Burton Pynsent House

Burton Pynsent House
Location of Burton Pynsent House in Somerset
Location Curry Rivel, Somerset, England, U.K.
Coordinates 51°00′57″N 2°53′40″W / 51.01583°N 2.89444°W / 51.01583; -2.89444Coordinates: 51°00′57″N 2°53′40″W / 51.01583°N 2.89444°W / 51.01583; -2.89444
Built 1756
Listed Building – Grade II*
Official name: Burton Pynsent House
Designated 17 April 1959[1]
Reference no. 431249

Burton Pynsent House is a historic country-house in Britain, situated in the parish of Curry Rivel, Somerset, England. It is a Grade II* listed building.[1]

History

The house was built in 1765 for William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, after he inherited the estate from Sir William Pynsent.[2] It formed part of a wing of a larger earlier house, that was demolished around 1805.

The grounds were laid out in the mid 18th century by Pitt and Lancelot Brown; and they include early-20th-century formal gardens designed by Harold Peto.[3] They are listed, Grade II, on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of special historic interest in England.[4]

The Chatham Vase, a stone sculpture commissioned as a memorial to William Pitt the Elder by his wife, Hester, Countess of Chatham, was originally erected at their house in Burton Pynsent in 1781; but it was moved to the grounds of Chevening House in 1934, where it currently resides.

The 140 feet (43 m) Pynsent Column (also known as the Curry Rivel Column, Burton Pynsent Monument, Pynsent Steeple or Cider Monument)[5] stands on Troy Hill, a spur of high ground about 700 m north-east of the house. It was designed in the 18th century by Capability Brown for William Pitt.[6][7] It was restored in the 1990s by the John Paul Getty Trust and English Heritage.[5]

References

  1. 1 2 "Burton Pynsent House". Images of England. English Heritage. Retrieved 28 February 2011.
  2. ↑ "Burton Pynsent, Yeovil, England". Parks & Gardens UK. Parks and Gardens Data Services Limited (PGDS). Retrieved 9 June 2013.
  3. ↑ "Burton Pynsent". Somerset Historic Environment Record. Somerset County Council. Retrieved 18 February 2011.
  4. ↑ "Burton Pynsent". National Heritage List for England. Historic England. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
  5. 1 2 Holt, Jonathan. Somerset Follies. Akeman Press. pp. 76–77. ISBN 978-0-9546138-7-7.
  6. ↑ "Curry Rivel Column (Burton Pynsent)". Folly Towers. Archived from the original on 2008-02-22. Retrieved 28 February 2011.
  7. ↑ "Burton Pynsent Monument". Images of England. English Heritage. Retrieved 28 February 2011.
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