Locko Park is a privately owned 18th century country house, near Spondon

Spondon

Spondon is a ward within the city of Derby. Prior to this, Spondon was a separate village which dated from before the Domesday Book of 1086.-Description:The name Spondon is Anglo-Saxon and describes a gravelly hill....

, Derbyshire

Derbyshire

Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...

. It is a Grade II* listed building.

The estate was acquired by William Gilbert from William Byrde in 1563. The oldest part of the house is the chapel of 1669. The main south facing block of the present house, built about 1725, has three storeys and nine bays and a substantial Tuscan

Tuscan order

Among canon of classical orders of classical architecture, the Tuscan order's place is due to the influence of the Italian Sebastiano Serlio, who meticulously described the five orders including a "Tuscan order", "the solidest and least ornate", in his fourth book of Regole generalii di...

 porch. The architect is believed to have been Francis Smith of Warwick

Francis Smith of Warwick

Francis Smith of Warwick was an English master-builder and architect, much involved in the construction of country houses in the Midland counties of England...

.

John Lowe purchased the estate in 1747 from the last descendant of the Gilbert family. In 1790 the property was bequeathed to William Drury who changed his name by Royal Sign Manual dated 10 July 1790 to William Drury-Lowe

William Drury-Lowe (1753-1827)

William Drury-Lowe inherited Locko Park and helped create the Derby Canal. He was a High Sheriff of Derbyshire and a Deputy Lieutenant of Derbyshire.-Biography:...

. He employed William Emes

William Emes

-Biography:Details of his early life are not known but in 1756 he was appointed head gardener to Sir Nathaniel Curzon at Kedleston Hall, Derbyshire. He left this post in 1760 when Robert Adam was given responsibility for the entire management of the grounds. During his time at Kedleston he had...

 to landscape the park. His daughter and heir, Mary-Anne, married Robert Holden in 1800. Their son William

William Drury Lowe

William Drury-Lowe was an English landowner who inherited the Locko Park lands and became a High Sheriff of Derbyshire.-Biography:...

 also took the name Drury-Lowe in 1849.
Substantial additions were made to the house in the 19th century by architect Henry Stevens of Derby, including, the present west range, the parapet to which bears the dates 1804 and 1896, and the Italianate tower which rises above it dating from 1853. The porch to the east front is dated 1861.

The house remains in the ownership of the family and is not generally open to the public, although it is available for corporate and private functions. Several members of the Drury-Lowe family have served as High Sheriff of Derbyshire

High Sheriff of Derbyshire

This is a list of High Sheriffs of Derbyshire from 1568.The High Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the High Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the responsibilities associated with the post have been...

.