Weston Park

Weston Park is a country house in Weston-under-Lizard, Staffordshire, England, set in more than 1,000 acres (4 km²) of park landscaped by Capability Brown. The park is located 10 miles north-west of Wolverhampton, and 8 miles north-east of Telford, close to the border with Shropshire. The 17th century Hall is a Grade I listed building and several other features of the estate are separately listed: the Orangery and the Stable block both as Grade II.

The land on which Weston stands was first mentioned in the Domesday Book, when it was held by Rainald de Bailleuil, Sheriff to Roger de Montgomery. The principal survivor of those times is the park which now forms part of the medieval deer forest. The land was then held by the de Westons of Weston and later by a branch of the Mytton family. It has been the home of the Earls of Bradford since the 17th century.

The house was built in 1671 by Lady Elizabeth Wilbraham. In fact, assisted by local craftsmen and Palladio’s First Book of Architecture, she seems to have been her own architect. Her heavily-annotated copy of Palladio’s book can still be seen in the library at Weston. The three storey twelve bayed south front was originally the entrance front but alterations and improvements to the Hall were carried out throughout the 19th century including the movement of the main entrance to the east front.

When the male line ended, Weston passed to Lady Wilbraham’s granddaughter Anne, who had married into the Bridgeman family who themselves were substantial landowners in Shropshire and elsewhere. Sir Henry Bridgeman commissioned Capability Brown to landscape the park. He also employed James Paine to add a Roman Bridge and Temple of Diana—later described by the renowned architect as "my greenhouse at Weston".

Over the years, Weston has played host to many distinguished guests including King George V's daughter Mary, and the Princess Royal, who spent part of her honeymoon amid its gracious surroundings. More recently, the G8 Summit Retreat was held at Weston in 1998, and since 1999 the grounds of Weston Park have been used as one of the sites of the annual dual-site Virgin sponsored V Festival, the other site being Hylands Park in Chelmsford.

References

* [http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/Details/Default.aspx?id=271611&mode=quick English Heritage; Images of England, photograph and detailed architectural description of Weston Hall]
* [http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/Details/Default.aspx?id=271623&mode=quick English Heritage; Images of England, photograph and detailed architectural description of Orangery]
* [http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/Details/Default.aspx?id=271629&mode=quick English Heritage; Images of England, photograph and detailed architectural description of Stable Block]

External links

* [http://www.weston-park.com/index.aspx?txtNavID=10&txtParentNavID=10 Official site]
* [http://www.weston-park.com/userfiles/pdf/Weston%20Map%202006.pdf Aerial view estate map]