Abbotswood is a

country house image:Blenheim - Blenheim Palace - 20210417125239.jpg, 300px, Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire 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 Townhou ...

and estate near

Lower Swell Lower Swell is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Swell, in the Cotswold district, in the county of Gloucestershire, England. It is located at the River Dikler, one mile from Stow-on-the-Wold. The village has "finest countr ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

, England. It is a grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

and estate, of

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

origins and with remodelling and garden work to the designs of

Sir Edwin Lutyens Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens ( ; 29 March 1869 – 1 January 1944) was an English architect known for imaginatively adapting traditional architectural styles to the requirements of his era. He designed many English country houses, war memorials ...

from 1901 onwards.

History

The ownership of lands in the manor of Lower Swell can be traced to the pre-conquest period, when one Ernesi possessed them. In 1086 the manor lands were divided between

Raoul II of Tosny Raoul II de Tosny (c. 1027 - died 9 April 1102), lord of Conches-en-Ouche, was a Norman nobleman of the House of Tosny, son of Roger I of Tosny and older brother of Robert de Stafford / Tosny. He was active in Normandy, England and Wales. Befo ...

and

William II, Count of Eu William II, Count of Eu, feudal baron of Hastings (died about 1096) was a first generation Anglo-Norman nobleman, Count of Eu. Origins According to most authorities he was the son and heir of Robert, Count of Eu, (died before 1093), by his wife ...

Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall Richard (5 January 1209 – 2 April 1272) was an English prince who was King of the Romans from 1257 until his death in 1272. He was the second son of John, King of England, and Isabella, Countess of Angoulême. Richard was nominal Count of P ...

acquired much of the lands before 1257 for a parkland; in 1257 he endowed

Hailes Abbey Hailes Abbey is a former Cistercian abbey, in the small village of Hailes, Gloucestershire, Hailes, two miles northeast of Winchcombe, Gloucestershire, England. It was founded in 1246 as a daughter establishment of Beaulieu Abbey. The abbey wa ...

with the manor, which remained its owner until the

English Reformation The English Reformation began in 16th-century England when the Church of England broke away first from the authority of the pope and bishops Oath_of_Supremacy, over the King and then from some doctrines and practices of the Catholic Church ...

. In 1545 it passed to the

Bishop of London The bishop of London is the Ordinary (church officer), ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of London in the Province of Canterbury. By custom the Bishop is also Dean of the Chapel Royal since 1723. The diocese covers of 17 boroughs o ...

, and in 1591 was conveyed back to

the Crown The Crown is a political concept used in Commonwealth realms. Depending on the context used, it generally refers to the entirety of the State (polity), state (or in federal realms, the relevant level of government in that state), the executive ...

, then passing to one John Carter, and later to his son Giles, who mortgaged it in 1638 to Sir William Courteen. Courteen had assumed ownership by 1659, for he sold the estate to Robert Atkyns, a lawyer and member of the

Third Protectorate Parliament The Third Protectorate Parliament sat for one session, from 27 January 1659 until 22 April 1659, with Chaloner Chute and Thomas Bampfylde as the Speakers of the House of Commons. It was a bicameral Parliament, with an Upper House having a po ...

for

Evesham Evesham () is a market town and Civil parishes in England, parish in the Wychavon district of Worcestershire, in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands region of England. It is located roughly equidistant between Worcester, England, Worceste ...

. Atkyns descendants sold the estate in 1844 to one John Hudson. Hudsen split the estate in 1865, selling to the owner of lands in Upper Swell, Alfred Sartoris. Within his now merged estate, Sartoris built in 1867 a new

, Abbotwood, removed from and on land elevated above the estate farm buildings. In 1901 the estate was sold to Mark Fenwick, whose wealth derived from his involvement in mining and banking in

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

and

Northumberland Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...

. Arnold, Constantia
''Happy as Kings: The Story of the Fenwicks at Abbotswood, 1905 to 1945''
(1994), Google Books Fenwick, a keen gardener, found the Abbotwood "far too ugly to live in" and against Lutyens' recommendation that he "blow it up, and start again!", engaged the architect to remodel the house and design gardens on what had been terraced lawns; Fenwick is credited with much of the planting within the estate. In 1946, the estate was sold to

Harry Ferguson Henry George Ferguson (4 November 188425 October 1960) was an Irish mechanic and inventor who is noted for his role in the development of the modern agricultural tractor and its Three-point hitch, three-point linkage system, for being the firs ...

, the engineer and inventor noted for his role in the development of the modern

agricultural tractor A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a Trailer (vehicle), trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or constructio ...

and, after the death of his widow, has been sold on a number of times.

House

Abbotswood house is the principal of the estate's buildings, a

Cotswold stone The Cotswolds ( ) is a region of central South West England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper River Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and the Vale of Evesham. The area is defined by the bedroc ...

L-shaped house dating back to the 1867 construction. Lutyens' external work on the house is concentrated on the north-side of the south-wing, where a projecting gabled roof falling to near ground level protects the main entrance; and on the west-side of the same wing where a series of narrow gables, terrace, ponds and a

Loggia In architecture, a loggia ( , usually , ) is a covered exterior Long gallery, gallery or corridor, often on an upper level, sometimes on the ground level of a building. The corridor is open to the elements because its outer wall is only parti ...

were added. Within, Lutyens created a new hall, grand staircase and reception rooms. Externally, Lutyens added a paved terrace with a linear central lily-pond extending from the west gable of the south wing. A large formal garden, subdivided into symmetric sections by hedges, paths and terrace walls, was planted to the south of the house; a terrace immediately to the south overlooks the garden and provides views of the surrounding park. The upper section of the garden is planted as a series of squares, four in the centre and three each at the east and west. The lower garden formed a sunken tennis lawn with a

herbaceous border A herbaceous border is a collection of perennial herbaceous plants (plants that live for more than two years and are soft-stemmed and non-woody) arranged closely together, usually to create a dramatic effect through colour, shape or large scale. ...

; more recently, a lily-pond has been sited in the centre of the lawn. A hexagonal open-sided garden house is sited at the south-west of the lawn; and a summerhouse is built beneath the upper garden, looking out across the tennis lawn and with access from a path on the west side of the gardens. A 'stream garden' of lawns, shrubs and trees with water and rock features is to the west of the house and formal gardens.

Estate

Abbotswood House sits towards the north-east of the estate's circa park, through which the River Dikler runs north-to-south. The estate's farm buildings, stables and staff housing are to the south-west of the house, and to the east of these is found an orchard and a walled garden with glasshouses, all associated with a long-demolished pre-1867 principal estate house. Features within the park include a river-fed pond, a well, and remains of a medieval moat. The park and a number of its buildings form part of the main listing for Abbotswood, and elements of the estate such as lodges, gates and walls, have distinct listings.

References

{{Authority control Country houses in Gloucestershire Works of Edwin Lutyens in England Grade II listed houses Grade II listed buildings in Gloucestershire Grade II listed parks and gardens in Gloucestershire Cotswold District

History

House

Estate

See also

References