Foots Cray Place was one of the four

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 ...

s built in England in the 18th century to a design inspired by

Palladio Andrea Palladio ( ; ; 30 November 1508 – 19 August 1580) was an Italian Renaissance architect active in the Venetian Republic. Palladio, influenced by Roman and Greek architecture, primarily Vitruvius, is widely considered to be one of th ...

Villa Capra Villa La Rotonda is a Renaissance villa just outside Vicenza in northern Italy designed by Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio. The villa's correct name is Villa Almerico Capra Valmarana, but it is also known as "La Rotonda", "Villa Rot ...

near

Vicenza Vicenza ( , ; ) is a city in northeastern Italy. It is in the Veneto region at the northern base of the ''Monte Berico'', where it straddles the Bacchiglione River. Vicenza is approximately west of Venice and east of Milan. Vicenza is a th ...

. Built in 1754 near

Sidcup Sidcup is an area of south-east London, England, primarily in the London Borough of Bexley. It is south-east of Charing Cross, bordering the London Boroughs of London Borough of Bromley, Bromley and Royal Borough of Greenwich, Greenwich. Before ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, Foots Cray Place was demolished in 1950 after a fire in 1949. Of the three other houses in England,

Nuthall Temple Nuthall Temple in Nottinghamshire, one of England's lost houses, was one of five houses built in the United Kingdom generally said to have been inspired by Palladio's Villa Capra in Vicenza. Only two 18th century examples remain: Mereworth Cast ...

in Nottinghamshire was built 1757 and demolished in 1929; the other two survive:

Mereworth Castle Mereworth Castle is a grade I listed Neo-Palladian country house in Mereworth, Kent, England. This source attributes the plasterwork to Francesco Bagutti, but Giovanni Bagutti would appear to be more likely. History Originally the site of ...

(completed 1725, also in Kent) and

Chiswick House Chiswick House is a Neo-Palladian style villa in the Chiswick district of London, England. A "glorious" example of Neo-Palladian architecture in west London, the house was designed and built by Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington (1694–1753 ...

(completed 1729, in London), both now Grade I

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 ...

s. A modern fifth example, Henbury Hall, was built near

Macclesfield Macclesfield is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Bollin in the east of the county, on the edge of the Cheshire Plain, with Macclesfield Forest to its east ...

in the 1980s. Another example of a similar structure in England is the Temple of the Four Winds at

Castle Howard Castle Howard is a stately home in North Yorkshire, England, within the civil parish of Henderskelfe, located north of York. It is a private residence and has been the home of the Carlisle branch of the Howard family for more than 300 years. ...

, which is a garden building not a house.

Earlier houses

The Kentish manor of

Foots Cray Foots Cray is an area of South East London, England, within the London Borough of Bexley, Greater London. Prior to 1965 it was in the historic county of Kent. It is located south-east of Sidcup. History It took its name from Godwin Fot, a ...

is mentioned in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

. Later, it was acquired by the

Walsingham Walsingham () is a civil parish in North Norfolk, England, famous for its religious shrines in honour of Mary, mother of Jesus. It also contains the ruins of two medieval Christian monasticism, monastic houses.Ordnance Survey (2002). ''OS Exp ...

family and held for six generations until it was sold around 1676. An

Elizabethan The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The symbol of Britannia (a female personifi ...

E-shaped house – also known as Pike Place – was still on the site in the 1680s. The estate passed through several hands before it was purchased by

Bourchier Cleeve Bourchier Cleeve (1715–1760) was an English pewterer and writer of pamphlets. Life A prosperous pewterer in London, he was the son of Alexander Cleeve, pewterer in Cornhill, who died on 11 April 1738. He was given the freedom of the City of ...

in 1752 for £5,450. Cleeve had the old house pulled down and a new one constructed slightly further north in about 1754.

Palladian mansion

The design of the

Neo-Palladian Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...

mansion has been attributed to the architect

Isaac Ware Isaac Ware (1704—1766) was an English architect and translator of Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio. Early life Ware was born to a life of poverty, living as a street urchin and working as a chimney sweep, until he was adopted by ...

in ''

Vitruvius Britannicus Colen Campbell (15 June 1676 – 13 September 1729) was a pioneering Scottish architect and architectural writer, credited as a founder of the Georgian style. For most of his career, he resided in Italy and England. As well as his architectural ...

'' iv (1777, pls. 8-10), but it has also been suggested that

Matthew Brettingham the Younger Matthew Brettingham the Younger (1725 – 18 March 1803) was an architect. He was the eldest son of Matthew Brettingham the Elder and worked also in Palladian style. He travelled to Italy in 1747, where he purchased sculptures and artwork for his ...

Daniel Garrett Daniel Garrett (died 1753) was a British architect who worked on the Burlington Estate, Culloden Tower, Raby Castle, and Banqueting House. History Garrett started as a clerk of works, then in 1735 set up his own practice in the North of England ...

could have been the designer. Following the model of the Villa Capra, it had a large square central block surmounted by a wide dome, with a portico on each face, all constructed in stone. Three of the porticos at Foots Cray Place were filled in to create additional internal space. The central hall was octagonal, with a gallery leading to the upper rooms, lit from above. The service buildings were built in brick a short distance from the main house. Cleeve accumulated a large collection of paintings, including examples by

Rembrandt Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (, ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), usually simply known as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker and draughtsman. An innovative and prolific master in three media, he is generally consid ...

, Reubens,

Van Dyke Van Dyke, VanDyke or Vandyke is an Americanized or anglicized form of the Dutch language, Dutch-language toponymic surname ''Van Dijk'', ''Van Dijke'', ''Van Dijck'', or ''Van Dyck (surname), Van Dyck''. Meaning living near the dike. Van Dyke, Van ...

Canaletto Giovanni Antonio Canal (18 October 1697 – 19 April 1768), commonly known as Canaletto (), was an Italian painter from the Republic of Venice, considered an important member of the 18th-century Venetian school. Painter of city views or ...

and

Holbein Hans Holbein may refer to: * Hans Holbein the Elder Hans Holbein the Elder ( , ; german: Hans Holbein der Ältere; – 1524) was a German painter. Life Holbein was born in free imperial city of Augsburg (Germany), and died in Issenheim, Alsa ...

, which he displayed at Foots Cray Place. The estate was inherited by Cleeve's daughter on his death in 1760; she married Sir

George Yonge Sir George Yonge, 5th Baronet, KCB, PC (17 July 1731 – 25 September 1812), of Escot House in the parish of Talaton in Devon, England, was a British Secretary at War (1782–1783 and 1783–1794). He succeeded to his father's baronetcy in ...

in 1767, and the house was sold to Benjamin Harenc in 1772 for £14,500. He had it remodelled in 1792 by the minor London architect

Henry Hakewill Henry Hakewill (4 October 1771 – 13 March 1830) was an English architect. Biography Early life Henry Hakewell was a pupil of John Yenn, RA, and also studied at the Royal Academy, where in 1790 he was awarded a silver medal for a drawing of a ...

. Harenc's son sold the house in 1821 to

Nicholas Vansittart Nicholas Vansittart, 1st Baron Bexley, (29 April 1766 – 8 February 1851) was an English politician, and one of the longest-serving Chancellors of the Exchequer in British history. Background and education The fifth son of Henry Vansittart ( ...

, then

Chancellor of the Exchequer The chancellor of the Exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and head of His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, the Chancellor is ...

and soon to become ennobled as Baron Bexley. Hakewill further remodelled the house in 1823, and more works were carried out for Lord Bexley by another London architect of equally modest reputation, John William Hiort, who also built Bexley's London house in

Great George Street Great George Street is a street in Westminster, London, leading from Parliament Square to Birdcage Walk. The area of the current street was occupied by a number of small roads and yards housing inns and tenements. In the 1750s these were demol ...

, Westminster. The Vansittart family retained the house and estate until it was sold to

Samuel Waring Samuel James Waring, 1st Baron Waring (19 April 1860 – 9 January 1940), known as Sir Samuel Waring, Bt, between 1919 and 1922, was a British industrialist, public servant and benefactor. Biography Waring was the second son of Samuel James Wari ...

(later

Baron Waring Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knigh ...

) in the late 19th century. In 1939, at the beginning of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the house was requisitioned for use by the Thames Nautical Training College, HMS "Worcester" whose ship of that name had been requisitioned by the Admiralty. Lord Waring died in 1940, and after the College vacated the property, dilapidated after its wartime use, in 1946, Waring's widow sold the house and grounds to

Kent County Council Kent County Council is a county council that governs most of the county of Kent in England. It is the upper tier of elected local government, below which are 12 district councils, and around 300 town and parish councils. The county council h ...

for use as a museum. A fire in October 1949 caused extensive damage, and the house was demolished in 1950.

Foots Cray Meadows

The stable block and walled gardens with pavilion remains standing, but the grounds, known as

Foots Cray Meadows Foots Cray Meadows is an area of parkland and woodland 97 hectares (240 acres) in size, within the London Borough of Bexley, England. It borders the suburbs of Albany Park, Sidcup, Foots Cray, North Cray and Ruxley. The River Cray runs through it ...

, provide a valuable public green space in this south-eastern

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...

of London. This 220-acre (89-hectare) park was formed in the early 19th century from two mid-18th-century landscaped parks and is listed by

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

as a Grade II historic park,An impression of the surviving landscape can be obtained from the
Hidden London website
/ref> and it is a Local Nature Reserve. The

London Outer Orbital Path The London Outer Orbital Path — more usually the "London LOOP" — is a 150-mile (242 km) signed walk along public footpaths, and through parks, woods and fields around the edge of Outer London, England, described as "the M2 ...

passes through Foots Cray Meadows on its way from

Old Bexley Bexley is an area of south-eastern Greater London, England and part of the London Borough of Bexley. It is sometimes known as Bexley Village or Old Bexley to differentiate the area from the wider borough. It is located east-southeast of Ch ...

to Sidcup Place and

Petts Wood Petts Wood is a town in south-east London, England, previously located in the historic county of Kent. It lies south of Chislehurst, west of St Paul's Cray and Poverest, north of Orpington and Crofton, and east of Southborough and Bromley ...

. There is some industry in an area next to the meadows and bordering the river.

References

External links

Lost Heritage - Foot's Cray Place
{{coord, 51.427, 0.120, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Houses completed in 1754 Buildings and structures demolished in 1950 Former country houses in England Country houses in Kent 1949 fires in the United Kingdom Rotundas in the United Kingdom Palladian architecture in England British country houses destroyed in the 20th century 1754 establishments in England Buildings and structures in Sidcup Former buildings and structures in Kent