It’s rare for English mansions and properties like the one in the hit show Downton Abbey to stay in the same family and survive over the years. Anthony Paletta writes about a new book, Felling the Ancient Oaks, that looks at estates lost to time. Here are some of the ancient country homes that suffered sad fates.
All photos reproduced by permission of English Heritage / National Monuments Record.
Reproduced by permission of English Heritage / National Monuments Record
The grand lodge at the main entrance to the park was designed in 1820 by Joseph Potter of Litchfield for the first Marquess of Anglesey. Its architecture charmingly mimicked that of the main house. It alone survives, having been converted to a private residence after the demolition of the house.
Reproduced by permission of English Heritage / National Monuments Record
The main lodge, designed by James Wyatt in delightful Gothic in 1802, was demolished by road engineers in 1967 to make way for a “new traffic system.”
Reproduced by permission of English Heritage / National Monuments Record
Sir Henry Jerningham's mid-16th century E-plan house was overshadowed by J.C. Buckler's picturesque extensions. The “Tudor” chimneys are CostessEy Ware made from special molds at the brickworks on the estate, which continued in production throughout the century.
Reproduced by permission of English Heritage / National Monuments Record
An extraordinary amalgam. The Georgianized Elizabethan house on the right, the Catholic chapel designed by Ned Stafford Jerningham and consecrated in 1809 on the left, and J.C. Buckler's neo-feudal eruption in the center. Two footmen survey the scene.
Reproduced by permission of English Heritage / National Monuments Record
The Deepdene in Surrey before demolition in 1967. The central block was the original Georgian house of 1770, remodeled, stuccoed, and extended in the 1840s by Thomas Henry Hope, who was also responsible for the enormous semicircular conservatory. A concrete and glass office block described as “disgraceful and depressing” now overlooks the Dorking bypass which cuts through the former estate's gardens.
Reproduced by permission of English Heritage / National Monuments Record
Glossop Hall and Victorian terraced gardens. The private Catholic chapel with continental-looking bell turret is on the right. The grounds became a public park when the estate was sold in 1925.
Reproduced by permission of English Heritage / National Monuments Record
The garden front by Giacomo Leoni, the Italian architect commissioned to rebuild the manor in the neo-classical style. The sympathetically designed attic story in the center was added by T.H. Wyatt. The elaborate Victorian formal garden was laid out in the 1860s.
Reproduced by permission of English Heritage / National Monuments Record
The entrance to the Nuthall Temple.
Reproduced by permission of English Heritage / National Monuments Record
