Stourhead
Stourhead is one of the finest examples of 18th Century landscape gardening, Palladian stately house and a graceful lake surrounded by neo Classical temples set in a 2,650-acre estate.
Inspired by the landscapes of Europe and the paintings of Claude Lorraine and Nicholas Poussin, wealthy banker Henry Hoare began landscaping his huge estate in the Wiltshire countryside in the 1740s. He created a beautiful, poetic landscape with a great triangular lake made from a group of medieval fishing ponds, the surrounding hillsides dressed with beechwoods and conifers of luminous shades and he created focal points of Classical temples, evocative of the gods and heroes of Rome. The following generations of the Hoare family continued to care for the garden adding some unique touches of their own, including the striking Alfred’s Tower on the outer rim overlooking the lake, offering spectacular vistas.
Legend has it that on this very spot, King Alfred the Great raised the royal standard against the Danes. Other additions include a splendid collection of exotic trees, shrubs and rhododendrons. Stourhead has been much visited and copied and later inspired the famous landscaper Capability Brown, providing the model for many of the great English gardens.
The house, a fine example of English Palladian architecture, was built in the 1720s and designed by Colen Campbell, a pioneer of this style. The house belonged to the Hoare family, the owners of the only remaining independent private bank in Britain, for over 200 years and has a fascinating history. The contents of the house were all once family possessions; the Hoare family were patrons of the arts and have left 482 paintings including works by Canaletto, Poussin and Reynolds. They also bequeathed to the house over 5,000 books in the fabulous Regency Library and a fabulous collection of early Chippendale furniture.
A range of events are held in Stourhead’s extensive grounds throughout the year, from walks and exhibitions to elegant summer garden parties and a spectacular open air fête Champêtre.
