- Swallowfield Park
Swallowfield Park is a Grade II* listed
stately home and estate in the Englishcounty ofBerkshire . The house is situated near the village ofSwallowfield , some 4 miles south of the town of Reading.The house
Swallowfield Park was the home of the Backhouse family from the late 16th century, living in a now demolished Tudor mansion. The most famous member of this family was of
William Backhouse , theRosicrucian philosopher . The present house at Swallowfield Park was erected in1689 byHenry Hyde, 2nd Earl of Clarendon , when he acquired the estate on his marriage to William Bachouse's daughter Flower. The architect was William Talman, "comptroller of the works" to William III. [From: 'Parishes: Swallowfield', A History of the County of Berkshire: Volume 3 (1923), pp. 267-274. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=43215. Date accessed: 10 October 2008.] Talman built an H-shaped house with short projections to the front and more extended ones to the rear. The house was the childhood home ofEdward Hyde, 3rd Earl of Clarendon .cite web | title = Berkshire History : Swallowfield Park | url = http://www.berkshirehistory.com/castles/swallowfield_park.html | publisher = Nash Ford Publishing | date = 2002 | accessdate = 2007-09-02]In 1777, Thomas 'Diamond' Pitt, the Governor of
Fort St. George , bought Swallowfield Park from Edward Hyde, reputedly using part of the proceeds of his sale of theRegent Diamond toPhilippe II, Duke of Orléans . Pitt sold the property to John Dodd for £20,000, and it remained in this family till purchased in 1783 by Silvanus Bevan. The sale, at Christie's, lasted seven days and included a large number of magnificent pictures and objets d'art. After a quarrel with a neighbour about shooting rights Bevan sold the property in 1789. The Bevan crest, agriffin , still remains over the stone carved mantelpiece in the Hall.The house was bought in 1820 by Sir Henry Russell, British Resident at the court of Hyderabad in
India , [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=43215] who employed William Atkinson to undertake many adaptations and alterations to the house. [http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/Details/Default.aspx?id=41592&mode=quick] Internally, little of Talman's house survives as a result of these changes. A new staircase was installed, which resulted in the removal of a carved cornice made for the Earl of Clarendon byGrinling Gibbons . In1852 the house was inherited by his son, Sir Charles Russell VC. cite web | title = Berkshire History : Swallowfield Park | url = http://www.berkshirehistory.com/castles/swallowfield_park.html | publisher = Nash Ford Publishing | date = 2002 | accessdate = 2007-09-02]In 1923 the house was recorded as containing many fine protraits, including George Romney's painting of Lady Russell and son (1786–7), of Michael Russell (1785) and of Henry Russell; portraits of the Shelley family, Captain the Hon. William Fitzwilliam, Mr. Benyon and Mrs. Beard by Hogarth;
George Richmond 's portraits of Sir Henry Russell, bart., and of Charles Russell, afterwards third baronet, and another portrait of the same by Sir John Millais. At this time, the library held a large collection of books and many treasures, including Dr. Dee's magic mirror. [From: 'Parishes: Swallowfield', A History of the County of Berkshire: Volume 3 (1923), pp. 267-274. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=43215. Date accessed: 10 October 2008.]
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