Charlecote Park, Warwickshire
Charlecote Park is a stately home a few miles east from the town of Stratford upon Avon in Warwickshire.
Sir Thomas Lucy I built the grand, new brick house in 1558, replacing a medieval structure. Queen Elizabeth I visited the house in 1572, staying in what is now the drawing room. The original two-storey gatehouse from this period remains largely unaltered.
n the 1760s, the renowned landscape architect Lancelot "Capability" Brown was commissioned to redesign the parkland, sweeping away the formal gardens in favour of a naturalistic landscape, including a cascade and ha-ha.
In the 1820s, George Hammond Lucy and his wife Mary Elizabeth inherited a run-down estate and undertook extensive renovations. They transformed the house in the Elizabethan Revival style, collecting art and furniture to evoke its original grandeur. The current interiors largely reflect their Victorian vision of a Tudor house.
Facing financial pressures, the family began selling off parts of the estate in the early 20th century. In 1946, Sir Montgomerie Fairfax-Lucy transferred the house and remaining parkland to the National Trust in lieu of death duties, ensuring its preservation. The house is a Grade I listed building and remains a family home, with the family still residing in a wing of the house.
Charlecote Park, Warwickshire
Charlecote Park is a stately home a few miles east from the town of Stratford upon Avon in Warwickshire.
Sir Thomas Lucy I built the grand, new brick house in 1558, replacing a medieval structure. Queen Elizabeth I visited the house in 1572, staying in what is now the drawing room. The original two-storey gatehouse from this period remains largely unaltered.
n the 1760s, the renowned landscape architect Lancelot "Capability" Brown was commissioned to redesign the parkland, sweeping away the formal gardens in favour of a naturalistic landscape, including a cascade and ha-ha.
In the 1820s, George Hammond Lucy and his wife Mary Elizabeth inherited a run-down estate and undertook extensive renovations. They transformed the house in the Elizabethan Revival style, collecting art and furniture to evoke its original grandeur. The current interiors largely reflect their Victorian vision of a Tudor house.
Facing financial pressures, the family began selling off parts of the estate in the early 20th century. In 1946, Sir Montgomerie Fairfax-Lucy transferred the house and remaining parkland to the National Trust in lieu of death duties, ensuring its preservation. The house is a Grade I listed building and remains a family home, with the family still residing in a wing of the house.