prince of Saxe-Cobourg,25. (seeClaremont Park)
Walker, —— Esq.67. (seeMuntham)
Walker, —— Esq.217. (seeAngmering Park)
Walsham, —— Esq.62.
Ward, —— Esq.61. (seeGrove House)
Wardour Castle,138, the beautiful seat of the noble family of Arundel. This magnificent mansion is situated on a gentle eminence, surrounded by a lawn and thick woods, about a mile from the site of the ancient castle, now only presenting a mass of ivy-crowned ruins, having been destroyed in two sieges which it sustained in the reign of Charles the First: the first, against a detachment of the parliament forces, 1300 strong, under Sir Edward Hungerford, with a garrison, consisting of only 25 men, under the command of the Lady Blanch, Countess of Arundel (daughter of the Earl of Worcester), who, bravely opposed every effort of the enemy to obtain possession of the fortress, during a vigorous bombardment of five days, and at length surrendered upon the most honourable terms. It was afterwards besieged by the royal army, under the command of the Earl of Arundel and Sir Francis Doddington. From the injuries sustained in these sieges, the castle became uninhabitable, and afterwards, being totally neglected, the all-defacing hand of time has completed its destruction, leaving not sufficient now remaining to ascertain even its extent and arrangement. The site of these ruins is beneath a hill covered with wood, the summit of which commands some beautiful and distant views. Approaching the new mansion by the principal entrance to the grounds, on the road between Salisbury and Shaftesbury, it is discovered in the bosom of a thick grove, and at length majestically bursts upon the view. The building is composed of free stone, consisting of a centre and two wings, projecting from the body on the north side, in a curvilinear form. The entrance towards the north is handsomely ornamented with pilasters and half columns, of the Corinthian order: this entrance opens into a spacious hall, which conducts to the rotunda stair-case, allowed to be the finest specimen of ornamental architecture in the kingdom. The apartments are numerous, spacious, and elegant, decorated in the most costly style, enriched with an extensive and valuable collection of paintings, and many curious specimens of carved work. In the west wing of the house is the Chapel, which is most superbly and appropriately embellished. The grounds are diversified by much inequality of surface, richly ornamented by numerous plantations, and interspersed with several spacious sheets of water, most tastefully and happily blended. To the south-east the ruins of the old castle are seen, over the venerable walls of which the mantling ivy most luxuriantly spreads its never varying foliage, presenting in the view from the house, an object strikingly beautiful in this most picturesque and delightful scene, which is terminated by a fine hanging wood.
Warren House,16.
Webster, Sir Godfrey,22. (seeBattle Abbey)
Wellesley, W. Pole Tilney Long,74. (seeTilney Hall)
Werrington House,152, a seat of the Duke of Northumberland. The house is desirably situated in a well-wooded park, commanding views richly diversified and expansive. In front of the house are two structures, intended as architectural ornaments; one is an artificial ruined castle, and the other a triumphal arch.
Westbrook House,96.
Westcomb Park,1, the seat of W. Foreman, Esq. This is an ancient manor, and the house commands some fine prospects.
West Grinsted Park,65, the seat of W. Burrell, Esq. The house is a handsome stone building.
Westmorland, Earl of,141. (seeBrympton House)
Weston, J. W. Esq.26. (seeSutton Place)
Whalley Smythe Gardiner, Sir James,98. (seeRoch Court)
Whatcomb House,108.
Wheble, James, Esq.177. (seeWoodley Lodge)
White, —— Esq.85. (seeAmfield House)
White House,173.
White Knights,177, the seat of the Duke of Marlborough. The house is a plain white building, situated nearly in the centre of the grounds, which are divided by an irregular sheet of water into pasture and arable lands. The borders of this lake are rendered extremely beautiful, the lawns which slope gently to its margin being adorned with groves of trees. An avenue of fine elms leads to the gate at the entrance of the park, from Reading. The grounds are so disposed, as at proper openings to admit the most enchanting views of the surrounding country, which, from this spot, is peculiarly interesting. Here nature, improved by the hand of art, presents a most beautiful specimen of the mixture of the agreeable with the useful.
Whiteway,117.
Whitworth, Lord,18. (seeKnowle Park)
Wickham Corner,97,213.
Wilbury Park,160, the seat of Sir C. Mallet, Bart. The house is composed of stone, built in the reign of Queen Ann, comprising a centre and two wings corresponding. Internal convenience appears to have been more studied in the construction of this mansion, than external splendor. It is well screened with wood, forming a striking contrast to the almost steril downs of Salisbury Plain, of which this demesne once formed a part; but by human industry and skill, it is now rendered fertile, covered with luxuriant and flourishing plantations, and replete with sylvan beauties.
Wilkes, —— Esq.55. (seeRooksnest)
Willes, —— Esq.181. (seeHungerford Park)
Willett, —— Esq.90. (seeMerley House)
Wilmot, —— Esq.80. (seeFarnborough Place)
Wilson, Lady Spencer,1. (seeCharlton House)
Wilton House,136,208, the seat of the Earl of Pembroke. This edifice is a large and extensive pile, situated in a beautiful park; but from having been erected at different periods, the styles of architecture are very dissimilar. The present noble proprietor has considerably enlarged and improved the mansion. The approach is through a triumphal arch, which is surmounted by a bold equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius. In an extensive gallery, and other apartments, are deposited a choice and valuable collection of ancient sculpture and paintings. The park is ornamented with plantations, and through it flows a fine stream of water, judiciously widened in places, forming beautiful lakes, embellished with woody islands. It also possesses the advantage of elevated ground, from whence many picturesque views are obtained.
Wiltshire, —— Esq.186. (seeShockerwick)
Wimbledon Park,23, the seat of Earl Spencer. The house is a handsome edifice, finished in 1801, advantageously situated, commanding beautiful and extensive views. The park, which contains 1200 acres, is planted and laid out with great taste, adorned with a sheet of water which covers fifty acres.
Winchester, Bishop of,81. (seeFarnham Castle)
Windmill Hill,80.
Windsor Castle,175. This magnificent pile, either viewed as a fortress, or Royal palace, can never fail to excite the most lively interest in the spectator; advantageously situated on the summit of a commanding hill, environed by the most luxuriant and beautifully diversified country imaginable; through which the pellucid Thames, alike celebrated for beauty and utility, winds its serpentine course, laving the foot of the hill on which stands this noble palace, truly worthy to be the residence of a British Monarch, which honourable distinction, with little interruption, it has enjoyed since the reign of its founder, William the Conqueror, to the present time.
In a work like this, the object of which is general information, more than particular description, a minute detail cannot be entered into, on a subject sufficient to form a work in itself; replete with every variety of nature and art. The importance of Windsor Castle, as a fortress, save in appearance, is entirely superseded, the remaining appurtenances of which appear to be retained merely as objects of ornament. The most remarkable part of the building isThe Keep, orRound Tower, built on a lofty artificial mount, in the centre of the castle. The beauty and variety of the views from the summit of this building, extending over a boundless landscape, enriched with the most luxuriant and highly cultivated scenery, are almost indescribable.
“Heavens! what a goodly prospect spreads around,“Of hills, and dales, and woods, and lawns, and spires,“And glittering towns, and gilded streams, till all“The stretching landscape into smoke decays!”Thomson.
“Heavens! what a goodly prospect spreads around,“Of hills, and dales, and woods, and lawns, and spires,“And glittering towns, and gilded streams, till all“The stretching landscape into smoke decays!”
“Heavens! what a goodly prospect spreads around,“Of hills, and dales, and woods, and lawns, and spires,“And glittering towns, and gilded streams, till all“The stretching landscape into smoke decays!”
Thomson.
On a board placed near the summit of the tower, the names of the following counties, which are from thence seen, are inscribed: Middlesex, Essex, Herts, Bucks, Berks, Oxford, Wilts, Hants, Surrey, Sussex, Kent, and Bedford. The dome of St. Paul’s is also plainly distinguishable on a clear day.
The state apartments are magnificent, and fitted up in a superb style of elegance. The furniture is rich; many of the ceilings are finely painted; and a great number of pictures, by the most eminent masters, adorn the different chambers, among which are the celebratedCartoonsof Raphael.
The little park occupies the north and east sides, under the terrace of the castle. It is about four miles in circumference: its grounds are composed of a pleasing inequality, diversified by groupes of stately trees, and other woody scenery, extending to the village of Datchet, and declining towards the Thames.
Windsor Park,71, denominated Great, to distinguish it from the park contiguous to the Castle. This park is about fourteen miles in circumference, and since its reversion toHis Majesty(on the death of the late Duke of Cumberland), has undergone alterations which render it at once a scene of beauty and utility, 1400 acres being appropriated to the purposes of experimental farming; and the remaining 2400 acres, which together constitute the area of the whole, is laid out in the most judicious manner possible, well stocked with deer, and comprising every other requisite necessary to render it worthy of its royal possessor. Towards the southern extremity of the park is a beautiful and extensive piece of water, over which is an elegant stone bridge, which, together with the water, considerably enlivens and adds dignity to the whole.
The royal forest, making a circuit of about 56 miles, abounds with deer, and every other species of game, and is possessed of every attraction for the sports of the field, which, with the manly exercises of the chase, has been the favourite amusements of many successive Kings of England.
Winkton House,94.
Winterton, Earl of,38. (seeShillinglee Park)
Wither, —— Esq.99. (seeManydown)
Wombwell Hall,3, the seat of —— Harman, Esq. The grounds surrounding the house are most tastefully disposed, and do great credit to Mr. Repton, the landscape gardener.
Woodbarrow House,188.
Woodbridge, —— Esq.48.
Woodcot Park,62.
Woodlands,1. This mansion was erected, and the grounds laid out, about the year 1772, by John Julius Angerstein, Esq. The front of the building displays a handsome portico, with statues and basso-relievos at the sides: the interior is very tastefully fitted up, and contains a small but well chosen collection of pictures. The grounds are extremely pleasant; the views of the river, and of the adjacent parts of Essex and Kent, are very fine. The Botanic Garden has been recently improved by the erection of a new green-house, &c. and now contains one of the most extensive collections of curious plants and heaths in the kingdom.
Woodley Lodge,177.
Wood, Sir Mark,47,54. (seeGatton Park)
Woolhampton House,179, the seat of Lord Falmouth, is a good mansion, standing on an elevated spot, but well screened with woods. From many parts of the grounds belonging to this seat, a great variety of pleasing rural scenery is presented to view. The sides of the hills are composed of steep and bold irregularities, shelving into deep and solemn vallies, beautifully adorned by a variety of woody scenery, intermixed with farms and cottages, and varied by extensive prospects.
Wool Lavington,39, the seat of John Sargent, Esq. the author of “The Mine,” a poem, which has conferred on him a merited rank among the modern sons of Genius and Taste.
Upon his marriage with the heir of the ancient families of Garton and Orme, he rebuilt their former residence in a style of great accommodation and elegance.
It lies at the foot of an acclivity called Duncton Hill, which, at a very small distance from the house becoming precipitous, is closely matted with low wood, or alternately bare and open, which harmonises with the richly cultivated valley beneath. The view towards the north commands the rising ground terminating with Tillington and Petworth, when it becomes indistinct, and is lost in the weald country of Sussex.
Wooton Court,9, the seat of Mrs. Bridges, is finely situated on an eminence. The house, crowned with wood, makes a conspicuous figure to the traveller. The grounds are picturesque, and are well varied with hill and valley.
Worrall, —— Esq.63.
Worting House,99.
Wray, —— Esq.220. (seeUpton House)
Wyndham, —— Esq.96.
Ximenes, Sir M.177. (seeBear Place)
Zeals House,164.
END OF INDEX TO THE COUNTRY SEATS.
It is obvious, from the common occurrences of human life, that in the account of Seats, the Proprietor’s names must ever be subject to inaccuracy; but the author can with confidence assert, that up to the period of publication, every possible means has been adopted to obtain the most accurate information on the subject. As in some few instances, however, a difference will be found to occur, in the name attached to the Seat upon the Map, and that mentioned in this Index, the latter must be adopted as the name of the present Proprietor.
The first Column contains theDistance from London;then follows the Name of thePlaceandCountyin which it is situate, the Figures of the Page where it will be found, and a Description of the same, together with the Number of Houses and Inhabitants.
In stating the distances, the fractional parts are dropt, where they do not amount to three quarters of a mile; where they do the quarter is added: thus Bromley, which in the rout (page 16) appears to be nine miles and three quarters from London, is given in the Index as ten: where the same place occurs more than once, the difference of distance is not noted, the first distance only being set down; but it may be instantly seen by turning to the page.
N. B. In this Index the Cities are printed in Capitals, as BATH; the Boroughs and Market Towns in small Capitals, asDorchester; and every other Place, or object in print, as Bagshot.