Regency Estates: Stowe Manor (Part 1)

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Its time for a new category!  During our January poll, readers expressed wanting to learn more about locations outside of London.  In addition to Regency Destinations (which we will be rolling out in May), we decided a look at some of the great estates of the era would also be fun for readers.

We are starting with Stowe Manor and estate in Buckinghamshire.  Because there is so much to “see” at the estate, we are breaking this up into a three part series.

the Manor Stowe Stowe which has long been celebrated for the magnificent seat of the Marquis of Buck ingham is situated in the first division of the Buck ingham hundreds two miles and a half north north west from Buckingham This parish comprises the hamlets of Dodford and Langport and the depopu hamlet of Boycot the site of which is within the grounds of the Marquis of Buckingham The earliest account of the manor of Stowe which is justly regarded as the chief ornament of the coun is contained in Doomsday Book which states that in the reign of Edward the Confessor its value was 60s and it was held by Robert Doyley and Roger Ivory of the Bishop of Baieux When the bishop was dispossessed of his lands in the year 1088 this manor was obtained by these persons and divided between them Stowe was rein tained by Doyley who founded a church in his casfour tle at Oxford and endowed it with this estate but in the year 1129 on the removal of his foundation bestowed it on the canons of Oseney Abbey and it belonged to the bishop of that place when King Henry VIII on the dissolution of religious houses erected the abbey into a cathedral and settled it on King the first Bishop of Oxford Stowe followed the fortune of the abbey till Queen Eliza beth having taken the estates into her hands on a vacancy of the see of Oxford granted this manor and estate in the year 1590 to John Temple Esq a gentleman of very ancient family seated at Temreturns ple Hall in Leicestershire A park of about two A park of about two hundred acres was inclosed by his descendant Sir Peter Temple whose son Sir Richard after the Restoration rebuilt the manor house and settled 501 a year on the vicarage which in the hands of the abbots had been very poorly endowed This son was created Baron and Viscount Cobham by George I and dying without issue left his estate to his second sister Hester wife of Richard Grenville of Wotton in this county Lord Coban ham died in 1749 and was succeeded by the above lady who was created Countess Cobham a month after her brother's decease The present noble owner was created Marquis of Buckingham in the The approoch to Stowe from Buckingham through a Corinthian arch sixty feet high by sixty feet wide is remarkably grand The most favourhe able view of the houses and surrounding scenery is year 1784
from this spot the whole appearing like a vast grove interspersed with columns obelisks and towers which apparently emerge from a luxuriant mass of foliage The arch which is situated at the distance of a mile from the south front of the house stands on the brow of a lull and was built after a design of Thomas Pitt Lord Camelford Not far from this arch is one of the entrances to the Gardens These extensive and highly decorated grounds contain about four hundred acres diversilated fied with a great number of different scenes each distinguished by taste and fancy and each having a complete character of its own independent of other objects They may indeed be considered as exhity biting a fine specimen of what may be effected by art with scarcely any assistance from nature They owe their present celebrity to the alterations effected by Lord Cobham assisted by Bridgeman and Kent to the latter in particular the grounds owe much of their present beauty I The whose is enclosed withafterwards a sunk fence or Ha Ha which extends nearly miles in circumference and is accompanied by a broad gravel walk skirted with rows of lofty elms This path leads to many of the buildings and to sehe veral interesting scenes occasionally opening into the surrounding park and presenting views of the distant country Near this entrance are two Ionic pavilions origiRobert nally designed by Kent who was consulted as an architect as well as gardener but since altered by Signior Borra architect to the late King of Sardi nia In the front of these buildings is a fine piece of water which dividing itself into two branches through beautiful vallies to the cast and to the north The upper end of the lake is concealed amidst a mass of wood where falling over some artificial ruins it again expands its broad bosom to reflect the surrounding scenery On the left the Shepherd's Cave designed by Kent is situated in a rising wood on the banks of the lake The folgentleman's lowing inscription appears on the walls To the Memory of SIGNIOR Fido Italian of good extraction who came into England not to bite us like most of bis Countrymen but to gain an honest livelihood Ile bunieid not affer Fame Yet acquired it regardless of the Praise of his Friends but most sensible to their love Tho he lived amongst the Great neither learned nor fatter d any Vice He was no bigot Tho he doubted of none of the 39 articles The New British Traveller, 1819

Throughout the Georgian and Regency eras, Stowe Manor was a popular place for British and foreign royalty, aristocrats and dignitaries.  The Prince Regency stayed there in 1805 and 1808, King Louis XVII stayed in January 1808 for several days, and both the King of Sweden and the Russian Tsar visited in 1810.

It was owned, during this time, by the 1st Marquess of Buckingham, George Nugent-Temple-Grenville.

George would convert the East Gallery into the Large Library and turned a ground floor room into a Gothic Library, giving the house three libraries with a collection of books in history, philosophy, political science, maths, and more that his heir described as “the most perfect collection in this country.”

Many of the ceilings contained elaborate plaster work, paintings, and skilled work with the walls frequently as lavish.  There was a Rembrandt Room for showing off an eleven painting collection of Rembrandt works.  The Room also held an astronomical regulator clock.  The Egyptian Hall (c. 1803) served as the winter entrance, with a heating stove carved to look like a sarcophagus, and Egyptian decor and frieze.  The Marble Saloon was based on the Pantheon and designed sometime in the middle to late Georgian era, with columns, plaster statues, and intricate marble designs.

For a description of the major rooms, I recommend a visit to this site: VIPA Stowe House (vipauk.org)

Here is an image which showcases the ground floor.

Joseph Nash inked this drawing (1838) of the interior State Bedrooms which show the grand scale of rooms and lavish furnishing, likely which ultimately led to the sell off in the early Victorian era:

 

You can click on this 1848 document to read about some the contents of the house that were later for sale:

Join us in a few days as we tour the Gardens and some of the other impressive features of this estate.

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