Melbury House is an

English country house An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...

in the parish of Melbury Sampford near Evershot, Dorset, This

Grade I listed 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 I ...

mansion is the home of the Honorable Mrs Charlotte Townshend, a major landowner in east Dorset, through her mother, Theresa Fox-Strangways ( Viscountess Galway).

History

Melbury House has been the seat of the Strangways family of

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 , ...

since the estate was acquired in 1500 from William Browning (''alias'' Bruning, etc.) by Sir Henry Strangways (c.1465-1504) who had married his widow. The mediaeval

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals ...

of the Browning family was rebuilt after 1546 by Henry's great-grandson Sir

Giles Strangways Giles Strangways (3 June 1615 – 20 July 1675) of Melbury House in Somerset, was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons variously between 1640 and 1675. He fought on the Royalist side during the Civil War Origins He was the ...

(1528-1562) using

ham stone Hamstone is the name given to a honey-coloured building stone from Ham Hill, Somerset, England. It is a well-cemented medium to coarse grained limestone characterised by marked bedding planes of clay inclusions and less well-cemented material w ...

from a quarry nine miles away. Though Sir Giles lived extravagantly and encumbered his considerable estate with debts at his premature death, at Melbury he built a conservative house, "a courtyard with no frills", as

Mark Girouard Mark Girouard (7 October 1931 – 16 August 2022) was a British architectural historian. He was an authority on the country house, and Elizabethan and Victorian architecture. Life and career Girouard was born on 7 October 1931. He was educ ...

described it, "apart from the one gesture of its tower". This remarkable feature, a hexagonal tower, rises near the intersection of three ranges of buildings, filled above the level of adjoining roofbeams with banks of tall arched windows of many leaded panes that offer views in every direction over the rolling landscape of the park and the countryside beyond. Its roof has mock

battlement A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (i.e., a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at interv ...

s. It was altered and extended in 1692 by Thomas Strangways (1643–1713), under the direction of a certain "Watson", a local mason-builder who is probably to be identified with John Watson of Glashampton, Gloucestershire. It was further modernized in the 19th century. Melbury House Dorset Morris edited

The house passed to the Fox family from the Strangways heiress Elizabeth Horner, daughter and sole heiress of Thomas Horner (1688-1741), MP, of

Mells Manor Mells Manor at Mells, Somerset, England, was built in the 16th century for Edward Horner, altered in the 17th century, partially demolished around 1780, and restored by Sir Edwin Lutyens in the 20th century. The house, along with the garden walls ...

in Somerset,

Sheriff of Somerset The office of High Sheriff of Somerset is an ancient shrievalty which has been in existence since the 11th century. Originally known as the "Sheriff of Somerset", the role was retitled on 1 April 1974, under the provisions of the Local Government ...

in 1711/12, by his wife Susanna Strangways, eventual sole heiress of her brother Thomas Strangways (d.1726) and a daughter of Thomas Strangways (1643–1713), MP, of Melbury House. In accordance with the terms of his wife's inheritance from her childless brother in 1726, Thomas Horner adopted for himself and his descendants the surname and arms of Strangways. In 1735, at the age of 13, Elizabeth Horner married 31 year-old Stephen Fox (1704-1776) (later

Stephen Fox-Strangways, 1st Earl of Ilchester Stephen Fox-Strangways, 1st Earl of Ilchester PC (12 September 1704 – 26 September 1776) was a British peer and Member of Parliament. Origins Fox was the eldest surviving son of Sir Stephen Fox (1627-1716), the first Paymaster of the Forces ...

), eldest surviving son of Sir Stephen Fox (1627-1716), the first

Paymaster of the Forces The Paymaster of the Forces was a position in the British government. The office was established in 1661, one year after the Restoration of the Monarchy to King Charles II, and was responsible for part of the financing of the British Army, in ...

, deemed the "richest commoner in the

three kingdoms The Three Kingdoms () from 220 to 280 AD was the tripartite division of China among the dynastic states of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu. The Three Kingdoms period was preceded by the Eastern Han dynasty and was followed by the West ...

". In 1758 Stephen Fox also assumed the additional surname and arms of Strangways, in accordance with the terms of his wife's inheritance. In 1741 he was raised to the

peerage of Great Britain The Peerage of Great Britain comprises all extant peerages created in the Kingdom of Great Britain between the Acts of Union 1707 and the Acts of Union 1800. It replaced the Peerage of England and the Peerage of Scotland, but was itself re ...

as ''Baron Ilchester of Ilchester in the County of Somerset'' and ''Baron Strangways of Woodford in the County of Dorset''; In 1747 he was created ''Baron Ilchester and Stavordale of Redlynch, in the County of Somerset'', and in 1756 he was even further honoured when he was made ''

Earl of Ilchester Earl of Ilchester is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1756 for Stephen Fox, 1st Baron Ilchester, who had previously represented Shaftesbury in Parliament. He had already been created Baron Ilchester, of Ilchester in t ...

''. When

Horace Walpole Horatio Walpole (), 4th Earl of Orford (24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English writer, art historian, man of letters, antiquarian, and Whig politician. He had Strawberry Hill House built in Twi ...

visited Melbury, he admired the paintings and tapestries in "apartments most richly and abundantly furnished". The pioneer of photography

Henry Fox Talbot William Henry Fox Talbot FRS FRSE FRAS (; 11 February 180017 September 1877) was an English scientist, inventor, and photography pioneer who invented the salted paper and calotype processes, precursors to photographic processes of the later 1 ...

was born in the house.

Thomas Hardy Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, including the poetry of William Wor ...

made use of Melbury House, as "King's Hintock Court", for passing mentions in "The Duke's Reappearance" in ''A Changed Man and Other Tales'' and in ''A Group of Noble Dames'', 1891.

The buildings

The house and its stable yard to the north are Grade I listed buildings. List of Grade I listed buildings in Dorset#West Dorset The landscaped gardens 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 ...

Notable residents

John Browning (died 1416) John Browning (c. 1369–1416) (''alias'' Brounyng, etc.) of Melbury Sampford in Dorset and of Leigh near Deerhurst, Gloucestershire, was thrice a member of Parliament for Gloucestershire (UK Parliament constituency), Gloucestershire, in 1397, ...

, MP

References

External links

{{coord, 50.8520, -2.6027, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Country houses in Dorset Grade I listed buildings in Dorset Grade II* listed parks and gardens in Dorset Fox family (English aristocracy) Hamstone buildings