Eardisley Park is a country house and estate to the southwest of the village of

Eardisley Eardisley () is a village and civil parish in Herefordshire about south of the centre of Kington. Eardisley is in the Wye valley in the northwest of the county, close to the border with Wales. The village is part of the "Black and white villa ...

Herefordshire Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthshire ...

, England, and approximately north-west of

Hereford Hereford () is a cathedral city, civil parish and the county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, south-west of Worcester and north-west of Gloucester. With a population ...

History

The grounds were originally the site of

Eardisley Castle Eardisley Castle was in the village of Eardisley in Herefordshire, England, 11 km north-east of Hay-on-Wye (). The site of the castle is a scheduled monument. This was an 11th-century motte and bailey castle with a moat around the bailey fill ...

. A deer park was established during the medieval period for the Baskerville family. The castle was razed after the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...

. In 1777 the estate was mentioned in the '' Pipe Roll'', when the manor, the castle and the park passed to the king upon the death of Sir Richard Baskerville of Duncumb. In the 19th century the estate was in the possession of the Perry family; Thomas Perry was the manor owner in 1837, and James Perry as of 1890.

House

William Barnesley or Barnsley, a London cloth merchant, built the original Queen Anne house in the early 18th century after purchasing the estate. The attic was converted into an additional storey later in the century. The house was 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 ...

but shortly after restoration burnt down in January 1999. A near replica on the site, using inside bricks facing outwards and old flooring, wall panelling and fittings sourced elsewhere and adding modern systems and steel beams for floor support, was completed in late 2001 and named the Georgian Restoration of the Year in 2003 and the Restoration of the Century for the West Region by '' Country Life'' in 2010.

Bow window A bow window or compass window is a curved bay window. Bow windows are designed to create space by projecting beyond the exterior wall of a building, and to provide a wider view of the garden or street outside and typically combine four or more w ...

s were added to the front and rear facades in a style suggesting late 18th century additions. The original brick barns and Grade II listed Georgian

dovecote A dovecote or dovecot , doocot ( Scots) or columbarium is a structure intended to house pigeons or doves. Dovecotes may be free-standing structures in a variety of shapes, or built into the end of a house or barn. They generally contain pige ...

survived the fire and rebuilding included restoration of the garden terraces, which had been worked as part of the farm for the previous century. A legal dispute over the original house following Barnesley's death in 1760 was reportedly the inspiration for

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

's novel ''

Bleak House ''Bleak House'' is a novel by Charles Dickens, first published as a 20-episode serial between March 1852 and September 1853. The novel has many characters and several sub-plots, and is told partly by the novel's heroine, Esther Summerson, and ...

''.

References

{{Coord, 52.131442, -3.024032, display=title Country houses in Herefordshire Georgian architecture in England