Shottesbrooke Park is a Grade II* listed country house and park in

Shottesbrooke Shottesbrooke is a hamlet (place), hamlet and civil parishes in England, civil parish administered by the unitary authority of the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in the English county of Berkshire. The hamlet is mostly rural: 88% cove ...

, Berkshire, England, southwest of Maidenhead. The house is a Tudor mansion, built in the 16th century. St John the Baptist Church, Shottesbrooke lies next to the grounds of Shottesbrooke.

History

A 17th century Speaker of the House of Commons,

Henry Powle Henry Powle (18 October 1630 – 21 November 1692) was an English lawyer and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1660 and 1690, and was Speaker of the House of Commons from January 1689 to February 1690. He was ...

, lived at the Park. In the 18th century and early 19th century, the estate was owned by the Vansittart family and was the seat of Arthur Vansittart, one of the

verderer Verderers are forestry officials in England who deal with common land in certain former royal hunting areas which are the property of the Crown. The office was developed in the Middle Ages to administer forest law on behalf of the King. Verderer ...

s of

Windsor Forest Windsor may refer to: Places Australia *Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area * Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland ** Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...

. Vansittart was reported to have been 79 years of age upon his death in 1804, and his son and grandson shared the same name. In 1858, it was known to have been occupied by Francis Cherry, guardian of Thomas Hearne, who owned the house for well over 40 years. In 1874, it was reported that house was often repaired by a Robert Nelson. Until his death in 2007, the Park was the home of their heir and relation-by-marriage, Sir John Smith, the founder of the

Landmark Trust The Landmark Trust is a British architectural conservation, building conservation charitable organization, charity, founded in 1965 by John Smith (Conservative politician), Sir John and Lady Smith, that rescues buildings of historic interest or ...

which has its headquarters in the adjoining farmhouse. In 1964, the famous "Great Steam Fair" was held for three days at Shottesbrooke Park. This is widely considered to be the forerunner of today's steam and vintage rallies in England, such as the

Great Dorset Steam Fair The Great Dorset Steam Fair (abbreviated GDSF, and since 2010 also known as The National Heritage Show) is an annual show featuring steam-powered vehicles and machinery. It now covers and runs for five days. This used to be from the Wednesday ...

References

Country houses in Berkshire Grade II* listed buildings in Berkshire Tudor architecture Grade II* listed houses {{Berkshire-struct-stub