Eastbury Park was a country estate near Tarrant Gunville 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. It contained a large mansion designed by

Sir John Vanbrugh Sir John Vanbrugh (; 24 January 1664 (baptised) – 26 March 1726) was an English architect, dramatist and herald, perhaps best known as the designer of Blenheim Palace and Castle Howard. He wrote two argumentative and outspoken Restora ...

. The mansion has not survived, but its former service wing has become a country house known as Eastbury 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 ...

History

The house was designed by Vanbrugh for George Dodington, who was Secretary to the

Treasurer of the Navy The Treasurer of the Navy, originally called Treasurer of Marine Causes or Paymaster of the Navy, was a civilian officer of the Royal Navy, one of the principal commissioners of the Navy Board responsible for naval finance from 1524 to 1832. ...

. Construction started in 1718 and was completed under the stewardship of Dodington's nephew,

George Dodington, 1st Baron Melcombe George Bubb Dodington, 1st Baron Melcombe (1691 – 28 July 1762) was an English Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1715 to 1761. Christened George Bubb, he was the eldest son of Jeremiah Bubb of Foy, Herefordshire and his wife ...

, in 1738 at a final cost £140,000: it had a large garden which was designed by

Charles Bridgeman Charles Bridgeman (1690–1738) was an English garden designer who helped pioneer the naturalistic landscape style. Although he was a key figure in the transition of English garden design from the Anglo-Dutch formality of patterned parterres an ...

. The house was inherited by

Richard Grenville-Temple, 2nd Earl Temple Richard Grenville-Temple, 2nd Earl Temple, (26 September 171112 September 1779) was a British politician. He is best known for his association with his brother-in-law William Pitt who he served with in government during Britain's participatio ...

in 1762, who had no use for it, and he had it demolished in 1782. The service wing, designed by Vanbrugh and built at the same time as the rest of the mansion, survived the demolition and became known as Eastbury House. It became a Grade I listed building in 1955. The parklands are 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 ...

References

{{coord, 50.9137, -2.0979, format=dms, type:landmark, display=title Country houses in Dorset Grade I listed buildings in Dorset Houses completed in 1738 John Vanbrugh buildings Grade II* listed parks and gardens in Dorset