Staunton Country Park

Staunton Country Park is a listed Regency landscaped parkland and forest encompassing approximately 1,000 acres (4.0 km2) situated at Leigh Park between Havant and Rowlands Castle in Hampshire, England.[1]

Composed of parkland with ornamental lake, walks, woodland and follies and a farm area with animals, walled garden, glasshouses, and maze. While entry to the parkland itself is free there is a cost for entering the farm zone and its attractions.

History

The whole area has had a long history with evidence of a Roman Road running between Havant and Rowlands Castle, a site of Roman pottery production. During medieval times small villages and hamlets grew up around agricultural practices and the movement of animals to and from the Thicket and Forest of Bere. On early maps the hamlet of West Leigh can be seen to have a farm, large residence, and several houses. This residence was from 1793 inhabited by Samuel Harrison who either enhanced or rebuilt what was already there.[2] Harrison had already created a fenced park and it is this that William Garrett purchased in 1802.[3] He purchased lands from his neighbours and enhanced what was there to create a 'ferme ornee', garden structures, ornamental gardens, and a Regency house. In 1817 the park was sold to John Julius Angerstein but in 1819 the sale was reversed after Angerstein brought a case against Garrett over non disclosure of dry rot.[4] Garrett then put the estate back on the market.[4]

The park was purchased in 1820 by Regency politician and botanist Sir George Thomas Staunton[3] as part of his country estate 'Leigh Park'. He made significant changes and additions to the gardens with the construction of the lake and a number of follies.[3] He also commissioned a Gothic style library as an extension to the house that was completed in 1833.[2] On his death in 1859 the estate and gardens were inherited by Staunton's cousin Henry Cormick Lynch.[5] Henry Lynch died just six weeks after receiving his inheritance and it was in turn passed to his eldest son George Staunton Lynch who then changed his name to George Staunton Lynch-Staunton.[5] In 1861 he in turn sold the gardens and the estate to William Henry Stone for £60,000.[6] Stone had a new house built which was finished in 1865 and most of the old house was demolished around the same time.[7]

Stone sold the estate and gardens to Frederick Fitzwygram in 1875.[8] When Frederick Fitzwygram died in 1904 the park and estate passed to his son Frederick Loftus Fitzwygram. He died in 1920 with the park this time passing to his sister Angela Fitzwygram.[9]

The house was requisitioned by the MOD in 1940 for use by HMS Vernon responsible for mine disposal and mine countermeasures.[2] The estate and gardens itself ere purchased by the city of Portsmouth in June 1944 and the gardens were transferred to the parks committee in 1950.[10] They were established as a Country park in 1987.[11]

Following the MOD's exit in 1956 and unable to find a suitable use, PCC had no option but to have Stone's house demolished in 1959.[3] While both Staunton's and Stone's house no longer exist the Gothic Library from Staunton's house and the Coachhouse & Stables from Stone's still remain.[12]

Staunton Country Park has hosted Havant parkrun since 16 June 2012.[13] In 2017 the park received lottery funding to carry out conservation work on its follies and construct a visitor center within the park's old Coach House.[14]

Leigh Water and its follies/structures

The park contains a man made lake called Leigh water constructed between 1828 and 1836 on the site of a watering hole a few yards in diameter.[15]

The lake is home to a number of islands, on the largest of which was a cottage used to house the under-gardener whose job it was to look after the lake area.[16] A smaller island was originally home to a small fort set up for nine guns and on which the flag of the Qing dynasty was flown.[17] A third island was Swan Island which as its name suggests was used for swans.[16]

On the North side, Water Meadow was a focus for several structures with a three arched bridge known as the Chinese Bridge built in 1830[15] leading onto Cottage Island. From the Chinese bridge visitors could gaze along a ride to Cannings Monument, built in 1832, some distance in the thicket. In 1832 two buildings were added; a boathouse apparently built to a Chinese design and a pergola.[18] In either 1832 or 1834 an ornamental Turkish kiosk was added to the lakeside.[19] It featured an onion dome surrounded by small minarets. On each side of the meadow were seating areas; in the west the Lookout and in the east the Green Arbour. In 1843 the statue of Diana, as Artemis the huntress, was place on the centre edge of the meadow. Gazing towards the lake she would have looked straight through the Chinese boathousw to the structures on the South side of the lake.

On the South Side, apart from the Fort mentioned above, a Chinese summer house was built in 1835 by the site of the lake.[19] At the Western end of the lake the Corinthion Bridge, based on a design by Papworth, was added allowing visitors to access long Island.

Under Henry Stone the lake was expanded and an extra island added.[20] He also had the cottage demolished and replaced by an American garden.[20] Many of the surrounding follies/structures were also removed at this point when Stone undertook his landscape changes [20] however it may be the state of them forced demolition anyway. The Chinese bridge remained but alterations were made to its appearance.[20]

Follies

The park originally contained a number of follies/structures, of which the following still survive:

The Shell House

The Shell house, a Grade II* listed building,[21] was built in 1828 and is covered in shells from Hayling Island.[22] The house is hexagonal in shape and was based on the design of the Chichester Cross.[1] By 1836 George Staunton was using the shell house as a museum of curiosities for such items as a stuffed crocodile and examples of Roman pottery.[23]

The Beacon

The beacon designed by Lewis Vulliamy[24] is a folly built in 1830 in the style of an Tuscan order temple.[25] It was largely built with material from the demolished Purbrook house and features a hole in a roof designed to allow a flag to be placed there.[26] The roof is domed, with a plain frieze and architrave and supported by eight Tuscan columns.[25] The beacon was restored in 2017 as part of a £3.5m Heritage Lottery grant for Staunton Country Park.[27]

The follies/structures which do not survive include:

The Temple

The temple was a memorial commissioned by George Staunton in 1824 with a large memorial urn at its centre.[28] As initially completed the temple contained dedications to Staunton's parents and further dedications to more distant relations and friends.[28] In the following years an eight busts were added in a semi circle around the urn.[29] Most of the busts were of friends of Staunton who had died after 1820 but one was of the then still living William Howley.[29] In 1840 Staunton decided to add no further memorials to the temple.[30] Further busts were added after this time but they were primarily of people still living.[31] The temple was removed when William Henry Stone had his new home constructed on its site.[32]

The Canning obelisk

The 50' obelisk was another Lewis Vulliamy design built in August 1832 to honour George Canning.[33] Although noted as being still present in 1986,[34] situated in the Thicket it appears to have been removed in 1960s during deforestatiin.

The Moss House

The moss house appears to have been built at some point in the first half of the 1830s and featured covered seat. The inside was lined with moss and the floor was made up of Emsworth pebbles of differing colours.[35] It was removed in the 1860s as part of the building work undertaken by William Henry Stone.[36]

The Election Column

The Election Column was erected in 1837 and initially featured the date of Staunton's then sole election victory and two defeats. A year later the date of his election as an MP for Portsmouth was added.[37] The column was removed at some point during Stone's ownership of the park with the inscription recording Staunton's election victories being moved to the shell house.[20]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Staunton Country Park.
  1. ^ a b Indy Almroth-Wright (20 January 2009). "The Shell House". BBC. Retrieved 24 August 2010.
  2. ^ a b c O’Brien, Charles; Bailey, Bruce; Pevsner, Nikolaus; Lloyd, David W. (2018). The Buildings of England Hampshire: South. Yale University Press. pp. 331–333. ISBN 9780300225037.
  3. ^ a b c d "Leigh Park, (also known as Staunton Country Park), Havant, England". Parks & Gardens Data Services Ltd. 24 October 2009. Retrieved 24 August 2010.
  4. ^ a b Gladwyn, Derek (1992). Leigh Park a 19th Century Pleasure Ground. Middleton press. pp. 18–20. ISBN 1-873793-07-3.
  5. ^ a b Gladwyn, Derek (1992). Leigh Park a 19th Century Pleasure Ground. Middleton press. p. 129. ISBN 1-873793-07-3.
  6. ^ Gladwyn, Derek (1992). Leigh Park a 19th Century Pleasure Ground. Middleton press. pp. 130–131. ISBN 1-873793-07-3.
  7. ^ Gladwyn, Derek (1992). Leigh Park a 19th Century Pleasure Ground. Middleton press. p. 135. ISBN 1-873793-07-3.
  8. ^ Gladwyn, Derek (1992). Leigh Park a 19th Century Pleasure Ground. Middleton press. p. 153. ISBN 1-873793-07-3.
  9. ^ Gladwyn, Derek (1992). Leigh Park a 19th Century Pleasure Ground. Middleton press. p. 165. ISBN 1-873793-07-3.
  10. ^ Gladwyn, Derek (1992). Leigh Park a 19th Century Pleasure Ground. Middleton press. p. 167. ISBN 1-873793-07-3.
  11. ^ Gladwyn, Derek (1992). Leigh Park a 19th Century Pleasure Ground. Middleton press. p. 170. ISBN 1-873793-07-3.
  12. ^ Whitelaw, Jeffery W (2005). Follies. Osprey Publishing. p. 31. ISBN 978-0-7478-0624-0.
  13. ^ "Havant parkrun". parkrun Limited. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  14. ^ Melton, Byron (20 July 2017). "Staunton Country Park set for rejuvenation after £2.85m lottery cash boost". The News. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  15. ^ a b Gladwyn, Derek (1992). Leigh Park a 19th Century Pleasure Ground. Middleton press. p. 59. ISBN 1-873793-07-3.
  16. ^ a b Gladwyn, Derek (1992). Leigh Park a 19th Century Pleasure Ground. Middleton press. p. 83. ISBN 1-873793-07-3.
  17. ^ Gladwyn, Derek (1992). Leigh Park a 19th Century Pleasure Ground. Middleton press. p. 67. ISBN 1-873793-07-3.
  18. ^ Gladwyn, Derek (1992). Leigh Park a 19th Century Pleasure Ground. Middleton press. p. 61. ISBN 1-873793-07-3.
  19. ^ a b Gladwyn, Derek (1992). Leigh Park a 19th Century Pleasure Ground. Middleton press. pp. 63–64. ISBN 1-873793-07-3.
  20. ^ a b c d e Gladwyn, Derek (1992). Leigh Park a 19th Century Pleasure Ground. Middleton press. p. 148. ISBN 1-873793-07-3.
  21. ^ Historic England. "THE STAUNTON MEMORIAL (1303476)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
  22. ^ "The Country park". Hantsweb. Hampshire County Council. 29 July 2010. Retrieved 24 August 2010.
  23. ^ Gladwyn, Derek (1992). Leigh Park a 19th Century Pleasure Ground. Middleton press. p. 58. ISBN 1-873793-07-3.
  24. ^ Lloyd, David W (1974). Buildings of Portsmouth and its Environs. City of Portsmouth. p. 117.
  25. ^ a b Vignola (1607). "Regola delli cinque ordini d'Architettura".
  26. ^ Gladwyn, Derek (1992). Leigh Park a 19th Century Pleasure Ground. Middleton press. p. 57. ISBN 1-873793-07-3.
  27. ^ "The restoration project at Staunton Country Park".
  28. ^ a b Gladwyn, Derek (1992). Leigh Park a 19th Century Pleasure Ground. Middleton press. pp. 46–47. ISBN 1-873793-07-3.
  29. ^ a b Gladwyn, Derek (1992). Leigh Park a 19th Century Pleasure Ground. Middleton press. pp. 80–81. ISBN 1-873793-07-3.
  30. ^ Gladwyn, Derek (1992). Leigh Park a 19th Century Pleasure Ground. Middleton press. p. 94. ISBN 1-873793-07-3.
  31. ^ Gladwyn, Derek (1992). Leigh Park a 19th Century Pleasure Ground. Middleton press. p. 98. ISBN 1-873793-07-3.
  32. ^ Gladwyn, Derek (1992). Leigh Park a 19th Century Pleasure Ground. Middleton press. p. 132. ISBN 1-873793-07-3.
  33. ^ Gladwyn, Derek (1992). Leigh Park a 19th Century Pleasure Ground. Middleton press. p. 60. ISBN 1-873793-07-3.
  34. ^ Headley, Gwyn; Meulenkamp, Win (1986). Follies a National Trust Guide. Jonathan Cape. p. 85. ISBN 0-224-02105-2.
  35. ^ Gladwyn, Derek (1992). Leigh Park a 19th Century Pleasure Ground. Middleton press. p. 82. ISBN 1-873793-07-3.
  36. ^ Gladwyn, Derek (1992). Leigh Park a 19th Century Pleasure Ground. Middleton press. p. 133. ISBN 1-873793-07-3.
  37. ^ Gladwyn, Derek (1992). Leigh Park a 19th Century Pleasure Ground. Middleton press. pp. 89–90. ISBN 1-873793-07-3.
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