Silverton Park

Silverton Park

Silverton Park, south front
location within Devon
Alternative names Egremont House
General information
Status Demolished
Architectural style Neoclassical
Town or city Silverton, Devon
Country England
Coordinates 50°48′51.2″N 3°27′47.2″W / 50.814222°N 3.463111°W / 50.814222; -3.463111
Groundbreaking 1839
Completed 1845
Demolished 1901
Owner George Wyndham, 4th Earl of Egremont
Design and construction
Architect James Thomas Knowles
Other information
Number of rooms 187
Centre: Site of Silverton Park in 2014, now overgrown with trees, viewed from south-east.[1] Left: (west), surviving red-brick stable block; Right (east): modern thatched cottage-orné named "Combe Satchfield", the original name of the estate
Silverton Park, west front, 1879 water colour by Edward Ashworth, collection of Devon County Council

Silverton Park (also called Egremont House) was a large neoclassical mansion in the parish of Silverton, Devon, England, built in 1839–45 by George Wyndham, 4th Earl of Egremont (1786–1845) and demolished in 1901. It was according to Pevsner and Cherry (1991) "an extraordinary design, entirely clothed in colonnades",[2] but was "a monstrous Italian house" in the opinion of Bernard Coleridge, 2nd Baron Coleridge (1851–1927). It comprised as its core the former early Georgian manor house of Combe Satchfield.

Combe Satchfield

Combsatchfield House, pre-1905 photograph of a pre-1839 painting, published in The Story of a Devonshire House (1905) by Bernard Coleridge, 2nd Baron Coleridge, whose grandfather as a child was a frequent visitor there to his "Aunt Brown"

The house was built on the site of the early Georgian manor house of Combe Satchfield, anciently Culme Sachville,[3] which formed the core of the new building.[4]

Domesday Book

The manor called by Pole (d.1635) Culm Sachvill and Culm Reigny was said by him to have been "neere the river of Culme",[5] from which the nearby town of Collumpton is named, "the chiefest place on her stream that beareth her name" (Risdon).[6] In the Domesday Book of 1086 it was recorded as COLVN (i.e. "Colun"),[7] and was one of eleven manors held in Devon in-chief from King William the Conqueror by his Saxon thane Godwin. The latter was one of only twenty[8] Saxon thanes in Devonshire who survived the Norman Conquest of 1066 and retained their antiquated high status as thanes and became tenants-in-chief under the new Norman king. There had however been various changes in the manors held by this select group of Saxon thanes after the Norman Conquest as of the eleven manors Godwin held under the Norman king in 1086, he had held only three in 1066 under King Edward the Confessor, namely Chittlehampton, Holbrook and Down Umfraville. The extra eight manors he held in 1086, including COLVN, had all previously been held by the Saxon Alstan, who held nothing in 1086.[9] Culme was in the ancient hundred of Hayridge.[10]

Honour of Gloucester

Most of the lands of the Saxon thanes of William the Conqueror eventually passed to the feudal barony of Gloucester, as was the case with Culme.[11]

Tenants of Honour of Gloucester

de Reigny

Culme was held by John Reigny at the start of the reign of King Henry III (1216-1272), when it was known as Culme Reigny.[12] The de Reigny Anglo-Norman family held much land elsewhere in Devon, and other manors took their name, for example the surviving Ashreigney. Other Devon manors held at some time by the de Reigny family included Eggesford.[13]

de Humfraville

Culm Rengy was later held by John de Humfravill,[14] whose Anglo-Norman family (alias de Umfraville, etc.) was tenant of several other manors from the Honour of Gloucester, including Down Umfraville[15] in the hundred of Axmouth, which had been held by Godwin the thane both before and after the Norman Conquest. Sir Gilbert Umfraville of Penmark was one of the Twelve Knights of Glamorgan, the legendary followers of Robert FitzHamon (d.1107), the Norman conqueror of Glamorgan and first Norman feudal baron of Gloucester. Culme does not appear to have taken for suffix the name of this family.[16]

de Sachville

In the Book of Fees Colm Reyngny was recorded as held from the Honour of Gloucester by Robert de Sicca Villa (literally "from the dry town", the Latinized form of the Norman-French de Sacheville). Thereafter the manor was known as Culme Sachville, later corrupted and Anglicised to Sackville, Sachfield, etc. The name of Culme even later became corrupted to Combe, a common form in Devon, such as Combe Martin, Branscombe, etc, which were however named from their locations in the steep sided valleys of Devonshire called in the local vernacular "combes". The landscape at Combe Satchfield is however comparatively flat and a steep-sided valley does not exist in the immediate vicinity. It was variously recorded as held by Robert and Phillip Sachville. Other manors held at some time by the Sachville family or branches thereof included Heanton Satchville, Petrockstowe and Bicton. Their chief manor in Devonshire was Clist Sachville.[17]

Others

An heiress named Margaret, possibly of the Sachville family, brought it by marriage to her husband Sir Simon Meriet.[18] It was later inherited by the Courtenay family of Powderham, apparently having been exchanged for other lands with the Bonville family of Shute,[19] (the great rivals of their cousins the Courtenay Earls of Devon of Tiverton Castle) who sold it to Henry Skibbow, whose son was resident there in about 1630.[20] The Courtenays sold part of the estate to the father of Mr Laund of Woodbeare, who held it in about 1630.[21] The other part the Courtenays sold to Edward Drewe of Sharpham, Serjeant-at-Law, whose son Sir Thomas Drewe (d.1651) of The Grange of Dunkeswell Abbey,[22] Broadhembury, Sheriff of Devon in 1612, sold it (together with Killerton, to which it adjoins, the later Acland seat) to Sir Arthur Acland (d.1610)[23] of Acland. In 1654 it was the property of Gilbert Mortimer, of the Mortimer family of Poundesland and Stockwell House.[24]

Langford

Sir Henry Langford, 3rd Baronet (c.1656–1725), of Combe Satchfield and Kingskerswell, Devon, a judge and Sheriff of Devon. 1710 portrait by William Gandy (1650-1729). Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter

The overlordship of the feudal barony of Gloucester can be assumed to have disappeared following the abolition of feudal land tenure in England by the Tenures Abolition Act 1660. In 1720 the estate was purchased by the judge Sir Henry Langford, 3rd Baronet (c.1656–1725), of Gray's Inn, Sheriff of Devon in 1716, who also owned estates at Bradninch and who in 1710 had purchased the manor of Kingskerswell[25] where his successor Henry II Langford Brown (1802-1857) built Barton Hall.

He was from a prominent Irish family, the second son of Sir Hercules Langford, 1st Baronet (c.1625-1683), of Kilmackedrett, County Antrim, by his wife Mary Upton, a daughter of Henry Upton of Castle Upton, County Antrim. The arms of Langford of Kilmackedrett were: Paly of six sable and or, on a chief vert a lion passant guardant of the second[26] which were visible on the facade of the now demolished Antrim Castle.[27] These arms are almost identical to those of the Langford gentry family of Bratton Clovelly in Devon, of whom the earliest recorded head was Richard Langsford (died 1583).[28] Sir Henry Langford's portrait, now in the collection of the Royal Albert Memorial Museum in Exeter, was painted in 1710 by William Gandy (1650-1729). He died in 1725 without male issue, when the baronetcy became extinct. He bequeathed all his Devonshire estates to his godson, Thomas Brown.[29] The Irish estates appear to have gone to the descendants of his sister Mary Langford, the wife of Sir John Rowley. Mary Langford's grandson was Hercules Langford Rowley, husband of Elizabeth Upton, who was created Viscountess Langford in 1766. Hercules Rowley's daughter, Hon Jane Rowley, married Thomas Taylour, 1st Earl of Bective. Lord Bective's fourth son was created Baron Langford in 1800.

Langford-Brown

Thomas Brown

In compliance with the terms of his inheritance Thomas Brown assumed the surname Langford-Brown. His son[30] and heir was Henry I Langford-Brown (1721-1800).

Henry I Langford-Brown (1721-1800)

1756 portrait of Henry I Langford Brown (1721-1800), of Comb Satchfield and Kingskerswell, Devon. British (English) School. Collection of Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter

Henry I Langford-Brown (1721-1800), son (possibly grandson) of Thomas Brown. In his will he left a life interest in Combe Satchfield to his second wife Dorothy Taylor, with reversion after her death to his brother Thomas I Langford Brown.[31] He married twice:

"The great joy of all the boys was to spend their holidays with "Aunt Brown" at Combesatchfield, about ten miles away in the parish of Silverton. Mrs. Brown, the sister of Mrs. James Coleridge, was the widow of Henry Langford Brown. Childless herself, she thoroughly adopted her nephews and niece. After the stiff fashion of the day, the two sisters always called each other "Mrs. Brown" and " Mrs. Coleridge," and at the beginning of each holiday the same formula was used: " Very well, Mrs. Coleridge, I am very glad to have the boys, only remember I can't answer for them, and if they are drowned — and the ponds are very deep — or shoot themselves, or break their legs, I'm not to blame." This protest was perhaps not unnecessary when we know that there were two of these ponds on which excursions in tubs were wont to be made, also an old pistol or two, of which the boys had full command, and horses with which they did pretty much as they liked. Orchards too, gardens, fruit at discretion, a famous myrtle-walk, made Combesatchfield a paradise for the young. The mistress of the old-fashioned, stately square-built house was in keeping with its character. Too far from the parish church for her to walk, she always drove on Sunday in her dark green chariot with two fat horses and a postillion, in drab Jacket, all over buttons, with white leather breeches, top-boots, a black velvet cap surmounting all, with gold lace on the top, a very vision of splendour to youthful eyes. The postillion was always a Cookesley, a family which had hereditary claims to be part of the household. Every servant was to go to church, and the house, solitary as it was, to be locked up. She would not relax this rule, although every year, on the Sunday before Silverton Fair, the garden, famous for its apricots, was regularly robbed during church-time. The house and its antient features have departed, for on the death of Mrs. Brown in 1831 the property passed into the hands of her husband's family, who sold it to the last Lord Egremont. The dignified old Devonshire name of Combesatchfield was not fine enough for him, so he called it " Silverton Park," and proceeded to build a monstrous Italian house clean around the old building, which he never completed, and upon which he spent an idle fortune. A generation afterwards my grandfather, Sir John Taylor Coleridge, paid a visit to the paradise of his childhood. The new buildings were not finished. He entered through a portico, and after walking down a long passage came to the old green front door with its brass knocker. As he stood out-side it, waiting for it to be opened, he could hardly help expecting to see old Drewe the butler, and to hear the noise of the bolt being withdrawn as in old times. The house was never occupied. Lord Egremont spent vast sums on it, and died in 1845, leaving it unfinished, and finally in 1900 the materials were sold to housebreakers, who blew it up with dynamite. The Italian additions were easily demolished, but the kernel, the old brick house, was of tougher mould. Much of it still stands, a ruin which the kindly hand of Time will soon make venerable. The ponds, except one deep gloomy excavation in the rock from which a spring wells forth, the park, the myrtle-walk, are gone, and of the delights of old Combesatchfield and of the character and personality of its mistress nothing remains but a memory".

Thomas Langford Brown (1762-1833)

Chest tomb of Thomas II Langford Brown (1762-1833), outside west door of Silverton church

Thomas II Langford Brown (1762-1833) was either a son of Thomas I Langford Brown or of his brother Henry I Langford Brown. In 1779 he was promoted lieutenant in Simcoe's Rangers alias the Queen's American Rangers, which served in the American War of Independence. At the height of anti-American Republicanism in England, in 1793 he was one of the soldiers policing a march and demonstration in Topsham, Devon, by the loyalist citizens of Devon, supported by the local gentry. An effigy of Thomas Paine was hung on a gibbet and his "execrable book" The Rights of Man was ceremoniously burnt.[38] His chest tomb survives in Silverton churchyard, next to the west door of the church, inscribed as follows: Underneath are deposited the mortal remains of Thomas Langford Brown Esqr. (of Comb Satchfield in this parish) who died January 27th 1833 aged 71 years. Following the death in 1831 of Dorothy Ayre Taylor (Mrs Brown), the widow of Henry Langford Brown, he succeeded to the reversion under the will of his father or uncle. Combe Satchfield was sold, apparently in 1831, to George Wyndham, 4th Earl of Egremont (1786-1845), of Orchard Wyndham, Somerset, lord of the manor of Silverton.[39] Thomas I Langford Brown had at least three sons:

Portrait of Henry II Langford Brown (1802-1857), by Richard Augustus Clack (1804–1881), Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter, donated in 1957 by Thomas Hercules Langford Brown

Manor of Silverton

During the reign of King Henry IV (1399-1413)[42] the manor of Silverton was purchased by the judge Sir John Wadham[43] (d.1412),[44] of Edge in Branscombe, Devon, ancestor of John Wadham (d.1578) of Merryfield in Ilton, Somerset, (father of Florence Wyndham (died 1596), wife of Sir John Wyndham (d.1572) of Orchard Wyndham, Somerset, and father of Nicholas Wadham (1531/1532–1609), founder of Wadham College, Oxford) partly from Sir John Meriet and partly from Phillipa, widow of Matthew Courtenay.[45] From the Wadham family it was eventually inherited by Sir John Wyndham (1558–1645), of Orchard Wyndham,[46] ancestor of the Earl of Egremont.

Construction

Pre-1901 photograph of Silverton Park, south front viewed from the south-east. The holly tree survives today on the site now overgrown with mature trees

Having inherited the Egremont earldom but not the great Egremont seat of Petworth House in Sussex, the 4th Earl determined to rival Petworth with a house of his own. His architect was James Thomas Knowles who provided him with 187 rooms, occupying one acre of ground. and was constructed in brick with a render of patented metallic cement. A frieze depicting the Exodus of the Israelites into Egypt was sculpted on the cornice. When the earl died in 1845 without progeny, the interior of the house was incomplete and was never subsequently finished. His eventual heir to Silverton and to the more ancient Wyndham estate of Orchard Wyndham in Somerset, was his distant cousin William VI Wyndham (1834-1914) of Dinton House in Wiltshire.[47]

Demolition

The house's contents were sold in 1892 and it was demolished in 1901.[48] The demolition was described as follows by the Devon Weekly Times newspaper, 15 November 1901, under the headline "DEVON MANSION BLOWN UP":

"Egremont House situated about half a mile from Silverton, stands on an acre of ground. It has 150 rooms and has been unoccupied for more than 40 years. It was built 60 years ago by Lord Egremont, who only occupied it for about four years, when he died without seeing the completion of the massive undertaking. The place has been the scene of a great deal of interest for some months past. To complete the structure a fortune would have to be spent, and as a result it has fallen into the hands of Messrs. Atkins and Taylor of Exeter, who are demolishing it and making what money they can out of the materials. Handsome marble mantelpieces have fetched nearly £50 each. Messrs. Atkins and Taylor, on Wednesday, blew up the front of the house with dynamite. A large number of people were present, including several photographers. The blasting was timed for 3 o'clock. It was twenty minutes to four, however, before the twenty-odd charges of dynamite laid within and around some of the foundation pillars were declared ready to be fired. The crowd which had congregated around the mansion as soon as the word was given that the preparations were perfected, scattered to right and left, and formed a ring around the mansion where they stood in wonderment, and it was hoped in safety, to watch the impending catastrophe, by which the front of the great mansion passed suddenly from the view. A trying scene followed. At a given signal a workman lighted the end of each fuse simultaneously and then hurried from the spot to await events. Instead of the whole pile taking an upward flight, as many expected, nothing resulted from the effort, further than some four or five sharp cracks, a spit of fire, and the detachment of some blocks of masonry. Some of the dynamite charges had not exploded and others had misspent. Interest in the event waned and excitement died down at this palpable failure. But the telling trial was yet to be consummated. After a sufficient wait, the workmen cautiously crept back to the building, recharged the orifices with dynamite and again ignited the fuses, retiring as before to a safe distance. Presently the crack of artillery was heard, smoke issued in puffs from different parts of the mansion and presently one pillar after another fell to the ground with a resounding crash, and from the debris ascended clouds of dust which could have been seen for miles around. A gloomy place before, it now looked the acme of desolation when the dust and smoke had sufficiently cleared to give a view of it. The housebreakers and staff had done their best, but their best was not quite good enough, for parts of the mansion still remained intact. The third attempt which immediately followed, though it dislodged more of the building, miscarried in its full purpose, but the place was fairly knocked to pieces. Messrs, Taylor and Atkins will probably bring their smashing operations to a final close a few days later."[4]

Surviving stable block

Surviving stable block, situated about 200 yards west of demolished mansion house

The surviving stable block, is according to Pevsner and Cherry (1991) a "monumental pedimented composition around a courtyard" [48] built "in a severely Grecian style" (Pevsner, 1952).[49] It is the only surviving remnant of the house and was acquired in 1987 by Sir John Smith, founder of the Landmark Trust who sought to prevent it being converted into flats. In 2004, with the financial assistance of a private donor, the Landmark Trust started its restoration for use as self-catering holiday accommodation, completed in 2008.[50]

Nefarious use of sale catalogue

The art forger Shaun Greenhalgh and his father acquired a copy of the 1892 sale catalogue and used the un-illustrated catalogue descriptions to recreate items, for which the catalogue was used to provide spurious provenances. Their most notorious forgery supported by this false provenance was the so-called "Amarna Princess", made in the Amarna art style of ancient Egypt, which they sold in 2003 to Bolton Museum for £440,000, but were subsequently unmasked as forgers.[51]

References

  1. ↑ The holly tree at the SE angle of the site (with top branches denuded of leaf) is the same tree as appears in several of the last photographs taken of the mansion (Book of Silverton, p.65
  2. ↑ Pevsner, 1991 edition, p.744
  3. ↑ Culm Sachvill per Pole, Sir William (d.1635), Collections Towards a Description of the County of Devon, Sir John-William de la Pole (ed.), London, 1791, p.194; Culme sachvile per Risdon, Tristram (d.1640), Survey of Devon, 1811 edition, London, 1811, with 1810 Additions, p.80
  4. 1 2 "The Final Destruction Of Egremont House (aka Silverton Park)". Devon Heritage. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
  5. ↑ Pole, p.194
  6. ↑ Risdon, p.86
  7. ↑ Per Thorn, Caroline & Frank, (eds.) Domesday Book, (Morris, John, gen.ed.) Vol. 9, Devon, Parts 1 & 2, Phillimore Press, Chichester, 1985, part 1, 52:17
  8. ↑ Per Thorn, Caroline & Frank, (eds.) Domesday Book, (Morris, John, gen.ed.) Vol. 9, Devon, Parts 1 & 2, Phillimore Press, Chichester, 1985, part 1, 52:1-53: Colwin, Godric, Godwin, Odo,Aldred, Alward, Ansgot, Dunn, Alnoth, Alwin, Edwin, Ulf, Algar, Alric, Aelfric, Leofric, Saewulf, Aelfeva, Alfhild, Godiva
  9. ↑ Per Thorn, Caroline & Frank, (eds.) Domesday Book, (Morris, John, gen.ed.) Vol. 9, Devon, Parts 1 & 2, Phillimore Press, Chichester, 1985, part 1, 52:1-53
  10. ↑ Thorne & Thorne, part 2 (notes), 52,17
  11. ↑ Thorne & Thorne, part 2 (notes), 52,17
  12. ↑ Risdon, p.80
  13. ↑ "Battle Abbey Roll Volume 3 - TOC". 1066.co.nz. Retrieved 2016-01-24.
  14. ↑ Thorn, part 2, 52:17
  15. ↑ Thorn, part 2, 52:19
  16. ↑ "Battle Abbey Roll Volume 3 - TOC". 1066.co.nz. Retrieved 2016-01-24.
  17. ↑ "Battle Abbey Roll Volume 3 - TOC". 1066.co.nz. Retrieved 2016-01-24.
  18. ↑ Risdon, p.80
  19. ↑ Risdon, p.80
  20. ↑ Pole, p.194
  21. ↑ Pole, p.194
  22. ↑ Pevsner, p.217
  23. ↑ Pole, p.194; Vivian, pp.306-7, pedigree of Drewe
  24. ↑ Parnell, Graham J.H. (ed.), Silverton Local History Society, The Book of Silverton, Halsgrove Publishers, Tiverton, 2000, p.63
  25. ↑ Daniel Lysons; Samuel Lysons (1822). Magna Britannia: Being a Concise Topographical Account of the Several Counties of Great Britain. p. 95.
  26. ↑ Burke's General Armory, 1884, p.582
  27. ↑ This photograph of Antrim Castle in 1932 shows in great detail the Jacobean cut-stone armorial bearings. The lady in the doorway is unknown, the vandals have not started yet as to your left the windows are still intact. As King Charles I gave land to the Clotworthy family so a carved head of Charles I with the Royal letters underneath; 'C' on one side of the crown and 'R' on the other. Below these are two shields, one shows the coat of arms of Sir Hugh Clotworthy and the other coat of arms is of his wife - Mary Langford, and the date is between them. On the dextor, 'Castrum hoc cond'; and in the centre, 'Decimo maii'; and under the initials 'H. C,' and M. C.' on the sinister we have 'Anno domino 1613'. Below this is the inscription, 'Reno c. comes Massereene, MDCCIII', this was put there on instructions from Chichester,we have 'Anno domino 1613'. Below this is the inscription, 'Reno c. comes Massereene, MDCCIII', this was put there on instructions from Chichester, 4th Earl of Massereene. Next we have the arms of Clotworthy, 4th Viscount Massereene, with the arms of Chichester impaled. Then on down on the circular slab is the following: 'HOC CASTELLUM AUSPICE JOANNE CLOTWORTHY UNDECIMO VICE COMITE MASSEREENE REFECTUM ET AMPLIFICATUM EST A.D. MDCCCLXXXIX'
  28. ↑ Vivian, p.521, pedigree of Langford of Bratton Clovelly, arms: Paly of six argent and gules, on a chief of the first a lion passant sable
  29. ↑ "A Gallery in the Gardens | RAMM, Exeter's Royal Albert Memorial Museum & Art Gallery". Rammuseum.org.uk. 2011-12-15. Retrieved 2016-01-24.
  30. ↑ "Parishes: Cadbury - Clawton | British History Online". British-history.ac.uk. Retrieved 2016-01-24.
  31. ↑ As was the case for his manor of Kingskerswell, Lysons (822), p.95[Henry Langford-Brown (1721-1800)]
  32. ↑ Per inscription of her mural monument in Silverton Church, "Corryton", per Pevsner, p.519: "Coryton Park...Italianate mansion built by the Tuckers in 1756" (partly demolished)
  33. ↑ Per inscription of her mural monument in Silverton Church
  34. ↑ "Portrait of Dorothy Ayre Taylor, Mrs. Brown by John Keenan on artnet". Artnet.com. Retrieved 2016-01-24.
  35. ↑ Coleridge, Bernard, 2nd Baron Coleridge, The Story of a Devonshire House, T. Fisher and Unwin; Paternoster Square, London, 1905, pp.67-9
  36. ↑ Parnell, p.63
  37. ↑ "Coleridge, Bernard, 2nd Baron Coleridge, The Story of a Devonshire House" (TRXT). Paternoster Square, London: T. Fisher and Unwin. 1905. pp. 67–9.
  38. ↑ By W. T. Sherwin, W.T. & Carlile, Richard, The Republican, Volume 9, London, 1824, pp.98-100 (a British newspaper established as Sherwin's Political Register by Richard Carlile in 1817 and renamed in 1819)
  39. ↑ Parnell, p.63
  40. ↑ "History of Barton Hall". Cledgriffin.fsnet.co.uk. 1957-11-05. Retrieved 2016-01-24.
  41. ↑ Chest tomb inscribed on north side: Here also are deposited the remains of Thomas Langford Brown who died June 3rd 1849 aged 45 and of Edwin Langford Brown who died June 8th 1849 aged 39
  42. ↑ Pole, p.194
  43. ↑ Risdon, p.80
  44. ↑ Archived May 4, 2014, at the Wayback Machine.
  45. ↑ Risdon, p.80
  46. ↑ Pole, p.194
  47. ↑ "Silverton Park Stables". Landmark Trust. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
  48. 1 2 Pevsner, Nikolaus & Cherry, Bridget, The Buildings of England: Devon, London, 2004, p.744
  49. ↑ Pevsner, The Buildings of England: South Devon, Harmondsworth, 1952, p.263
  50. ↑ "The Landmark Trust". The Landmark Trust. Retrieved 2016-01-24.
  51. ↑ Archived March 8, 2009, at the Wayback Machine.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, March 04, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.