Downton Castle
Downton Castle is a country house from the 18th century in the village of Downton on the Rock in the English county of Herefordshire , about 8 km west of Ludlow in Shropshire . English Heritage has listed it as a Grade I Historic Building.
The property was bought by Richard Knight (1659-1749), a wealthy steel manufacturer from Madeley , and passed on to his grandson Richard Payne Knight , who created a house in a neo-Gothic style. Knight, a follower of the " Picturesque " style, hired landscape architect Thomas Hearne to make various plans for the property.
Construction began in 1772 or 1773 and was largely completed in 1778.
The original, south-facing entrance facade has a square tower, six parts on the left that end in an octagonal tower, and five parts on the right, flanked by a square tower. The whole thing resembles a medieval castle with battlements and battlements. But Pevsner found his inspiration in the semi-fortified houses in the paintings of Claude Lorrain or Gaspard Poussin, and not in English castles.
In 1824, Charlotte Knight , daughter and heiress, married Sir William Rouse-Boughton of Downton Hall in Stanton Lacy , about 9 km northeast of Downton Castle. She bequeathed the property to her second son Andrew , who renamed himself Rouse-Boughton-Knight in 1857 . He was High Sheriff of Herefordshire in 1860 and during this time began improvements and extensions to the house, e.g. B. a new entrance with vestibule, the north-west tower and a chapel. Terraced gardens were laid out by WA Nestfield in 1865 . In 1881 the family resided in the manor house with 12 servants.
Charles Andrew Rouse-Boughton-Knight died in this house in 1947.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Architectural description of listed building . Heritage Gateway.
- ^ The River Teme at Downton, Herefordshire . Victoria and Albert Museum, London . Retrieved March 6, 2015.
- ^ A b Nikolas Pevsner: The Buildings of England - Herefordshire . Yale University Press, New Haven (1963) 2003. ISBN 978-0300096095 . P. 117.
- ↑ 1881 Census ref RG11 / 2613/40/7 . Public Records Office.
Coordinates: 52 ° 22 ′ 4.1 ″ N , 2 ° 48 ′ 59 ″ W.