Crichel House
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Crichel House is a Grade I listed, Classical Revival country house near the village of
Moor Crichel Moor Crichel () is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Crichel, in East Dorset, England situated on Cranborne Chase five miles east of Blandford Forum. The civil parish includes the hamlet of Manswood notable for a terrace o ...
in
Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...
, England. The house has an entrance designed by Thomas Hopper and interiors by
James Wyatt James Wyatt (3 August 1746 – 4 September 1813) was an English architect, a rival of Robert Adam in the neoclassical and neo-Gothic styles. He was elected to the Royal Academy in 1785 and was its president from 1805 to 1806. Early life W ...
. It is surrounded by of parkland, which includes a crescent-shaped lake covering . The parkland is Grade II listed in the
National Register of Historic 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 ...
.


History

The original Tudor house, owned by the Napier family, was largely destroyed in an accidental fire in 1742 and was rebuilt in English Baroque style for Sir William Napier by John Bastard of Blandford and Francis Cartwright, probably the contractor.John Martin Robinson
"The magnificent puzzle of Crichel, one of Dorset's grandest Georgian houses"
''Country Life'' 01730 April 2019.
Humphrey Sturt, of Horton, acquired the estate in 1765 on his marriage with Diana, the aunt and heir of Sir Gerard Napier, the 6th and last baronet, and with the collaboration of the Bastard family extensively remodelled the house in 1771-73, extending it and adding an Ionic portico on the south front. The new interiors, including a new double-height entrance hall with an expanded staircase, were designed by
James Wyatt James Wyatt (3 August 1746 – 4 September 1813) was an English architect, a rival of Robert Adam in the neoclassical and neo-Gothic styles. He was elected to the Royal Academy in 1785 and was its president from 1805 to 1806. Early life W ...
(1772–80), with painted decor by
Biagio Rebecca Biagio Rebecca (1731–1808) was an Italian artist, active mainly as a decorative painter in England. Life Rebecca was born at Osimo, near Ancona, in the Marches, and served his apprenticeship in Rome. In England he became known for neoclassi ...
, chimneypieces by John Devall, and furniture by
John Linnell John Sidney Linnell ( ; born June 12, 1959) is an American musician, known primarily as one half of the Brooklyn-based alternative rock band They Might Be Giants with John Flansburgh, which was formed in 1982. In addition to singing and songwri ...
(1778–79) and
Ince and Mayhew Ince may refer to: *Ince, Cheshire, a village in Cheshire, UK *Ince-in-Makerfield in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, UK *Ince (UK Parliament constituency), a former constituency covering Ince-in-Makerfield *Ince (ward), an electoral ward covering ...
(1768–78). The park was landscaped in the style introduced by Capability Brown, with a crescent-shaped lake and belts of trees. On Humphrey Sturt's death in 1786, his second son, Charles, inherited Crichel and let it. His son Henry Charles Sturt commissioned a new entrance hall on the west side of the house designed by Thomas Hopper in 1831. Thomas Evans of
Wimborne Wimborne Minster (often referred to as Wimborne, ) is a market town in Dorset in South West England, and the name of the Church of England church in that town. It lies at the confluence of the River Stour and the River Allen, north of Poole ...
had exhibited designs for Crichel at the Royal Academy in 1824, but there is no indication these were used. Major alterations were then made to the house by Henry Charles' son Henry Gerard Sturt, who in 1876 became 1st Baron Alington; to designs by
William Burn William Burn (20 December 1789 – 15 February 1870) was a Scottish architect. He received major commissions from the age of 20 until his death at 81. He built in many styles and was a pioneer of the Scottish Baronial Revival,often referred ...
, the exterior was made neoclassical and a
porte-cochère A porte-cochère (; , late 17th century, literally 'coach gateway'; plural: porte-cochères, portes-cochères) is a doorway to a building or courtyard, "often very grand," through which vehicles can enter from the street or a covered porch-like ...
in Roman Doric style added to the entrance on the west façade. New wings for family and servant accommodations were added on the north side. Beginning in 1905, Crichel was further remodelled by Henry Sturt's son Humphrey Napier Sturt, the second Baron, and his wife Lady Féodorovna, and again in the late 1920s by their son
Napier Sturt, 3rd Baron Alington Captain Napier George Henry Sturt, 3rd Baron Alington (1 November 1896 – 17 September 1940) was a British peer, the son of Humphrey Sturt, 2nd Baron Alington. He was born in November 1896 in the St. Marylebone district of London. He succeeded ...
. The facades were returned to a more
Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...
appearance, including the restoration of glazing bars in the plate glass windows, and
Harold Peto Harold Ainsworth Peto FRIBA (11 July 1854 – 16 April 1933) was a British architect, landscape architect and garden designer, who worked in Britain and in Provence, France. Among his best-known gardens are Iford Manor, Wiltshire; Buscot P ...
designed an Italian garden. in 1938, the Crichel estate was requisitioned by the
Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the Secretary of State ...
for training, and the furnishings were removed from the house. In 1946 the house was let to
Cranborne Chase School Cranborne Chase School was an independent boarding school for girls, originally opened in 1946 at Crichel House in the village of Moor Crichel in Dorset. In 1961, the school moved to New Wardour Castle near Tisbury in Wiltshire, and extensiv ...
, a boarding independent school for girls. On the death of the 3rd Baron during active service in the Second World War, his daughter Mary Anna inherited at the age of 11; following her marriage to Toby Marten, in the
Crichel Down Affair The Crichel Down affair was a British political scandal of 1954, with a subsequent effect and notoriety. The ''Crichel Down Rules'' are guidelines applying to compulsory purchase drawn up in the light of the affair. Crichel Down land The case cen ...
, the couple took on the Government and in 1954 won the right to buy back land bought by compulsory purchase. Mary Anna Marten ended the lease with Cranborne Chase School in 1961 in order to make Crichel House her residence. The school relocated to
New Wardour Castle New Wardour Castle is a Grade I listed English country house at Wardour, near Tisbury in Wiltshire, built for the Arundell family. The house is of Palladian style, designed by the architect James Paine, with additions by Giacomo Quarenghi, w ...
, near Tisbury in
Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...
; the house was restored under architect E.F. Tew of Bath, with demolition of the Victorian north wings, the family accommodations were placed on the top floor, and almost all the main rooms were redecorated under the supervision of the firm of Mallets. Architectural features from the Italian garden, removed shortly after the war, were used to create a sunken courtyard with balustrades. Further internal modifications were carried out in 1979–80, including the recreation of a long gallery that had been subdivided. Mary Anna Marten died in 2010; in 2013 her son, Napier Marten, sold Crichel House and a portion of the land to the American billionaire Richard Chilton.Jim Durkin
"American billionaire buys Crichel House"
''Bournemouth Echo'', 24 July 2013.
Chilton has extensively restored the house, reinstating many elements of James Wyatt's interiors and adding furnishings.


Crichel Down estate

The landscaping of the parkland for Humphrey Sturt involved moving the village of
Moor Crichel Moor Crichel () is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Crichel, in East Dorset, England situated on Cranborne Chase five miles east of Blandford Forum. The civil parish includes the hamlet of Manswood notable for a terrace o ...
a mile to the south to create the lake. Many of the villagers were moved to
Witchampton Witchampton is a village and civil parish in East Dorset, England, situated on the River Allen north of Wimborne Minster. The 2011 census recorded a population of 398. Witchampton lies close to where the dip slope of the chalk hills of Cran ...
. The 1850 former parish church of St Mary's, a Grade II*
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 ...
, remains in place near the lake. At the death of Mary Anna Marten, the Crichel Down estate comprised 7,932 acres, including four villages, St. Mary's church, a school and a cricket club, and was bequeathed to Napier Marten and his five sisters. the remainder is divided between multiple holding companies, one of which appears to be an agency of the Phillimore family. The gardens have been occasionally opened to the public under the
National Garden Scheme The National Garden Scheme opens privately owned gardens in England, Northern Ireland, Wales, and the Channel Islands on selected dates for charity. It was founded in 1927 with the aim of "opening gardens of quality, character and interest to th ...
.


Notable visitors

George IV George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from the death of his father, King George III, on 29 January 1820, until his own death ten y ...
stayed at Crichel House while Prince Regent.
Princess Charlotte Augusta of Wales Princess is a regal rank and the feminine equivalent of prince (from Latin ''princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for the consort of a prince, or for the daughter of a king or prince. Princess as a subst ...
, the only child of his loveless marriage with
Caroline of Brunswick Caroline of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (Caroline Amelia Elizabeth; 17 May 1768 – 7 August 1821) was Queen of the United Kingdom and Hanover from 29 January 1820 until her death in 1821, being the estranged wife of King George IV. She was Pri ...
, spent time at Crichel House under the care of Lady Rosslyn and Lady Ilchester."Crichel House"
''The Ancient Feudal Manor and Lordship of Winterborne St. Martin (Dorsetshire): The family of Napier'', archived fro

on 10 July 2012.


References

*Howard Colvin, ''A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects 1600-1840'' 3rd ed. (New Haven: Yale University Press) 1995.


External links

* {{coord, 50.8744, -2.0095, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Country houses in Dorset Clan Napier Grade I listed buildings in Dorset Grade II listed parks and gardens in Dorset