Lucknam Park is a luxury hotel, spa and restaurant in west Wiltshire, England, about north-west of

Corsham Corsham is a historic market town and civil parish in west Wiltshire, England. It is at the south-eastern edge of the Cotswolds, just off the A4 national route, southwest of Swindon, southeast of Bristol, northeast of Bath and southwest o ...

and north-east of

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

. The core of its building is a

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 ...

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 ...

built in the late 17th or early 18th century. The hotel's restaurant has held one star in the

Michelin Guide The Michelin Guides ( ) are a series of guide books that have been published by the French tyre company Michelin since 1900. The Guide awards up to three Michelin star (classification), stars for excellence to a select few establishments. The ac ...

since 2006.

House

A farm on the site, about north of

Colerne Colerne is a village and civil parish in north Wiltshire, England. The village is about west of the town of Corsham and northeast of the city of Bath. It has an elevated and exposed position, above sea level, and overlooks the Box valley to ...

village, was bought in 1688 by James Wallis, a wealthy

Trowbridge Trowbridge ( ) is the county town of Wiltshire, England, on the River Biss in the west of the county. It is near the border with Somerset and lies southeast of Bath, 31 miles (49 km) southwest of Swindon and 20 miles (32 km) southe ...

cloth manufacturer who had also purchased the nearby manors of

North Wraxall North Wraxall is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. The village is about west of Chippenham, just north of the A420 road between Chippenham and Bristol. The parish includes the village of Ford and the hamlets of Upper Wraxall, ...

and

Biddestone Biddestone is a village and civil parish in northwest Wiltshire, England, about west of Chippenham and north of Corsham. The parish includes the smaller settlement of Slaughterford. Geography The Bybrook River forms the western boundary of t ...

. He began construction of the mansion which was probably completed by his son Ezekiel. The property later had a succession of owners, including the Methuen family in the late 18th century and the Walmesley family from 1870 to 1918. John Walmesley (c.1775–1873) of Preston, Lancashire married Ellen, daughter of

Richard Godolphin Long Richard Godolphin Long (2 October 1761 – 1 July 1835) was an English banker and Tory politician. Life and career Baptised at West Lavington, Wiltshire West Lavington is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, on the north edge of ...

Rood Ashton House Rood Ashton House was a country house in Wiltshire, England, standing in parkland northeast of the village of West Ashton, near Trowbridge. Built in 1808 for Richard Godolphin Long, it was later the home of the 1st Viscount Long (1854–1924). ...

, Wiltshire; their son

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Frankish language, Old Frankish and is a Compound (linguistics), compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language, Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' an ...

(1816–1893), lawyer and JP, is described as "of Lucknam". The two-storey Wallis house forms the three-bay centre of the present building. In 1827 it was bought by Andreas Boode (1763–1844), a Dutch-British owner of plantations in

Demerara Demerara ( nl, Demerary, ) is a historical region in the Guianas, on the north coast of South America, now part of the country of Guyana. It was a colony of the Dutch West India Company between 1745 and 1792 and a colony of the Dutch state fro ...

which used enslaved labour. He had the house re-fronted in

ashlar Ashlar () is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared, or a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitruv ...

, with a ground-floor

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 ...

having four pairs of

Doric Doric may refer to: * Doric, of or relating to the Dorians of ancient Greece ** Doric Greek, the dialects of the Dorians * Doric order, a style of ancient Greek architecture * Doric mode, a synonym of Dorian mode * Doric dialect (Scotland) * Doric ...

columns, and greatly enlarged it by adding two-storey wings on both sides: each has three bays and is terminated by a two-storey bowed pavilion. The resulting facade is described by Orbach as "impressively long". The whole was remodelled in 1919–20 for Sir Alfred Read, chairman of

Coast Lines Coast Lines Limited provided shipping services in the United Kingdom, Ireland and the Channel Islands from 1917 to 1971. History Powell, Bacon and Hough Lines Ltd was formed in 1913 in Liverpool. The name of Coast Lines Limited was adopted in 1 ...

, the UK's largest coastal shipping company. The central part was given a three-gabled attic and tall chimneys in Jacobean style, and the rear front and interiors were remodelled.

Pevsner Pevsner or Pevzner is a Jewish surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Aihud Pevsner (1925–2018), American physicist * Antoine Pevsner (1886–1962), Russian sculptor, brother of Naum Gabo * David Pevsner, American actor, singer, da ...

called the Jacobean work an "excresence", but in Orbach's 2021 updating it is merely "spurious". To one side a tall square late-19th-century water tower rises higher than the house. Formerly turreted, its flat parapet and corner urns result from changes designed in 1937 by Oswald Brakspear. The house was designated as Grade II listed in 1960.

Hotel

The house was bought in 1987 and opened as a hotel the next year by Lucknam Park Hotels Ltd. The company directors are members of the Laskaridis family, who own Greek shipping companies and hotels in Greece and elsewhere. Facilities include a spa and an equestrian centre.

Associated buildings

The stables range with two-storey coach house, built of rubble stone in 1834 for J. C. Boode, forms a courtyard with the rear of the house. A 19th-century octagonal dovecote in the kitchen garden is described by Historic England as exceptionally large and of an unusually late date. The lodge at the north entrance to the estate was built in 1854 in

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian R ...

style: a substantial stone archway is flanked by a two-storey lodge on one side and a taller

campanile A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell tower ...

tower on the other. Middle Lodge, near the main house, was designed in neo-

Regency A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

style by Oswald Brakspear.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Country house hotels Hotel spas Hotels in Wiltshire Restaurants in Wiltshire Country houses in Wiltshire Grade II listed buildings in Wiltshire Michelin Guide starred restaurants in the United Kingdom