Painshill Park (Painshill House)

Earlier Houses: There was an earlier house on a different site (near the stables).

Built / Designed For: Benjamin Bond-Hopkins

House & Family History: The house has been converted into flats and is in separate ownership from the garden.

Comments: The 20th and 21st century garden restoration is considered one of the finest examples of garden conservation in Europe.
Garden & Outbuildings: The grounds at Painshill were created by Charles Hamilton between 1738 and 1773 (Hamilton was William Beckford's great uncle). The gardens were conceived and laid out as pleasure grounds for fashionable 18th century society and contain a 14-acre lake fed from the river by a large waterwheel, a grotto, the Chinese Bridge, a ruined abbey, Robert Adam's Temple of Bacchus (1761), the mausoleum, the castellated tower, the Turkish Tent, and a vineyard. Painshill is today considered one of Europe's finest 18th century landscape gardens.
Architect: Richard Jupp

Date of Birth: 1728
Date of Death: 1799
Nationality: British
Notes: Jupp was surveyor and architect to the East India Company.

Date: 1778
Designed: House for Benjamin Bond-Hopkins
(Attribution of this work is uncertain)
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Architect: Decimus Burton

Date of Birth: 1800
Date of Death: 1881
Nationality: British
Notes: Designed Athenaeum Club, Constitution Arch, and the screen at the entrance of Hyde Park, all in London.

Date: 1831-32
Designed: Conservatory (demolished) and wings for Sir William H. Cooper

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Architect: Joseph Lane

Date of Birth: ?
Date of Death: 1784
Nationality: British
Notes: Lane and his son Josiah were local quarrymen in Tisbury, Wiltshire. They were much-used by Alderman Beckford in the design and creation of grottoes on his estate, Fonthill Splendens. They were popular throughout the West Country for their unique grottoes.

Designed: Grotto on island of Pleasure Grounds

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Architect: Charles Hamilton

Date of Birth: 1704
Date of Death: 1786
Nationality: English
Notes: Hamilton was a gentleman landscape designer and the 9th son of the 6th Earl of Abercorn.

Date: 1738-73
Designed: Park for himself

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Architect: Robert Adam

Date of Birth: 1728
Date of Death: 1792
Nationality: British
Notes: The prolific Robert Adam was the son of William Adam, Sr., and one of the four Adam brothers. Robert is noted for having "Never once built a great house from scratch," though he was the "it" architect of the 1760s and 70s, with an impressive and aristocratic client list a mile long. The Georgian House, Edinburgh, is considered by many to be Adam's urban masterpiece. Among his finest works are the Library of Kenwood House, London; Culzean Castle, Ayrshire; the Library of Mellerstain House, Scottish Borders; Syon House, London; and Newby Hall in Yorkshire.

Date: 1761
Designed: Temple of Bacchus (demolished) for Charles Hamilton

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John Bernard (J.B.) Burke, published under the title of A Visitation of the Seats and Arms of the Noblemen and Gentlemen of Great Britain and Ireland, among other titles: Vol. I, p. 217, 1852.

John Preston (J.P.) Neale, published under the title of Views of the Seats of Noblemen and Gentlemen in England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, among other titles: 2.S. Vol. I, 1824.

Country Life: CXXIII, 18, 1958. Dec 13, 1979.
Title: Biographical Dictionary of British Architects, 1600-1840, A - HARDBACK
Author: Colvin, Howard
Year Published: 2008
Reference: pgs. 51, 202
Publisher: New Haven: Yale University Press
ISBN: 9780300125085
Book Type: Hardback

Title: William Beckford, 1760-1844: An Eye for the Magnificent
Author: Ostergard, Derek E. (Editor)
Year Published: 2001
Reference: pg. 136
Publisher: New Haven: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300090684
Book Type: Hardback

Title: Gardens of England and Wales Open for Charity, 2000 (The Yellow Book)
Author: The National Gardens Scheme
Year Published: 2000
Publisher: Surrey: National Gardens Scheme
ISBN: 0900558326
Book Type: Softback

Title: William Beckford: Composing for Mozart
Author: Mowl, Timothy
Year Published: 1998
Publisher: London: John Murray
ISBN: 0719558298
Book Type: Hardback

Title: No Voice From the Hall: Early Memories of a Country House Snooper
Author: Harris, John
Year Published: 1998
Publisher: London: John Murray
ISBN: 0719555671
Book Type: Hardback
House Listed: Grade II*

Park Listed: Grade I
"Wings of the Dove" (1997). "A Short Stay in Switzerland" (2009 - TV). "Trinity" (2009 - TV series, as Bridgeford University grounds). "Dorian Gray" (2009). "Bridgerton" (2020-24 - TV series, for garden scenes).
Past Seat / Home of: SEATED AT EARLIER HOUSE: Charles Hamilton, 1738-73. SEATED AT CURRENT HOUSE: Benjamin Bond-Hopkins, 1778-94. Eobert Hibbert, 1795-99. William Moffat, 1799-1803. General Henry Lawes Luttrell, 2nd Earl of Carhampton, and his widow, 1804-31. Sir William and Lady Cooper, 1831-71. Charles J. Leaf, from 1871.

Current Ownership Type: Preservation Organization

Primary Current Ownership Use: Visitor Attraction

Ownership Details: The gardens have been owned by Elmbridge Borough Council since 1980; they are leased to and managed by Painshill Park Trust. Painshill House is owned separately and has been divided into flats.
House Open to Public: Grounds Only
Phone: 01932-868-113

Fax: 01932-868-001

Email: [email protected]

Website: https://www.painshill.co.uk/

Awards: Europa Nostra Award

Historic Houses Member: Yes

Painshill Park (Painshill House)

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