Belmont is a Georgian house and gardens in Throwley, near

Faversham Faversham is a market town in Kent, England, from London and from Canterbury, next to the Swale, a strip of sea separating mainland Kent from the Isle of Sheppey in the Thames Estuary. It is close to the A2, which follows an ancient Briti ...

in east

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

. Built between 1769 and 1793, it has been described as "a marvellous example of Georgian architecture that has remained completely unspoilt". The house is famous for the most extensive private collection of clocks in England.

History

There was no house or estate on the site until the land was bought in 1769 by Edward Wilks, store-keeper of the Royal Powder Mills at Faversham. It was designed by the architect

Samuel Wyatt Samuel Wyatt (8 September 1737, Weeford, Staffs. – London, 8 February 1807) was an England, English architect and engineer. A member of the Wyatt family, which included several notable 18th- and 19th-century English architects, his work was prima ...

. The original house still stands as a wing of the present building. The current house was largely created between 1789–1793 by Colonel John Montresor of the Royal Engineers. His career was cut short when he was accused of embezzlement and the house was bought at auction in 1801 by General George Harris, for £9,000. His descendants continued to live at Belmont, the clock collection being assembled by the 5th Lord Harris, who served as the first President of the

Antiquarian Horological Society The Antiquarian Horological Society, abbreviated to AHS, is the UK-based learned society for scholars and enthusiasts of horology. Its administrative office is at 4 Lovat Lane, a listed building close to the Monument, in the City of London. In earl ...

, for which

Jonathan Betts Jonathan Betts Order of the British Empire, MBE (born January 1955) is Curator Emeritus at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, Royal Observatory (National Maritime Museum), Greenwich, a horological scholar and author, and an expert on the first marin ...

acts as Curatorial Adviser. The house is now held by a trust established by Lord Harris.

Gardens

They cover up to 14 acres. In the grounds are a walled garden, pinetum, Victorian shell grotto and an orangery planted with orange trees, palms and other tropical trees. In 2001, the kitchen garden was restored according to a design by Arabella Lennox-Boyd. The Walnut Walk, passes a line of pets' graves leads to the 'Prospect Tower', it was originally used as a summerhouse, and then later used as a pavilion by the fourth baron, George Harris. The tower can be rented via 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 ...

Notes and references

External links

Belmont House and Gardens web site
{{coord , 51, 16, 18, N, 0, 50, 43, E, display=title Country houses in Kent Historic house museums in Kent Gardens in Kent Horological museums in the United Kingdom