Brampton Bryan Hall is a 17th-century English country house in the village of
Brampton Bryan
Brampton Bryan is a small village and civil parish situated in north Herefordshire, England close to the Shropshire and Welsh borders.
Brampton Bryan lies midway between Leintwardine and Knighton on the A4113 road. The nearest station is Buc ...
, Herefordshire. It is still owned by the descendants of
Robert Harley, Earl of Oxford
Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer, KG PC FRS (5 December 1661 – 21 May 1724) was an English statesman and peer of the late Stuart and early Georgian periods. He began his career as a Whig, before defecting to a new Tory ...
, chief minister under Queen Anne and 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 ...
.
The house was built around 1660 by
Edward Harley to replace
Brampton Bryan Castle
Brampton Bryan Castle is a ruined medieval castle in the small village of Brampton Bryan in north-western Herefordshire, England, 50m south of the River Teme. The castle guarded an important route from Ludlow along the Teme Valley to Knighton an ...
, which had been destroyed during the Civil War. It was constructed in three storeys of brick and sandstone, with a Welsh slate roof and enhanced and enlarged in the 18th century.
History
The Brampton Bryan estate had been owned by the Harley family since 1309, when Sir Robert Harley married Margaret de Brampton. It contained a deer park and is today
Grade II listed
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 ...
in its own right. The family lived in the Brampton Bryan Castle until its slighting in 1644 by Parliamentarian forces during the ownership of
Robert Harley, for which he later received significant financial compensation. His son Edward built the new house after the Restoration of the Monarchy.
The new house passed down in 1700 to Edward Harley's son
Robert
The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...
, who became the first Earl of Oxford in 1711 and then to his son
Edward
Edward is an English given name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortune; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”.
History
The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-Sa ...
, the 2nd Earl, who however preferred to live at
Wimpole Hall
Wimpole Estate is a large estate containing Wimpole Hall, a country house located within the civil parish of Wimpole, Cambridgeshire, England, about southwest of Cambridge. The house, begun in 1640, and its of parkland and farmland are owned b ...
in Cambridgeshire which his wife had inherited. Brampton Bryan Hall nevertheless remained in the ownership of the Harley family, passing in 1741 to the 2nd Earl's cousin,
Edward, the 3rd Earl. It then descended in turn to
Edward, the 4th Earl, who died in the house in 1790,
Edward, the 5th Earl, who also died there in 1848 and
Edward, the 6th and last Earl. After that the estate passed in 1853 to a distant relative William Daker Harley.
The house would then be sometimes leased out; in the 1870s it was occupied by
General George Staunton and family.
[ ] The house is now the private home of Edward and Victoria Harley.
The house has been used as a film location, particularly as Henry Wilcox's country mansion in the
''Howard's End'' film.
References
{{reflist
External links
official website
Country houses in Herefordshire
Grade II* listed buildings in Herefordshire