Buttercrambe, near York
North Yorkshire (North Riding)
England
Circa Date: 1726 w/18th, 19th & 20th century additions and alterations
Status: Partially Extant
19th century wings demolished in the 1960s
House Open to Public: By Appointment - Limited Opening Times
Country House: Yes
The house in the late 19th century, before the wings were removed. From "Morris's Views of Seats," 1880.
Earlier Houses: There was at least one earlier house on, or near, the site of the current house.
Built / Designed For: John Brewster-Darley
House & Family History: Aldby is a fine early 18th century red brick house of nine bays by three stories. The house's architect is unknown; it may have been designed by its owner/builder, John Brewster, or the architect William Etty. Aldby Park was requisitioned by the British Army during World War II. The house was restored in the early 2000s, after a serious 1999 fire.
Garden & Outbuildings: The Darley Arabian was one of the three Arabian foundation sires of modern Thoroughbred racehorses (the other two were the Byerley Turk and the Godolphin Arabian) that were brought to England in the early 18th century. The Darley Arabian was purchased in Aleppo, Syria, by Thomas Darley in 1704 and shipped to Aldby Park as a present for his brother. The stallion, which stood approximately 15 hands, is today generally considered the most important sire in the history of the English Thoroughbred. In 95% of modern Thoroughbred racehorses the Y chromosome can be traced back to the Darley Arabian (his son, Bulle Rock, is believed to have been the first Thoroughbred to be exported to the American colonies). There is a life-sized portrait of the Darley Arabian in the collection of Aldby Park. The early 18th century Grade II-listed stableblock, which probably once housed the Darley Arabian, is extant. It's likely that the grounds of Aldby Park were once home to a castle built for Edwin (Eadwine or Æduinus), King of Northumbria, in the 7th century.
Architect: Daniel Garrett
Date: Circa 1745Architect: William Etty
Date: 1726John 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. 59, 1852.
Country Life: LXXVIII, 486, 1935. LXXVIII, 491 [Pictures], 1935.
Title: Biographical Dictionary of British Architects, 1600-1840, A - HARDBACK
Author: Colvin, Howard
Year Published: 2008
Reference: pgs. 367, 412, 1175
Publisher: New Haven: Yale University Press
ISBN: 9780300125085
Book Type: Hardback
Title: Classical Architecture in Britain: The Heroic Age
Author: Worsley, Giles
Year Published: 1995
Reference: pg. 123
Publisher: New Haven: Yale University Press (The Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art)
ISBN: 0300058969
Book Type: Hardback
House Listed: Grade II*
Park Listed: Grade II*
Current Seat / Home of: George Winn-Darley
Past Seat / Home of: SEATED AT EARLIER HOUSES: William Darley, 16th century; Henry Darley, 17th century. SEATED AT CURRENT HOUSE: John Brewster-Darley, 18th century; Henry Brewster-Darley, 19th century. Mark Winn, 20th century.
Current Ownership Type: Individual / Family Trust
Primary Current Ownership Use: Private Home
House Open to Public: By Appointment - Limited Opening Times
Historic Houses Member: Yes