- Upton House
Upton House is a
country house in the English county ofWarwickshire , about seven miles north west ofBanbury ,Oxfordshire . It is in the care of the National Trust.Description
Built in about 1695 for Sir Rushout Cullen, Upton is a long low house built of local yellow
sandstone . It is agreeable but of modest architectural significance. Perhaps uniquely among country houses owned by the National Trust it was acquired almost entirely for its art collection, and it is presented more as an art gallery than a private home. The collection was assembled byWalter Samuel, 2nd Viscount Bearsted , who owed his fortune to the fact that his fatherMarcus Samuel was the founder of the oil companyShell Transport & Trading . He acquired Upton in 1927 and gifted it to the National Trust in 1948. The collection includes English and Continental old masters by artists such asGeorge Stubbs ,Jan Steen ,Melchior de Hondecoeter ,William Hogarth ,Thomas Gainsborough ,El Greco ,Joshua Reynolds , George Romney,Tintoretto ,Rogier van der Weyden andPieter Bruegel the Elder . There is also a collection of Englishporcelain , including Chelsea, Derby, Bow and Worcester, and some FrenchSèvres porcelain. The house also contains anart deco bathroom and a collection of early Shell advertising posters.The other attraction of the Upton is the garden. A lawn sweeps gently down from the house and at the bottom of it there is a terraced water garden in a small valley, unseen from the house and on a first visit unsuspected. It contains the National Collection of
Asters .External links
* [http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/w-uptonhouse.htm Upton House at the National Trust]
* [http://www.gardenvisit.com/g/upp2.htm Upton House Garden - a Gardens Guide review]
*IoE|306243
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