Gayhurst House, Buckinghamshire
Encyclopedia
Gayhurst House is a late-Elizabethan country house in Buckinghamshire
, with important contributions by the Victorian architect William Burges
. It is located near the village of Gayhurst
, several kilometres north of Milton Keynes
. The house itself is a Grade II* listed building, as are the dovecot and gate piers in the grounds.
The house has early sixteenth century origins, was expanded in 1597 by William Moulsoe and completed by his son, Sir Everard Digby
, one of the conspirators involved in the Gunpowder Plot
. The estate was subsequently inherited by Sir Kenelm Digby, the courtier, diplomat and natural philosopher. In 1704 the estate was sold to Sir Nathan Wrighte. It was extensively refurbished, 1858–72, by William Burges
for Robert John Carrington, 2nd Baron Carrington
and his son. Lord Carrington was Burges' first significant patron. In total, some £20,000 was spent, which did not include the costs of construction for Burges' planned main staircase, which was never built. However, a minor stair, the Caliban Stair, was constructed. The style chosen was Anglo/French Renaissance, which Burges considered in keeping with the date of Moulsoe's rebuilding. Rooms contain some of his most splendid fireplaces, with carving by Burges' long-time collaborator Thomas Nicholls, in particular those in the Drawing Room which include motifs from Paradise Lost
and Paradise Regained
.
The estate has a fine series of out-buildings including a seventeenth century dovecote, turreted stables, a brewhouse, bakehouse and dog kennels. Perhaps the most extraordinary addition is the Male Servants' Lavatory, a large circular privy based on the Abbot's kitchen at Glastonbury and surmounted by a,now-eyeless, statue of Cerberus.
The park was laid out by Capability Brown
and remodelled by Humphry Repton
.
Gayhurst was a private home until the mid twentieth century when the squire, Sir Walter Carlyle, died, having acquired a modicum of fame some 40 years earlier by becoming the first MP to arrive at the House of Commons in a motor car. Sir Walter's widow lived on in the neighbouring village for many years and was pleased to see the property saved by sympathetic developers, who converted the main building and adjoining stable blocks into luxury apartments and maisonettes.
The estate was broken up in the twentieth century and the house was converted into flats between 1971 and 1979.
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
, with important contributions by the Victorian architect William Burges
William Burges (architect)
William Burges was an English architect and designer. Amongst the greatest of the Victorian art-architects, Burges sought in his work an escape from 19th century industrialisation and a return to the values, architectural and social, of an imagined mediaeval England...
. It is located near the village of Gayhurst
Gayhurst
Gayhurst is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Milton Keynes, ceremonial Buckinghamshire in England. It is about two and a half miles NNW of Newport Pagnell....
, several kilometres north of Milton Keynes
Milton Keynes
Milton Keynes , sometimes abbreviated MK, is a large town in Buckinghamshire, in the south east of England, about north-west of London. It is the administrative centre of the Borough of Milton Keynes...
. The house itself is a Grade II* listed building, as are the dovecot and gate piers in the grounds.
The house has early sixteenth century origins, was expanded in 1597 by William Moulsoe and completed by his son, Sir Everard Digby
Everard Digby
Sir Everard Digby was a member of the group of provincial English Catholics who planned the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605. Although he was raised in a Protestant household, and married a Protestant, Digby and his wife were converted to Catholicism by the Jesuit priest John Gerard...
, one of the conspirators involved in the Gunpowder Plot
Gunpowder Plot
The Gunpowder Plot of 1605, in earlier centuries often called the Gunpowder Treason Plot or the Jesuit Treason, was a failed assassination attempt against King James I of England and VI of Scotland by a group of provincial English Catholics led by Robert Catesby.The plan was to blow up the House of...
. The estate was subsequently inherited by Sir Kenelm Digby, the courtier, diplomat and natural philosopher. In 1704 the estate was sold to Sir Nathan Wrighte. It was extensively refurbished, 1858–72, by William Burges
William Burges (architect)
William Burges was an English architect and designer. Amongst the greatest of the Victorian art-architects, Burges sought in his work an escape from 19th century industrialisation and a return to the values, architectural and social, of an imagined mediaeval England...
for Robert John Carrington, 2nd Baron Carrington
Robert John Carrington, 2nd Baron Carrington
Robert John Carrington, 2nd Baron Carrington was a baron in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. He was the son of Robert Smith, 1st Baron Carrington....
and his son. Lord Carrington was Burges' first significant patron. In total, some £20,000 was spent, which did not include the costs of construction for Burges' planned main staircase, which was never built. However, a minor stair, the Caliban Stair, was constructed. The style chosen was Anglo/French Renaissance, which Burges considered in keeping with the date of Moulsoe's rebuilding. Rooms contain some of his most splendid fireplaces, with carving by Burges' long-time collaborator Thomas Nicholls, in particular those in the Drawing Room which include motifs from Paradise Lost
Paradise Lost
Paradise Lost is an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton. It was originally published in 1667 in ten books, with a total of over ten thousand individual lines of verse...
and Paradise Regained
Paradise Regained
Paradise Regained is a poem by the English poet John Milton, published in 1671. It is connected by name to his earlier and more famous epic poem Paradise Lost, with which it shares similar theological themes...
.
The estate has a fine series of out-buildings including a seventeenth century dovecote, turreted stables, a brewhouse, bakehouse and dog kennels. Perhaps the most extraordinary addition is the Male Servants' Lavatory, a large circular privy based on the Abbot's kitchen at Glastonbury and surmounted by a,now-eyeless, statue of Cerberus.
The park was laid out by Capability Brown
Capability Brown
Lancelot Brown , more commonly known as Capability Brown, was an English landscape architect. He is remembered as "the last of the great English eighteenth-century artists to be accorded his due", and "England's greatest gardener". He designed over 170 parks, many of which still endure...
and remodelled by Humphry Repton
Humphry Repton
Humphry Repton 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 the 19th century...
.
Gayhurst was a private home until the mid twentieth century when the squire, Sir Walter Carlyle, died, having acquired a modicum of fame some 40 years earlier by becoming the first MP to arrive at the House of Commons in a motor car. Sir Walter's widow lived on in the neighbouring village for many years and was pleased to see the property saved by sympathetic developers, who converted the main building and adjoining stable blocks into luxury apartments and maisonettes.
The estate was broken up in the twentieth century and the house was converted into flats between 1971 and 1979.
External links
- http://www.mkheritage.co.uk/sga/Gayhurst/estate&landscape.html