Abbotswood is a

country house An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...

and estate near

Lower Swell Lower Swell is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Swell, in the Cotswold district, in the county of Gloucestershire, England. It is located at the River Dikler, one mile from Stow-on-the-Wold. The village has "finest country ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

, England. It is a grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

and estate, of

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

origins and with remodelling and garden work to the designs of

Sir Edwin Lutyens Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens ( ; 29 March 1869 – 1 January 1944) was an English architect known for imaginatively adapting traditional architectural styles to the requirements of his era. He designed many English country houses, war memoria ...

from 1901 onwards.

History

The ownership of lands in the manor of Lower Swell can be traced to the pre-conquest period, when one Ernesi possessed them. In 1086 the manor lands were divided between

Raoul II of Tosny Raoul II de Tosny seigneur de Conches-en-Ouche (1027 - died 9 April 1102) was a Norman nobleman of the House of Tosny, son of Roger I of Tosny and older brother of Robert de Stafford / Tosny. He was active in Normandy, England and Wales. Hasting ...

and

William II, Count of Eu William II, Count of Eu, feudal baron of Hastings (died about 1095) was a first generation Anglo-Norman nobleman, Count of Eu and rebel. Origins According to most authorities he was the son and heir of Robert, Count of Eu, (died before 1093), b ...

Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall Richard (5 January 1209 – 2 April 1272) was an English prince who was King of the Romans from 1257 until his death in 1272. He was the second son of John, King of England, and Isabella, Countess of Angoulême. Richard was nominal Count of Poi ...

acquired much of the lands before 1257 for a parkland; in 1257 he endowed

Hailes Abbey Hailes Abbey is a former Cistercian abbey, in the small village of Hailes, two miles northeast of Winchcombe, Gloucestershire, England. It was founded in 1246 as a daughter establishment of Beaulieu Abbey. The abbey was dissolved by Henry VIII ...

with the manor, which remained its owner until the

English Reformation The English Reformation took place in 16th-century England when the Church of England broke away from the authority of the pope and the Catholic Church. These events were part of the wider European Protestant Reformation, a religious and poli ...

. In 1545 it passed to the

Bishop of London A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

, and in 1591 was conveyed back to

the Crown The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has different ...

, then passing to one John Carter, and later to his son Giles, who mortgaged it in 1638 to Sir William Courteen. Courteen had assumed ownership by 1659, for he sold the estate to Robert Atkyns, a lawyer and member of the

Third Protectorate Parliament The Third Protectorate Parliament sat for one session, from 27 January 1659 until 22 April 1659, with Chaloner Chute and Thomas Bampfylde as the Speakers of the House of Commons. It was a bicameral Parliament, with an Upper House having a powe ...

for

Evesham Evesham () is a market town and parish in the Wychavon district of Worcestershire, in the West Midlands region of England. It is located roughly equidistant between Worcester, Cheltenham and Stratford-upon-Avon. It lies within the Vale of Evesha ...

. Atkyns descendants sold the estate in 1844 to one John Hudson. Hudsen split the estate in 1865, selling to the owner of lands in Upper Swell, Alfred Sartoris. Within his now merged estate, Sartoris built in 1867 a new

, Abbotwood, removed from and on land elevated above the estate farm buildings. In 1901 the estate was sold to Mark Fenwick, whose wealth derived from his involvement in mining and banking in

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

and

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land on ...

. Arnold, Constantia
''Happy as Kings: The Story of the Fenwicks at Abbotswood, 1905 to 1945''
(1994), Google Books Fenwick, a keen gardener, found the Abbotwood "far too ugly to live in" and against Lutyens' recommendation that he "blow it up, and start again!", engaged the architect to remodel the house and design gardens on what had been terraced lawns; Fenwick is credited with much of the planting within the estate. In 1946, the estate was sold to

Harry Ferguson Henry George "Harry" Ferguson (4 November 188425 October 1960) was a British mechanic and inventor who is noted for his role in the development of the modern agricultural tractor and its three point linkage system, for being the first person ...

, the engineer and inventor noted for his role in the development of the modern

agricultural tractor A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or construction. Most common ...

and, after the death of his widow, has been sold on a number of times.

House

Abbotswood house is the principal of the estate's buildings, a

Cotswold stone The Cotswolds (, ) is a region in central-southwest England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and Evesham Vale. The area is defined by the bedrock of Jur ...

L-shaped house dating back to the 1867 construction. Lutyens' external work on the house is concentrated on the north-side of the south-wing, where a projecting gabled roof falling to near ground level protects the main entrance; and on the west-side of the same wing where a series of narrow gables, terrace, ponds and a

Loggia In architecture, a loggia ( , usually , ) is a covered exterior gallery or corridor, usually on an upper level, but sometimes on the ground level of a building. The outer wall is open to the elements, usually supported by a series of columns ...

were added. Within, Lutyens created a new hall, grand staircase and reception rooms. Externally, Lutyens added a paved terrace with a linear central lily-pond extending from the west gable of the south wing. A large formal garden, subdivided into symmetric sections by hedges, paths and terrace walls, was planted to the south of the house; a terrace immediately to the south overlooks the garden and provides views of the surrounding park. The upper section of the garden is planted as a series of squares, four in the centre and three each at the east and west. The lower garden formed a sunken tennis lawn with a

herbaceous border A herbaceous border is a collection of perennial herbaceous plants (plants that live for more than two years and are soft-stemmed and non-woody) arranged closely together, usually to create a dramatic effect through colour, shape or large scale. ...

; more recently, a lily-pond has been sited in the centre of the lawn. A hexagonal open-sided garden house is sited at the south-west of the lawn; and a summerhouse is built beneath the upper garden, looking out across the tennis lawn and with access from a path on the west side of the gardens. A 'stream garden' of lawns, shrubs and trees with water and rock features is to the west of the house and formal gardens.

Estate

Abbotswood House sits towards the north-east of the estate's circa park, through which the River Dikler runs north-to-south. The estate's farm buildings, stables and staff housing are to the south-west of the house, and to the east of these is found an orchard and a walled garden with glasshouses, all associated with a long-demolished pre-1867 principal estate house. Features within the park include a river-fed pond, a well, and remains of a medieval moat. The park and a number of its buildings form part of the main listing for Abbotswood, and elements of the estate such as lodges, gates and walls, have distinct listings.

References

{{Authority control Country houses in Gloucestershire Works of Edwin Lutyens in England Grade II listed houses Grade II listed buildings in Gloucestershire Grade II listed parks and gardens in Gloucestershire Cotswold District

History

House

Estate

See also

References