Turvey House and Gardens are a country house, gardens and parkland, situated by the village of Turvey in

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council wa ...

, England. The gardens and parkland are listed Grade II in

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked wit ...

Register of Parks and Gardens The Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England provides a listing and classification system for historic parks and gardens similar to that used for listed buildings. The register is managed by Historic England ...

. and the house is 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 ...

. The house is a venue for weddings, events and location shoots.

History

The Turvey Estate was bought in 1786 from Charles Henry Mordaunt, Fifth

Earl of Peterborough Earl of Peterborough was a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1628 for John Mordaunt, 5th Baron Mordaunt (see Baron Mordaunt for earlier history of the family). He was succeeded by his eldest son, Henry, the second Earl. He was ...

, by Charles Higgins,

Sheriff of London Two sheriffs are elected annually for the City of London by the Liverymen of the City livery company, livery companies. Today's sheriffs have only nominal duties, but the historical officeholders had important judicial responsibilities. They have ...

in that year. John Higgins, a cousin of Charles Higgins, acquired part of the estate, and in the 1790s he built Turvey House. The house was likely designed by the architect, John Wing of Bedford. On his death in 1813, the estate was inherited by his eldest son Thomas Charles Higgins,

High Sheriff of Bedfordshire This is a list of High Sheriffs of Bedfordshire. Pre-Conquest pre-1042: Aelfstan 1042-1066; Godric, Ralph Talgebose Bondi the staller 1066–1125 *1066-c.1084: Ansculf de Picquigny * Ralph Taillebois *c. 1080 Hugh de Beauchamp *1124 Rich ...

in 1823. During the period from then until his death in 1865 there were many changes to the estate: the house was enlarged with an upper storey added in the 1830s, and modifications to the parkland included rerouting of driveways. The Higgins family name remained associated with the estate; in 1939 Prunella Higgins married Lieutenant Colonel Sir Hanmer Hanbury, and the current custodians are Charles (their grandson) and Grace Hanbury, the seventh generation of the family to live in the house.

Description

The park, north-west of the village, is bounded on the west by the

River Great Ouse The River Great Ouse () is a river in England, the longest of several British rivers called "Ouse". From Syresham in Northamptonshire, the Great Ouse flows through Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk to drain into the Wa ...

and on the east by Carlton Road. It has an area of . The main entrance is near the parish church at the south end, where there is a stone lodge (Bottom Lodge, a Grade II listed building). A second entrance is on Carlton Road, also marked by a stone lodge (Top Lodge, Grade II listed), which leads to the courtyard on the north-eastern side of the house. The house is in the centre of the park, on a slight rise above the river; there is a commanding view to the south-west across the park towards the river and beyond. The house is in

Neoclassical style Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The prevailing sty ...

. The south-west front has seven bays, with

Corinthian columns The Corinthian order (Greek: Κορινθιακός ρυθμός, Latin: ''Ordo Corinthius'') is the last developed of the three principal classical orders of Ancient Greek architecture and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric order w ...

at the end bays; the north-east front has a

tetrastyle A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cult ...

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 ...

porch. South-west of the house is a terrace and a small

parterre A ''parterre'' is a part of a formal garden constructed on a level substrate, consisting of symmetrical patterns, made up by plant beds, low hedges or coloured gravels, which are separated and connected by paths. Typically it was the part of ...

; north of the house there is a walled

kitchen garden The traditional kitchen garden, vegetable garden, also known as a potager (from the French ) or in Scotland a kailyaird, is a space separate from the rest of the residential garden – the ornamental plants and lawn areas. It is used for grow ...

, an ornamental garden and pleasure grounds. Beyond this there is parkland, planted with

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

beech Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engle ...

ash Ash or ashes are the solid remnants of fires. Specifically, ''ash'' refers to all non-aqueous, non- gaseous residues that remain after something burns. In analytical chemistry, to analyse the mineral and metal content of chemical samples, ash ...

lime Lime commonly refers to: * Lime (fruit), a green citrus fruit * Lime (material), inorganic materials containing calcium, usually calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide * Lime (color), a color between yellow and green Lime may also refer to: Botany ...

maple ''Acer'' () is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. The genus is placed in the family Sapindaceae.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 nd more or less continuously updated since http ...

and poplar.

References

{{Reflist Grade II listed parks and gardens in Bedfordshire Grade I listed buildings in Bedfordshire