Old Gorhambury House
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Old Gorhambury House located near
St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major ...
,
Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...
, England, is a ruined Elizabethan mansion, a leading and early example of the Elizabethan
prodigy house Prodigy houses are large and showy English country houses built by courtiers and other wealthy families, either "noble palaces of an awesome scale" or "proud, ambitious heaps" according to taste. The prodigy houses stretch over the period ...
. It was built in 1563–68 by Sir Nicholas Bacon,
Lord Keeper The Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of England, and later of Great Britain, was formerly an officer of the English Crown charged with physical custody of the Great Seal of England. This position evolved into that of one of the Great Officers of ...
, and was visited a number of times 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. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". El ...
. English Heritage website
/ref> It is a Grade I listed building. The house was built partly from bricks taken from the old
Abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns. The conce ...
buildings at St Albans, then in process of demolition following the
Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...
priory A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or nuns (such as the Dominicans, Augustinians, Franciscans, and Carmelites), or monasteries of mon ...
's
dissolution Dissolution may refer to: Arts and entertainment Books * ''Dissolution'' (''Forgotten Realms'' novel), a 2002 fantasy novel by Richard Lee Byers * ''Dissolution'' (Sansom novel), a 2003 historical novel by C. J. Sansom Music * Dissolution, in mu ...
some 25 years earlier. It was used as a residence by his youngest son, the
polymath A polymath ( el, πολυμαθής, , "having learned much"; la, homo universalis, "universal human") is an individual whose knowledge spans a substantial number of subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific pro ...
(
scientist A scientist is a person who conducts Scientific method, scientific research to advance knowledge in an Branches of science, area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, ...
,
philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...
,
statesman A statesman or stateswoman typically is a politician who has had a long and respected political career at the national or international level. Statesman or Statesmen may also refer to: Newspapers United States * ''The Statesman'' (Oregon), a n ...
and
essayist An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal a ...
) Sir
Francis Bacon Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626), also known as Lord Verulam, was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England. Bacon led the advancement of both ...
, before being bequeathed by him to his former secretary, Sir
Thomas Meautys Sir Thomas Meautys (1592–1649) was an English civil servant and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1621 and 1640. Biography Meautys was the son of Thomas Meautys of West Ham and of St Julian's Hospital, Hertfordshire, and his ...
, who married Anne Bacon, the great-granddaughter of Sir Nicholas. The estate passed in 1652 to Anne's second husband
Sir Harbottle Grimston ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...
,
Master of the Rolls The Keeper or Master of the Rolls and Records of the Chancery of England, known as the Master of the Rolls, is the President of the Court of Appeal (England and Wales)#Civil Division, Civil Division of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales a ...
and
Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...
in the Convention Parliament of 1660. The estate is owned by the Grimston family to the present day, having been passed via Harbottle Grimston's son Samuel, who died childless in 1700, to his great-nephew William Luckyn, who in turn became the first Viscount Grimston in 1719. The house fell into ruin after the construction of New Gorhambury House in the 18th century, but was retained as a feature within landscaped parkland. The surviving remains include a two-storey porch, chapel and clock tower.


Garden

The "pondyards", the remains of
water garden Water garden or aquatic garden, is a term sometimes used for gardens, or parts of gardens, where any type of water feature is a principal or dominant element. The primary focus is on plants, but they will sometimes also house waterfowl, or orn ...
near the
River Ver The Ver is a long chalk stream in Hertfordshire, England. It is a tributary of the River Colne. Course The source is in the grounds of Lynch Lodge, Kensworth Lynch on the west side of the A5 trunk road and stays on the west side for som ...
, were scheduled in 2020 under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979. The feature was laid out in the 17th century for Sir Francis Bacon, possibly adapting preexisting ponds.


Access

The site is maintained by English Heritage and is free to visit.


New Gorhambury House

In the years 1777–84, the current
Palladian 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 ...
-style Gorhambury House was built nearby. Designed by Sir Robert Taylor and commissioned by James Bucknall Grimston, 3rd Viscount Grimston, it replaced Old Gorhambury House. It remains the home of the
Earl of Verulam Earl of Verulam is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1815 for James Grimston, 1st Earl of Verulam, James Grimston, 4th Viscount Grimston. He was made Viscount Grimston (in the peerage of the United Kingdom) at th ...
. The current house is a member of
Historic Houses History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...
and is open for tours at certain times.Gorhambury House : Historic Houses Association
/ref>


References


External links


Old Gorhambury - Official Webpage Old Gorhambury House - English Heritage webpage
including anecdotes about the young Francis Bacon's conversations with Queen Elizabeth
Gorhambury House
- Historic Houses Association, information on visits

{{coord , 51, 45, 25, N, 0, 23, 36, W, display=title Houses completed in 1568
Gorhambury House Gorhambury House is a Palladian-style house near St Albans, Hertfordshire, England. It was built between 1777 and 1784 to replace Old Gorhambury House, which was left to fall into ruin. It was designed by Sir Robert Taylor and commissioned by ...
English Heritage sites in Hertfordshire Grade I listed buildings in Hertfordshire Ruins in Hertfordshire Scheduled monuments in Hertfordshire 1568 establishments in England