Mereworth Castle

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File:Capriccio with a view of Mereworth Castle, Kent.jpg
Capriccio with a view of Mereworth Castle, 1746

Mereworth Castle is a grade I listed Palladian country house in Mereworth, Kent, England.[1]

History

File:Mereworth by Paul Amsinck & engraved by Letitia Byrne, 1809.jpg
Mereworth by Paul Amsinck, engraved by Letitia Byrne, 1809.
File:Mereworth Castle, Kent, a Fane & Colen Campbell collaboration, a postcard franked 1911.jpg
Mereworth Castle, a postcard franked 1911.

Originally the site of a fortified manor licensed in 1332, the present building is not actually a castle, but was built in the 1720s as an almost exact copy of Palladio's Villa Rotunda.[2] It was designed in 1723 by Colen Campbell who had been commissioned by John Fane, 7th Earl of Westmorland.[3] The interior features plasterwork by Giovanni Bagutti and fresco painting by Francesco Sleter. The house is situated in a landscaped park and valley with a number of surrounding pavilions and lodges which are also Grade I listed.[4][5]

The house passed through descent to Barons Oranmore and Browne whose family seat it became. It was sold in 1930 [6] and used as a prisoner of war camp during World War II.[7] In the 1950s and 1960s it was owned by artist Michael Lambert Tree (1921–1999[8]), a son of Ronald Tree and an heir to the Marshall Field mercantile fortune, and his wife, the former Lady Anne Cavendish, a daughter of the 10th Duke of Devonshire. Tree inherited the house from his uncle, Peter Beatty, who died on 26 October 1949.[9]

The Wateringbury Stream passes through the grounds of the castle. It powered a fulling mill at the eastern end of the castle grounds.[10][11]

Mereworth Castle is owned by Mahdi Al-Tajir, the former United Arab Emirates ambassador to the United Kingdom and owner of the Highland Spring bottled water company,[12] who purchased it in 1976 for $1.2 million.[13] It is not generally accessible to the public, but does open on rare occasions for guided tours.

References

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Sources

  • Stutchbury, Howard, The Architecture of Colin Campbell, Harvard University Press, 1967, 54-58. ISBN 0-674-04400-2
  • Harris, John, The Palladians, Trefoil Publications Ltd, 1981, 66-67. ISBN 0-86294-000-1
  • Country Life, XLVII, 808,876,912; XCV, 242; CIV,728; CXVI, 209
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External links

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  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. This source attributes the plasterwork to Francesco Bagutti, but Giovanni Bagutti would appear to be more likely.
  2. ↑ 5 houses have been built in Britain based on Palladio's Villa Rotunda (the others being Nuthall Temple, Nottinghamshire [demolished]; Henbury Hall, Cheshire; Chiswick House, Greater London; and Foots Cray Place, Kent [demolished])
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lord Oranmore and Browne's obituary Telegraph
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. (subscription or UK public library membership required)
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Watermills of the East Malling and Wateringbury Streams, Part 2, Chapter 1
  11. ↑ Watermills (Kent and the Borders of Sussex) p134.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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