Belhus is a

golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, tee box, a #Fairway and rough, fairway, the #Fairway and rough, rough and other hazard (golf), hazards, and ...

country park A country park is a natural area designated for people to visit and enjoy recreation in a countryside environment. United Kingdom History In the United Kingdom, the term ''country park'' has a specific meaning. There are around 250 designated c ...

, former

stately home 300px, Oxfordshire.html" ;"title="Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire">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 To ...

and manor in the parish of

Aveley Aveley is a village and former civil parish in the unitary authority of Thurrock in Essex, England, and forms one of the traditional Church of England parishes. Aveley is 16 miles (26.2 km) east of Charing Cross. In the 2021 United King ...

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. The historic manor was known in medieval times variously as "Bellhouse, Belhouse (as commemorated by today's "Belhouse Avenue" in the village of Aveley), Bell House", etc. It is now part of the

Thames Chase The Thames Chase Community Forest is a community forest of 9842 hectares (24,320 acres/38 square miles) located in 47 sites in London and Essex, England. Established in 1990, the community forest is administered by the Thames Chase Trust, with ...

woodland planned for the area.

Origin and history

left, A fallen tree in Belhus Wood The name Belhus derived from the 14th-century tenants of the manor who, according to Morant (1768), came from Ramsden Bellhouse. The name is associated with Nicholas de Belhus, who may have taken his surname name from the manor. It was later the home of the Barrett family, later the Barrett-Lennard family. The house was visited by

Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudor. Her eventful reign, and its effect on history ...

in 1578. Belhus was among the properties owned by Dorothy, Lady Dacre, after the death of her husband. After her own death, an inventory was taken of her possessions at Belhus. A 17th-century curtain from Belhus was donated to the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...

by Mrs John Pollock, daughter of Sir Richard Barrett-Lennard, 5th Baronet. In the middle of the 18th century, the mansion was substantially altered to conform to the fashionable "gothic" style. Thurrock Museum has a 19th-century copy of an earlier original painting showing how the mansion looked around 1710. LadyDacre

Among the family portraits at Belhus was a work by Hans Eyworth - Mary Neville, Baroness Dacre - now in the

National Gallery of Canada The National Gallery of Canada (), located in the capital city of Ottawa, Ontario, is Canada's National museums of Canada, national art museum. The museum's building takes up , with of space used for exhibiting art. It is one of the List of large ...

. This was seen at Belhus in 1761 by the art historian,

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

. The Barrett-Lennard family auctioned the contents of Belhus in 1923 and the house was demolished after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, due to suffering bomb damage as well as vandalism from the military personnel who were stationed there.

Belhus today

The grounds around the mansion were landscaped by

Capability Brown Lancelot "Capability" Brown (born c. 1715–16, baptised 30 August 1716 – 6 February 1783) was an English gardener and landscape architect, a notable figure in the history of the English landscape garden style. Unlike other architects ...

in the 1740s and 1750s. Some of the features including earthen mounds can be seen in the original parkland which is currently used for part of the golf course operated by Impulse Leisure. The remains of the mansion can still be seen on the 10th hole of the golf course. The 'long pond' is another feature designed by Capability Brown although it was actually built by Richard Woods. It can still be seen, although the construction of the M25 motorway has robbed it of its original rural setting. A wooded country park has been developed using other parts of the grounds of the house. Some parts of the original interior are in the Thurrock Museum, including a magnificent fireplace. Other parts of the interior were rescued when the house was demolished and are displayed at

Valence House Museum Valence House Museum is the only surviving of the five manor houses of Dagenham. The timber-framed museum building, partially surrounded by a moat, is situated in Valence Park off Becontree Avenue, in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, L ...

Dagenham Dagenham () is a town in East London, England, within the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. Dagenham is centred east of Charing Cross. It was historically a rural parish in the Becontree Hundred of Essex, stretching from Hainault Fo ...

. The grounds of the estate were placed on the

Heritage at Risk Register An annual ''Heritage at Risk Register'' is published by Historic England. The survey is used by national and local government, a wide range of individuals and heritage groups to establish the extent of risk and to help assess priorities for acti ...

in 2018. In 2021

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked with prot ...

carried out onsite research into the grounds, and the remains of Tudor gardens were discovered.

Notes

External links

A short history of Belhus mansionThe Belhus Mansion PaintingBelhus House and Park c. 1710Essex County Council website
{{Thurrock parishes Buildings and structures in Thurrock Golf clubs and courses in Essex Country parks in Essex Former country houses in England British country houses destroyed in the 20th century Gardens by Capability Brown

Origin and history

Belhus today

See also

Notes

External links