Hartwell House is a
country house in the parish of
Hartwell Hartwell may refer to:
Places
* Hartwell, Victoria, a neighbourhood of Camberwell in Melbourne, Australia
** Hartwell railway station
England
* Hartwell, Buckinghamshire
* Hartwell, Northamptonshire, a village
* Hartwell, Staffordshire, a l ...
in
Buckinghamshire, southern England. The house is owned by the
Ernest Cook Trust The Ernest Cook Trust is a large educational charity in England. It was founded in 1952 by the philanthropist Ernest Cook, the grandson of Thomas Cook. Each year the Trustees distribute more than £1.25m in educational grants to benefit children a ...
, has been a Historic House Hotel since 1989, and in 2008 was leased to
The National Trust
The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...
. The Grade I
listed
Listed may refer to:
* Listed, Bornholm, a fishing village on the Danish island of Bornholm
* Listed (MMM program), a television show on MuchMoreMusic
* Endangered species in biology
* Listed building, in architecture, designation of a historicall ...
house is Jacobean with a Georgian front and Rococo interiors, set in a picturesque landscaped park, and is most famous as the home of exiled French king
Louis XVIII
Louis XVIII (Louis Stanislas Xavier; 17 November 1755 – 16 September 1824), known as the Desired (), was King of France from 1814 to 1824, except for a brief interruption during the Hundred Days in 1815. He spent twenty-three years in ...
in the early 19th century.
Location
The house is in the village of
Stone
In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...
along the
A418, about from the centre of
Aylesbury, the nearest large town, which is about from the centre of London via the
A41.
History
The property was first 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 manus ...
of 1086 and belonged to
William Peverel
William Peverel († 28. January 1114), Latinised to Gulielmus Piperellus), was a Norman knight granted lands in England following the Norman Conquest.
Origins
Little is known of the origin of the William Peverel the Elder. Of his immediate f ...
.
The core of the present house was constructed in the early 17th century for the
Hampden family and then the Lee family. The Lees, an old Buckinghamshire family, acquired Hartwell c.1650 by marriage into the Hampdens.
Bourbon Court
Between 1809 and 1814 the owner of the house, Sir Charles Lee, let the mansion to the French prince
Louis Stanislas Xavier, Count of Provence. The arrival of the impoverished prince and his court at Hartwell was not a happy experience for the mansion, with once grand and imperious courtiers farming chickens and assorted small livestock on the lead roofs. Louis's wife,
Marie Josephine of Savoy died at Hartwell in 1810. After her death, her body was carried first to Westminster Abbey, and one year later to
Sardinia
Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...
, where the Savoy King of Sardinia had withdrawn during Napoleonic occupation of Turin and Piedmont; she is buried in the
Cathedral of Cagliari. Prince Louis signed the document accepting the French
crown
A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, partic ...
in the
library
A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...
of the house, following the defeat of Napoleon.
Scientific hub
In 1827,
Dr John Lee, an astronomer, inherited the house from the unmarried Revd Sir George Lee. During his ownership, the British Meteorological Society, now the
Royal Meteorological Society
The Royal Meteorological Society is a long-established institution that promotes academic and public engagement in weather and climate science. Fellows of the Society must possess relevant qualifications, but Associate Fellows can be lay enthus ...
, was founded in the library in 1850.
The Hartwell Observatory
William Henry Smyth
Admiral William Henry Smyth (21 January 1788 – 8 September 1865) was a Royal Navy officer, hydrographer, astronomer and numismatist. He is noted for his involvement in the early history of a number of learned societies, for his hydrographic ...
, one of Lee's regular scientist guests invited to discuss theories "year after year" at Hartwell, who had helped with the design of the telescope and cupola that Lee had installed, described the house and the Hartwell Observatory established there, in ''Ædes Hartwellianæ: Or, Notices of the Manor and Mansion of Hartwell'' (Printed for private circulation, by J.B. Nichols and Son, London, 1851). Many of the illustrations in the book are by Smyth's wife Annarella and by his son-in-law, Rev. Prof.
Baden Powell.
Subsequent use
Revd Nicholas Lee inherited the house when his brother, Dr John, died on 25 February 1866 at Hartwell.
The house remained a private residence until 1938, when, at risk of demolition, the estate was acquired by the philanthropist
Ernest Cook
Ernest Edward Cook (4 September 1865 – 14 March 1955) was an English philanthropist and businessman. He was a grandson of Thomas Cook, the travel entrepreneur.
Cook was born in Camberwell, London and educated at Mill Hill School, as were his t ...
and the contents sold off by public
auction
An auction is usually a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from the lowest bidder. Some exceptions to this definition ex ...
. The estate passed to the Ernest Cook Trust when it was founded in 1952.
In the 1960s the house became a girls'
finishing school, then was let in the 1980s to be run as a hotel. The house was converted and became part of the Historic House Hotels group. Its proximity to
Chequers means that it has frequently been the host of international and government summits and meetings.
Architectural description
The
Jacobean north front of the house is constructed of
ashlar and has a projecting porch with a bow window above. At each end of this facade are two flanking
canted bays, each with a double height
oriel window. Immediately on each side of the porch are two large windows of the hall inside. Hiding the roofscape is a
parapet
A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). ...
with vases erected in 1740.
Between 1759 and 1761, architect
Henry Keene substantially enlarged and "
Georgianised" the house, and built the east front with its canted bay windows and a central porch in the
Tuscan style. Inside, the great hall has
stucco panels, and three reception rooms with
rococo
Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...
chimneypiece
The fireplace mantel or mantelpiece, also known as a chimneypiece, originated in medieval times as a hood that projected over a fire grate to catch the smoke. The term has evolved to include the decorative framework around the fireplace, and ca ...
s.
The 1980s conversion to a hotel was overseen by the architect Eric Throssell who created a new dining room in the style of Sir
John Soane
Sir John Soane (; né Soan; 10 September 1753 – 20 January 1837) was an English architect who specialised in the Neo-Classical style. The son of a bricklayer, he rose to the top of his profession, becoming professor of architecture at the R ...
, by enclosing the former 18th-century open
arcaded porch. The former semi-circular galleried entrance
vestibule became an inner hall. Throssel was also responsible for the design and recreation of the
cupola
In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, most often dome-like, tall structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome.
The word derives, via Italian, fro ...
crowning the roof.
Gardens
The of gardens at Hartwell were laid out by
Capability Brown c.1750. The North Avenue is a grand vista through trees planted in 1830, sadly today terminated by the ever encroaching town of Aylesbury. The gardens are reminiscent of nearby
Stowe
Stowe may refer to:
Places United Kingdom
*Stowe, Buckinghamshire, a civil parish and former village
**Stowe House
**Stowe School
* Stowe, Cornwall, in Kilkhampton parish
* Stowe, Herefordshire, in the List of places in Herefordshire
* Stowe, Linc ...
, with statues, an
obelisk
An obelisk (; from grc, ὀβελίσκος ; diminutive of ''obelos'', " spit, nail, pointed pillar") is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape or pyramidion at the top. Originally constructed by An ...
and ornamental bridge.
The Hartwell Estate currently covers of farmland surrounding Hartwell House.
Hartwell's Egyptian Spring is a folly built in 1850 by
Joseph Bonomi the Younger
Joseph Bonomi the Younger (9 October 1796 – 3 March 1878) was an English sculptor, artist, Egyptologist and museum curator.
Early life
Bonomi was born in London (Gunnis says Rome) into a family of architects. His father, Joseph Bonomi the El ...
, an Egyptologist. It is an alcove seat on the western side of Lower Hartwell opposite a small
spring
Spring(s) may refer to:
Common uses
* Spring (season)
Spring, also known as springtime, is one of the four temperate seasons, succeeding winter and preceding summer. There are various technical definitions of spring, but local usage of ...
. The stone
pylon bears the Greek inscription "ΑΡΙΣΤοΝ ΜΕΝ ΥΔΩΡ", translated as "Water is Best",
attributed to
Thales
Thales of Miletus ( ; grc-gre, Θαλῆς; ) was a Greek mathematician, astronomer, statesman, and pre-Socratic philosopher from Miletus in Ionia, Asia Minor. He was one of the Seven Sages of Greece. Many, most notably Aristotle, regarded ...
.
Acquisition by the National Trust
In September 2008 the National Trust acquired a long lease of the house from the Ernest Cook Trust (until 2111).
The gift had been under discussion for almost 30 years and in 1997 the National Trust accepted restrictive covenants over all three properties. The house and grounds were gifted the Trust by the directors of Historic House Hotels (HHH).
The house continues its present use as a hotel under the existing HHH management. Three National Trust directors joined the HHH board and all profits will go to Trust funds to provide for the long-term care of the three houses.
Public access
It is envisaged that arrangements will be put in place for the gardens and grounds of the hall to be open to visitors, along with tours of the ground floor rooms.
References
External links
Hartwell HouseHartwell House entry from The DiCamillo Companion to British & Irish Country Houses*
William Henry Smyth
Admiral William Henry Smyth (21 January 1788 – 8 September 1865) was a Royal Navy officer, hydrographer, astronomer and numismatist. He is noted for his involvement in the early history of a number of learned societies, for his hydrographic ...
,
Ædes Hartwellianæ: Or, Notices of the Manor and Mansion of Hartwell' (1851)
*
William Henry Smyth
Admiral William Henry Smyth (21 January 1788 – 8 September 1865) was a Royal Navy officer, hydrographer, astronomer and numismatist. He is noted for his involvement in the early history of a number of learned societies, for his hydrographic ...
,
Addenda to the Ædes Hartwellianæ' (1864)
{{coord, 51.8051, -0.8468, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title
Country houses in Buckinghamshire
Hotels in Buckinghamshire
Grade I listed houses
Grade I listed buildings in Buckinghamshire
National Trust properties in Buckinghamshire
Grade II* listed parks and gardens in Buckinghamshire
Country house hotels