Stanage Park is a Grade II* listed Welsh

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 peop ...

set in a large park located some east of Knighton,

Powys Powys (; ) is a county and preserved county in Wales. It is named after the Kingdom of Powys which was a Welsh successor state, petty kingdom and principality that emerged during the Middle Ages following the end of Roman rule in Britain. Geog ...

near the settlement of

Heartsease ''Viola tricolor'' is a common European wild flower, growing as an annual or short-lived perennial. The species is also known as wild pansy, Johnny Jump up (though this name is also applied to similar species such as the yellow pansy), heartsea ...

. The extensive parkland and the house were laid out by

Humphry Repton Humphry Repton (21 April 1752 – 24 March 1818) was the last great English landscape designer of the eighteenth century, often regarded as the successor to Capability Brown; he also sowed the seeds of the more intricate and eclectic styles of ...

and his son,

John Adey Repton John Adey Repton (1775–1860) was an English architect. Biography John Repton was the son of Humphry Repton, born at Norwich, Norfolk on 29 March 1775, and educated at Aylsham grammar school and later in a Norwich architect's office. From 1796 ...

, in the early nineteenth century. Repton's

picturesque Picturesque is an aesthetic ideal introduced into English cultural debate in 1782 by William Gilpin in ''Observations on the River Wye, and Several Parts of South Wales, etc. Relative Chiefly to Picturesque Beauty; made in the Summer of the Year ...

parkland improvements,

castellated 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 interva ...

house and enclosed garden survive almost intact. The estate is the last and most complete of his three recognized

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...

landscape commissions.

History

The house was built 1803–07 by the Reptons for Charles Rogers in a picturesque castle style that was explicitly modelled on

Richard Payne Knight Richard Payne Knight (11 February 1751 – 23 April 1824) of Downton Castle in Herefordshire, and of 5 Soho Square,History of Parliament biography London, England, was a classical scholar, connoisseur, archaeologist and numismatist best ...

Downton Castle Downton Castle is a grade I listed 18th-century country house in the parish of Downton on the Rock in Herefordshire, England, situated about west of Ludlow, Shropshire. Description The south-facing entrance front has a central square tower ...

. John Repton designed an addition to the rear of the house in 1822.

John Hiram Haycock John Hiram Haycock (1759-1830) was an architect who built many notable buildings in Shropshire and Montgomeryshire. He was the son of William Haycock (1725-1802), a carpenter and joiner of Shrewsbury. He was apprenticed to his father and became a ...

added

bay window A bay window is a window space projecting outward from the main walls of a building and forming a bay in a room. Types Bay window is a generic term for all protruding window constructions, regardless of whether they are curved or angular, or ...

s and his son Edward Haycock Senior remodelled some of the public rooms in a

Tudorbethan Tudor Revival architecture (also known as mock Tudor in the UK) first manifested itself in domestic architecture in the United Kingdom in the latter half of the 19th century. Based on revival of aspects that were perceived as Tudor architecture ...

style in 1833. Edward Haycock later added a Gothic dining-room extension, Romanesque-style

porch A porch (from Old French ''porche'', from Latin ''porticus'' "colonnade", from ''porta'' "passage") is a room or gallery located in front of an entrance of a building. A porch is placed in front of the facade of a building it commands, and form ...

and the castellated

stable A stable is a building in which livestock, especially horses, are kept. It most commonly means a building that is divided into separate stalls for individual animals and livestock. There are many different types of stables in use today; the ...

courtyard beginning in 1845. The billiard-room, south wing and baronial tower were added about 1867 The plans for the Repton's work are recorded in a 'Red Book', still kept at the house. Dining-room

Description

The house is approached through the terraced lawns on the east front and the building has landscaped woodlands with a pond to the west. North and south of the building are wooded hillsides. The eastern terraces are enclosed by a low castellated wall to

ha-ha A ha-ha (french: hâ-hâ or ), also known as a sunk fence, blind fence, ditch and fence, deer wall, or foss, is a recessed landscape design element that creates a vertical barrier (particularly on one side) while preserving an uninterrupted view ...

s and there is a 1900

summer-house A summer house or summerhouse has traditionally referred to a building or shelter used for relaxation in warm weather. This would often take the form of a small, roofed building on the grounds of a larger one, but could also be built in a garden ...

at the southeastern corner of the walls. The walls are periodically interrupted with rectangular exedras with classical urns atop piers.

Associations

* The house and gardens featured in the TV drama series ''

Blott on the Landscape ''Blott on the Landscape'' is a novel by Tom Sharpe which was first published in 1975. The book was adapted into a 6-part television series of the same name for BBC television in 1985. Plot The story revolves around the proposed construction o ...

''. * The area is also associated with the burial of the fifth century warlord Vortigern.

References

{{Reflist, 30em

External links

Early Victorian map

Parks and Gardens - Stanage Park database entry
Houses in Powys Tourist attractions in Powys Gardens in Wales Grade II* listed buildings in Powys Knighton, Powys Parks in Powys Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales Grade II* listed houses in Wales