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In the 19th century the house was the residence of
Westwood House is a
.
With its four diagonal wings, added to the original, early-17th century house at some time later in the same century, the house's design was a precursor of the 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 ...
, near Droitwich
Droitwich Spa (often abbreviated to Droitwich ) is an historic spa town in the Wychavon district in northern Worcestershire, England, on the River Salwarpe. It is located approximately south-west of Birmingham and north-east of Worcester.
...
, Worcestershire, England. It has been subdivided into twelve self-contained apartments. The house has origins as an Elizabethan
The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The Roman symbol of Britannia (a female per ...
banqueting hall with Caroline additions and is a Grade I 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 ...
. It was for several centuries the seat of the Pakington family. Situated west of Droitwich, it lies in the centre of its former estate, Westwood Park, which is Grade II listed in the National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens #REDIRECT Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England #REDIRECT Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England
{{R from move ...
{{R from move ...Butterfly plan
A Butterfly plan, also known as a Double Suntrap plan, is a type of architectural plan in which two or more wings of a house are constructed at an angle to the core, usually at approximately 45 degrees to the wall of the core building. It was used ...
which became popular in the 19th century.
House
Situated on a rising ground, the house greatly resembles a Norman chateau; it is built of brick with stone quoins and parapets. The core of the house dates from about 1600 and is square and three storeys high; the saloon occupied the first floor, and was lighted by large bay windows. Wings project in a line from the centre of each corner of the house, and communicate, by doors on each floor, with the central building. At some distance from each wing, yet opposite to them, are small square towers that were once connected by walls with the main building; but the walls have been removed, or fallen, and the towers now stand alone. The gatehouse is immediately in front of the house at some little distance in advance; the gate has a red brick lodge on each side of it with ornamental gables and pinnacles. The gate between them is ornamented with the heraldic bearings of the family, the mullet or star of five points, and below them the garbs or wheat-sheaves. These bearings are also sculptured on the parapets, the wheatsheaves forming the pilasters and the mullets the balusters. The timber-work over the gate, with its high pointed roof and small pinnacle, is very picturesque. The stables and servants' offices were a short distance in the rear of the house, and the kitchen garden covers the site of the long since demolished convent.Park
Writing in 1891 Laura Valentine commented that the house was in the centre of a large and well-wooded park, with a lake of some size to the east, and a lovely avenues of grand old trees radiating from it. The front of the mansion commanded a view of the lake. From Windows in the library a grand view was obtained over "a most beautiful and undulating country". The lake (which occupies ), the radiating avenues, and the ancient oaks added to its beauty. "There is, indeed, all over Worcestershire a soft beauty of landscape that is very bewitching". Although the house and large lake remain, the park is now a shadow of its former self. For example, the only remaining tree-lined avenue is a straight one that leads from Droitwich to the gatehouse.History
Eustachia de Say and her son Osbert FitzHugh gave the church located at Westwood toFontevraud Abbey
The Royal Abbey of Our Lady of Fontevraud or Fontevrault (in French: ''abbaye de Fontevraud'') was a monastery in the village of Fontevraud-l'Abbaye, near Chinon, in the former French Duchy of Anjou. It was founded in 1101 by the itinerant preach ...
, in the Loire valley
The Loire Valley (, ), spanning , is a valley located in the middle stretch of the Loire river in central France, in both the administrative regions Pays de la Loire and Centre-Val de Loire. The area of the Loire Valley comprises about . It is r ...
, where Henry II of England
Henry II () was King of England
The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the form of government used by the United Kingdom by which a hereditary monarch reigns as the head of state, with the ...
, his wife Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine
Eleanor of Aquitaine ( or ; ; , or ; – 1 April 1204) was Duchess of Aquitaine from 1137 to 1204, Queen of France from 1137 to 1152 as the wife of King Louis VII, and Queen of England from 1154 to 1189 as the wife of King Henry II. As ...
and their son Richard I (the Lionheart) are buried. Soon afterwards, a small priory was erected at Westwood, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary
Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...
, for six Benedictine
The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...
nuns. Over the centuries the convent grew until it ultimately numbered eighteen sisters. The last prioress, Joyce Acton, received at the dissolution an annual pension of ten pounds.
After the dissolution Henry VIII granted Westwood, with its demesne lands, to Sir John Pakington. The Pakington family seat was in the adjacent village of Hampton Lovett
Hampton Lovett is a village and civil parish in the Wychavon district of the county of Worcestershire, England. It is just north of Droitwich.
The church of St. Mary and All Saints is noted for its Norman features. English Heritage lists the ch ...
, but that house was burnt down during the English Civil War
The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...
so they moved to Westwood. The house at Westwood was built in the reign of Elizabeth as a banqueting house by Sir John's nephew, also John Pakington (1549-1625). The house was enlarged and repaired and the park was improved.
During the latter part of the war and the Interregnum
An interregnum (plural interregna or interregnums) is a period of revolutionary breach of legal continuity, discontinuity or "gap" in a government, organization, or social order. Archetypally, it was the period of time between the reign of one m ...
the house was the residence of Sir John Pakington (1621–1680), an ardent Royalist who was tried for his life by the Parliament; his estates were sequestered, and he was greatly plundered, but he ultimately compounded with the Parliamentary Committee for £5,000. His house was the refuge of learned men who support the King's cause: Dr. Henry Hammond
Henry Hammond (18 August 1605 – 25 April 1660) was an English churchman, church historian and theologian, who supported the Royalist cause during the English Civil War.
Early life
He was born at Chertsey in Surrey on 18 August 1605, the y ...
found shelter with him, as did the Bishops Morley, Fell
A fell (from Old Norse ''fell'', ''fjall'', "mountain"Falk and Torp (2006:161).) is a high and barren landscape feature, such as a mountain or Moorland, moor-covered hill. The term is most often employed in Fennoscandia, Iceland, the Isle of M ...
, Gunning.
There is a link between "Whole Duty of Man
''The Whole Duty of Man'' is an English 'Protestant' Christian devotional literature, devotional work, first published anonymously in 1658, with an introduction by Henry Hammond (1605–1660). Quasi-Arminianism, Arminian in message, it was both ...
" (an influential and popular Anglican tract) and Westwood House, because while the author is unknown, the introduction was written by Henry Hammond
Henry Hammond (18 August 1605 – 25 April 1660) was an English churchman, church historian and theologian, who supported the Royalist cause during the English Civil War.
Early life
He was born at Chertsey in Surrey on 18 August 1605, the y ...
, and this has led some to speculate that Sir John's wife, Dorothy, Lady Pakington, may have been the author.
During and after the Glorious Revolution
The Glorious Revolution, also known as the Revolution of 1688, was the deposition of James II and VII, James II and VII in November 1688. He was replaced by his daughter Mary II, Mary II and her Dutch husband, William III of Orange ...
the tried hospitality of Westwood House was extended to those who scrupled to take the oath of allegiance to William of Orange, and Dean George Hickes George Hickes may refer to:
* George Hickes (divine) (1642–1715), English divine and scholar
* George Hickes (Manitoba politician) (born 1946), Canadian politician
* George Hickes (Nunavut politician) (born 1968/69), Canadian politician, son of t ...
wrote several of his important works at Westwood.
In the 19th century the house was the residence of John Pakington, 1st Baron Hampton
John Somerset Pakington, 1st Baron Hampton, (20 February 1799 – 9 April 1880), known as Sir John Pakington, Bt, from 1846 to 1874, was a British Conservative politician.
Background and education
Pakington was born John Somerset Russell, the s ...
, a British Conservative politician, who before he lost his Droitwich
Droitwich Spa (often abbreviated to Droitwich ) is an historic spa town in the Wychavon district in northern Worcestershire, England, on the River Salwarpe. It is located approximately south-west of Birmingham and north-east of Worcester.
...
seat in the Commons in 1874 and was raised to the peerage held a number of government posts. The man who defeated him in that election was the Liberal politician and industrialist John Corbett
John Joseph Corbett Jr. (born May 9, 1961) is an American actor and country music singer. On television, he is best known for his roles as Chris Stevens on ''Northern Exposure'' (1990–1995), Aidan Shaw on ''Sex and the City'' (2000–2003), ...
. He built a house in the style of a Louis XIII château. Known as Chateau Impney
Chateau Impney Hotel & Exhibition Centre is a Grade II* listed 19th-century house built in the style of an elaborate French château near Droitwich Spa in Worcestershire, England. Of the large mansions in Worcestershire supported by industrial fo ...
, it stands only about a mile away from Westwood and although it was said to be built in that style to please his Franco-Irish wife, "More relevant may have been his desire to cock a snook at his political rival, Sir John Pakington of Westwood House" (Sir Nikolaus Pevsner
Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (195 ...
).
When Baron Hampton died in 1880, he would be the last of the Pakington family to live at Westwood. In 1902 his son Herbert Perrott Murray Pakington, the 3rd Baron Hampton, sold Westwood House to Edward Partington, a paper mill industrialist. Partington was created Baron Doverdale, ''of Westwood Park in the County of Worcester'' on 6 January 1917. The house and estate were divided and sold on the death of the third and last Baron Doverdale (grandson of the first baron) in 1949. All three Barons Doverdale are buried at the Parish Church of St Mary & All Saints, Hampton Lovett
Hampton Lovett is a village and civil parish in the Wychavon district of the county of Worcestershire, England. It is just north of Droitwich.
The church of St. Mary and All Saints is noted for its Norman features. English Heritage lists the ch ...
.
Australian connection
On 23 May 1860, the first town gazetted inQueensland
Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...
, Australia, by the Queensland Government
The Queensland Government is the state government of Queensland, Australia, a Parliament, parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Government is formed by the party or coalition that has gained a majority in the Queensland Legislative Assembly, ...
was Westwood, named after Westwood House. Although the area had been shown as Prestone on the original survey plan, Queensland Governor
The governor of Queensland is the representative of the monarch, currently King Charles III, in the state of Queensland. In an analogous way to the governor-general at the national level, the governor performs constitutional and ceremonial func ...
George Bowen
Sir George Ferguson Bowen ( zh, 寶雲; 2 November 1821 – 21 February 1899), was an Anglo-Irish author and colonial administrator whose appointments included postings to the Ionian Islands, Queensland, New Zealand, Victoria, Mauritius and H ...
decided to name the town Westwood in honour of Lord John Pakington's role as Secretary of State for the Colonies in 1852.
Notes
References
* * * * * * ;Attribution *Further reading
* {{Coord, 52.2736, -2.1837, region:GB-WOR_type:landmark, display=title Country houses in Worcestershire Grade I listed buildings in Worcestershire Grade I listed houses Grade II listed parks and gardens in Worcestershire Houses completed in the 17th century Jacobean architecture in the United Kingdom Wychavon