Sutton Park is an 18th-century Georgian

English 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 ...

situated on the edge of the village of

Sutton-on-the-Forest Sutton-on-the-Forest is a village and civil parish in the Hambleton District of North Yorkshire, England. It is north of York and south-east of Easingwold. History The village is mentioned three times in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Sudtu ...

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...

. It is approximately 10 miles north of

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

, in the ancient

Forest of Galtres The royal Forest of Galtres was established by the Norman kings of England in North Yorkshire, to the north of the Ancient City of York, extending right to its very walls. The main settlement within the royal forest was the market village of Easi ...

. The house, a 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 ...

, is open to the public for part of the year. It is the residence of

Sir Reginald Sheffield, 8th Baronet Sir Reginald Adrian Berkeley Sheffield, 8th Baronet DL (born 9 May 1946) is a British Baronet and father of Samantha Cameron, who is the wife of former British Prime Minister David Cameron. He was educated at Eton College. The son of Edmund She ...

(father of

Samantha Cameron Samantha Gwendoline Cameron (; born 18 April 1971) is an English businesswoman. Until 13 May 2010, she was the creative director of Smythson of Bond Street. Her husband, David Cameron, was the British prime minister from 2010 to 2016. She took ...

, wife of the former Prime Minister

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...

), and Lady Sheffield. It was a filming location for the house of Ann Walker in the BBC television series '' Gentleman Jack''.

History

The house was built in 1730. It was altered by Thomas Atkinson for Phillip Harland, who inherited the property in 1750. It has early Georgian architecture and magnificent plasterwork by Cortese. The house was purchased by the Sheffield family in 1963 when they relocated themselves and pieces of art and furniture from

Normanby Hall Normanby Hall is a classic English mansion, located near the village of Burton-upon-Stather, north of Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire. History The present hall was built in 1825–30 to the designs of Robert Smirke for Sir Robert Sheffie ...

North Lincolnshire North Lincolnshire is a unitary authority area in Lincolnshire, England, with a population of 167,446 in the 2011 census. The borough includes the towns of Scunthorpe, Brigg, Haxey, Crowle, Epworth, Bottesford, Kirton in Lindsey and Barton ...

, their historic

family seat A family seat or sometimes just called seat is the principal residence of the landed gentry and aristocracy. The residence usually denotes the social, economic, political, or historic connection of the family within a given area. Some families to ...

Exterior

Sutton Park is of red brick and is styled as a

villa A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became s ...

. The main central building is flanked by two wings: on each side, a set of colonnades joins a smaller structure to the central house. Venetian-style windows in the wings look out upon the house's gardens.

Interior

Ornate

plasterwork Plasterwork is construction or ornamentation done with plaster, such as a layer of plaster on an interior or exterior wall structure, or plaster Molding (decorative), decorative moldings on ceilings or walls. This is also sometimes called parge ...

features throughout the house. Designed by Giuseppe Cortese, this use of plasterwork is especially prominent in the entrance hall, where the

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, ...

style predominates, and in the library, where the plasterwork illustrates fruit themes. In March 2015, unpublished photographs from the

City of Leeds The City of Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. The metropolitan borough includes the administrative centre of Leeds and the towns of Farsley, Garforth, Guiseley, Horsforth, Morley, Otley, Pudsey, Rothwell, W ...

archives revealed that the panelling and mantelpiece in the study of Sutton Park had been imported from the Morning Room of Potternewton Hall, in

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

, which was the ancestral estate of Olive Middleton. Olive was the great-grandmother of

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge Catherine, Princess of Wales, (born Catherine Elizabeth Middleton; 9 January 1982) is a member of the British royal family. She is married to William, Prince of Wales, heir apparent to the British throne, making Catherine the likely next ...

. The panelling and mantelpiece in the former Middleton room were designed by

Henry Flitcroft Henry Flitcroft (30 August 1697 – 25 February 1769) was a major English architect in the second generation of Palladianism. He came from a simple background: his father was a labourer in the gardens at Hampton Court and he began as a joiner by t ...

in the 1720s.

References

External links

Official website
{{coord, 54.07368, -1.11030, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Houses completed in 1730 Country houses in North Yorkshire Grade I listed buildings in North Yorkshire Gardens in North Yorkshire Historic house museums in North Yorkshire

History

Exterior

Interior

See also

References

External links