Loseley Park

Loseley Park is a historic manor house situated outside Guildford in Surrey, England in the hamlet of Littleton. The estate was acquired by the direct ancestors of the current owners, the More-Molyneux, at the beginning of the 16th century. It is a Grade I listed building.[1] Loseley appears in Domesday Book of 1086 as Losele. It was held by Turald (Thorold) from Roger de Montgomery. Its domesday assets were: 2 hides. It had 4 ploughs, 5 acres (20,000 m2) of meadow. It rendered £3.[2] The papers of Sir Thomas Cawarden, Master of the Revels were formerly preserved in the house. Loseley Park is still the residence of the More-Molyneux family and is open to the public. The 17th century tithe barn is available for weddings.

The house

The present house was built between 1562 and 1568 with stone brought from the ruins of Waverley Abbey.[3] The new house replaced a smaller one which Elizabeth I declared was not 'adequate' for her to visit and requested something larger be built. The great hall is the principal room containing panelling from Henry VIII's Nonsuch Palace, a minstrel's gallery, carvings by Grinling Gibbons, panels from Henry VIII's banqueting tents and a collection of royal and family portraits.

The drawing room has a gilded ceiling decorated for James I's visit and a chalk fireplace. The carvings above the library fireplace (dated 1570) commemorate one of Elizabeth I's visits. Sir More's room contain an 18th-century Vauxhall mirror. Two bedrooms named the King's Room and the Queen's Room were used by James I and Elizabeth I respectively.[4] The house contains one of the few paintings of Anne Boleyn.

The garden

The walled garden, based on a design by Gertrude Jekyll, contains a series of "rooms" with different themes running through them. The redevelopment of the garden commenced in 1993/4 with the Rose Garden and continued with the Herb Garden, Flower Garden, White Garden and, most recently, the organic Vegetable and Cut Flower Garden. The gardens are surrounded by an old wall of similar age to the house and contain a vine walk, a huge spread of wisteria, the moat and moat walk, and the old mulberry tree around which a family prophecy revolves.[5]

Film and TV

The Internet Movie Database lists Loseley Park and house as a filming location for several productions: A Dandy in Aspic (1968), The Legacy (1978), Midsomer Murders (1997 TV series), The Worst Witch (1998 TV series), Agatha Christie's Marple: 4.50 From Paddington (2004) and By the Pricking of My Thumbs (2006), Stately Suppers (2006 TV series), Sense and Sensibility (2008 Mini-series), Emma (2009 Mini-series) and The Special Relationship (2010).

References

  1. ↑ Historic England. "Loseley House (1029573)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
  2. ↑ Surrey Domesday Book
  3. ↑ About Britain retrieved 6-1-07
  4. ↑ Loseley Park house webpage retrieved 6-1-07
  5. ↑ Loseley Park garden webpage retrieved 6-1-07

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Loseley Park.

Coordinates: 51°12′55″N 0°36′18″W / 51.2152°N 0.6049°W / 51.2152; -0.6049

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