Kingston Lacy
Encyclopedia
Kingston Lacy is a country house and estate near Wimborne Minster
Wimborne Minster
Wimborne Minster is a market town in the East Dorset district of Dorset in South West England, and the name of the Church of England church in that town...

, Dorset
Dorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...

, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, now owned by the National Trust
National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty
The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, usually known as the National Trust, is a conservation organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland...

. From the 17th to the late 20th centuries it was the family seat of the Bankes
Bankes
The Bankeses were an important aristocratic family in Dorset, England for over 400 years. They owned large portions of land throughout Dorset and made significant contributions to the political history and development of the country.-Buildings:...

 family, who had previously resided nearby at Corfe Castle
Corfe Castle
Corfe Castle is a village and civil parish in the English county of Dorset. It is the site of a ruined castle of the same name. The village and castle stand over a gap in the Purbeck Hills on the route between Wareham and Swanage. The village lies in the gap below the castle, and is some eight...

 until its destruction in the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...

 after its incumbent owners, Sir John Bankes
John Bankes
Sir John Bankes was Attorney General and Chief Justice to King Charles I of England during the English Civil War. He was one of the most prominent members of the Bankes family of Dorset...

 and Dame Mary joined the side of Charles I
Charles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...

. They owned some 8000 acres (3,237.5 ha) of the surrounding Dorset countryside and coastline.

History

Kingston Lacy takes its name from its ancient lords the Lacys, Earls of Lincoln
Earl of Lincoln
Earl of Lincoln is a title that has been created eight times in the Peerage of England.-Earls of Lincoln, First Creation :*William d'Aubigny, 1st Earl of Lincoln and 1st Earl of Arundel Earl of Lincoln is a title that has been created eight times in the Peerage of England.-Earls of Lincoln, First...

, who held it together with Shapwick
Shapwick, Dorset
Shapwick is a village and civil parish in east Dorset, England, situated on the River Stour five miles south east of Blandford Forum and eight miles north of Poole...

 and Blandford. After the destruction of the family seat at Corfe Castle
Corfe Castle
Corfe Castle is a village and civil parish in the English county of Dorset. It is the site of a ruined castle of the same name. The village and castle stand over a gap in the Purbeck Hills on the route between Wareham and Swanage. The village lies in the gap below the castle, and is some eight...

, a new site for a home was chosen on the Lacy Estate by Sir John Bankes
John Bankes
Sir John Bankes was Attorney General and Chief Justice to King Charles I of England during the English Civil War. He was one of the most prominent members of the Bankes family of Dorset...

. However the house was eventually paid for and finished by his son Ralph Bankes
Ralph Bankes
Sir Ralph Bankes was a courtier of the restored Charles II and a knighted member of the Privy Chamber. He is most notable for being the builder of Kingston Lacy, the restored seat of the Bankes family....

. The original house was designed by Sir Roger Pratt and was built between 1663 and 1665, with interiors influenced by Inigo Jones
Inigo Jones
Inigo Jones is the first significant British architect of the modern period, and the first to bring Italianate Renaissance architecture to England...

, but executed by his heir John Webb. For many years, the house was believed entirely constructed by Jones, for it so resembled his work, until the plans of Webb were discovered. It is a grade I listed building.

Henry Bankes, the son of Ralph Bankes did some minor alterations in the 1820s, before he became an MP for the rotten borough
Rotten borough
A "rotten", "decayed" or pocket borough was a parliamentary borough or constituency in the United Kingdom that had a very small electorate and could be used by a patron to gain undue and unrepresentative influence within Parliament....

 of Corfe. Henry Bankes was a trustee for the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...

 and its parliamentary advocate and some of his collections, once part of the house now reside in the Museum. Pitt the Younger and the Duke of Wellington
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS , was an Irish-born British soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the 19th century...

 once stayed at the house when entertained by Henry Bankes.

The house was extensively remodelled by Sir Charles Barry
Charles Barry
Sir Charles Barry FRS was an English architect, best known for his role in the rebuilding of the Palace of Westminster in London during the mid-19th century, but also responsible for numerous other buildings and gardens.- Background and training :Born on 23 May 1795 in Bridge Street, Westminster...

, between 1835 and 1838. He faced the brick with stone, added a tall chimney to each corner, and lowered the ground level on one side, exposing the basement level and forming a new principal entrance. This work was carried out under the guide of William John Bankes
William John Bankes
William John Bankes , the second, but first surviving son of Henry Bankes, was a notable explorer, Egyptologist and adventurer. He was a member of the Bankes family of Dorset and he had Sir Charles Barry recase Kingston Lacy in stone as it is today...

, son of Henry Bankes.

William Bankes provided most of the antiquities that currently form part of the house's collections. He travelled extensively to the Middle East and the Orient
Orient
The Orient means "the East." It is a traditional designation for anything that belongs to the Eastern world or the Far East, in relation to Europe. In English it is a metonym that means various parts of Asia.- Derivation :...

, collecting the largest individual collection of Egyptian
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...

 antiques in the world. Most notable is the large obelisk
Obelisk
An obelisk is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape at the top, and is said to resemble a petrified ray of the sun-disk. A pair of obelisks usually stood in front of a pylon...

 which he brought back and which now stands prominently in the grounds of the house. He also acquired in Genoa, Italy the portrait of Maria Di Antonio Serra, by Sir Peter Paul Rubens, painted on the occasion of her marriage to Duke Nicolo Pallavicini in 1606.

The last owner of the Lacy house, Henry John Ralph Bankes, was the seven times great-grandson of the original creator Sir Ralph Bankes. Upon his death in 1981 he bequeathed the Kingston Lacy estate (including 12 working farms and Corfe Castle) to the National Trust, its largest bequest to date.

Collections

On display in the house is an important collection of fine art and antiquities built up by many generations of the Bankes family. One of the rooms, the Spanish room (named by reason of the Murillo
Bartolomé Estéban Murillo
Bartolomé Esteban Murillo was a Spanish Baroque painter. Although he is best known for his religious works, Murillo also produced a considerable number of paintings of contemporary women and children...

 paintings which hang there), has walls hung with gilded leather. It was recently restored at a cost of several hundred thousand pounds over a 5 year period. Other important collections include paintings of the family stretching back over 400 years. Other artworks include works by Van Dyck, Titian
Titian
Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio (c. 1488/1490 – 27 August 1576 better known as Titian was an Italian painter, the most important member of the 16th-century Venetian school. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, near...

 and Brueghel
Brueghel
Brueghel or Bruegel was the name of several Dutch/Flemish painters from the same family line:* Pieter Bruegel the Elder — The most famous member of the family and the only one to sign his paintings as 'Bruegel' without the H....

.

Aside from the Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 Room, the library is the most atmospheric of rooms, upon the wall of which are hung the huge keys of the destroyed Corfe Castle, handed back to Mary Bankes after her defence of Corfe Castle during the Civil War. The state bedroom is extremely ornate and has featured such important guests as Kaiser Wilhelm II who stayed with the family for a week in 1907. The main staircase is beautifully carved from stone and features three huge statues which look out onto the gardens from their seats. These depict Sir John Bankes
John Bankes
Sir John Bankes was Attorney General and Chief Justice to King Charles I of England during the English Civil War. He was one of the most prominent members of the Bankes family of Dorset...

 and Lady Bankes, the defenders of Corfe Castle, and their patron, Charles I
Charles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...

.

Within the estate are Badbury Rings
Badbury Rings
Badbury Rings is an Iron Age hill fort in east Dorset, England, dating from 800 BC and in use until the Roman occupation of 43 AD.-Iron Age:...

 (an Iron Age
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...

 hill fort
Hill fort
A hill fort is a type of earthworks used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze and Iron Ages. Some were used in the post-Roman period...

) and the Roman road
Roman road
The Roman roads were a vital part of the development of the Roman state, from about 500 BC through the expansion during the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. Roman roads enabled the Romans to move armies and trade goods and to communicate. The Roman road system spanned more than 400,000 km...

 from Dorchester to Old Sarum
Old Sarum
Old Sarum is the site of the earliest settlement of Salisbury, in England. The site contains evidence of human habitation as early as 3000 BC. Old Sarum is mentioned in some of the earliest records in the country...

. Architecturally there are several huge stone gates which stand at entrances to the Lacy estate. The house and gardens are open to the public and in 2006 received in excess of 180,000 visitors.

External links

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