Godmersham Park is a Grade I listed house in

Godmersham Godmersham is a village and civil parish in the Ashford District of Kent, England. The village straddles the Great Stour river where it cuts through the North Downs and its land is approximately one third woodland, all in the far east and west o ...

in the English county of

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 ...

. The house is on the edge of the

North Downs The North Downs are a ridge of chalk hills in south east England that stretch from Farnham in Surrey to the White Cliffs of Dover in Kent. Much of the North Downs comprises two Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs): the Surrey Hills a ...

between Ashford and

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of ...

. It has associations with the writer Jane Austen, and is depicted on the new Bank of England £10 note issued in 2017. It is now home to the Association of British Dispensing Opticians.

Description

Godmersham Park is a two-storey house in the

Palladian style Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...

. Built of red brick, the main block is of seven bays, the central three being recessed. The north front is of Thomas May's time, while the south facade was constructed by Walter Sarel for the Trittons in the 1930s, in a complementary style. During this reconstruction, Sarel also turned the bricks on the north front, which had been painted in the 19th century, to restore the original 18th century appearance. The two wings post-date May's frontage, being of the late 18th century. The roof is of slate with a

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). ...

, and the house is of two storeys, with cellars and attics. The interior contains two rooms which retain the original decorative schemes from May's time, the drawing room and the hall. The rest date from Sarel's remodelling. Both of May's rooms are embellished with 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 decorative moldings on ceilings or walls. This is also sometimes called pargeting. The process of ...

, the hall also having a chimneypiece by

John Michael Rysbrack Johannes Michel or John Michael Rysbrack, original name Jan Michiel Rijsbrack, often referred to simply as Michael Rysbrack (24 June 1694 – 8 January 1770), was an 18th-century Flemish sculptor, who spent most of his career in England where h ...

History

Godmersham Park was built in 1732 for

Thomas May Thomas May (1594/95 – 13 November 1650) was an English poet, dramatist and historian of the Renaissance era. Early life and career until 1630 May was born in Mayfield, Sussex, the son of Sir Thomas May, a minor courtier. He matriculated a ...

, replacing an earlier Elizabethan house, Ford House, owned by the Brodnax family. In 1742, by which time May had changed his name to Knight, he enclosed a park around the estate, which was then known as Ford Park. The wings were added in 1780. Knight died in 1781 and the estate was inherited by his son

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

. Following his death in 1794, the house was inherited by Edward Austen, brother of Jane Austen. He was a cousin of the Knights and had been adopted by them in the early 1780s. Following the death of his adoptive mother Catherine in 1812, Austen changed his name to Knight. Jane Austen was a regular visitor between 1798 and 1813. ''

Mansfield Park ''Mansfield Park'' is the third published novel by Jane Austen, first published in 1814 by Thomas Egerton. A second edition was published in 1816 by John Murray, still within Austen's lifetime. The novel did not receive any public reviews unt ...

'' is said to be based on Godmersham Park. In 1852, the property passed to Knight's son. He remodelled the south front 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 ...

, which were swept away in the 1930s by Robert Tritton. Godmersham Park was later sold to John Cunliffe Lister Kay, who died in 1917. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, an

airship An airship or dirigible balloon is a type of aerostat or lighter-than-air aircraft that can navigate through the air under its own power. Aerostats gain their lift from a lifting gas that is less dense than the surrounding air. In early ...

was stationed at Godmersham Park, which served as a sub-station of

RNAS Capel RNAS Capel (later RAF Folkestone) was a First World War airship station near Folkestone, Kent. History When Germany declared in February 1915 that it would commence unrestricted submarine warfare the Royal Navy responded with the building of air ...

. Godmersham Park passed to John Cunliffe Lister, 3rd

Baron Masham Baron Masham is a title that has been created three times, once in the Peerage of Great Britain and twice in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was first created in the Peerage of Great Britain in 1712 when the courtier Samuel Masham was ma ...

, who sold it in 1921 to

William Legge, 6th Earl of Dartmouth William Heneage Legge, 6th Earl of Dartmouth, (6 May 1851 – 11 March 1936), styled Viscount Lewisham between 1853 and 1891, was a British peer and Conservative politician. He served as Vice-Chamberlain of the Household between 1885 and 1886 ...

. In 1935, Godmersham Park was sold to Mr and Mrs Robert Tritton, who restored the house. Walter Sarel remodelled the building, much of the interior being replaced using genuine eighteenth-century features recovered from buildings across England.

Norah Lindsay Norah Mary Madeleine Lindsay (née Bourke) (26 April 1873 – 20 June 1948) was a socialite garden designer who between the World wars became a major influence on garden design and planting in the United Kingdom and on the Continent. Biography ...

advised on restoration of the walled gardens. The house became 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 ...

in 1952, and the gardens were separately listed in Grade II* in 1986, with other garden features listed as Grade II. Robert Tritton died in 1957. Following the death of Elsie Tritton in 1983, Godmersham Park was sold to John Bernard Sunley. The estate management company Sunley Farms Limited, which is 100% owned by Sunciera Holdings Corporation in Panama, is the owner of Godmersham Park. In 2001, Godmersham Park became the home of the Association of British Dispensing Opticians, in which capacity it is used as a training college. File:Godmersham (1779).jpg, 1779, in the time of Edward Austen File:Neale(1826) p3.062 - Godmersham Park, Kent.jpg, 1826 File:Front Facade of Godmersham Park - geograph.org.uk - 1490002.jpg, 2009

References

{{reflist, 20em Houses completed in 1732 Grade I listed houses in Kent Austen family