Brightwell Park (Brightwell House)

Brightwell Baldwin, near Wallingford

Oxfordshire

England

Circa Date: 1790-92 w/20th century alterations

Status: Ruin

Mostly demolished 1947-48; stables converted into house.

House Open to Public: No

Country House: Yes

Earlier Houses: There was at least one earlier house on, or near, the site of the current house.

Built / Designed For: William Lowndes-Stone II

House & Family History: The extant buildings, together with 135 acres, were listed for sale in 2011 for £9 million.

Collections: During World War II Brightling Park was home to a prep school; after the school decamped most of the house was demolished 1947-48.
Garden & Outbuildings: The circa 1770 Grade II-listed stableblock was converted into the house after Brightwell Park was demolished in the 1940s. The Dower House and the coach house are also extant.
Architect: James Wyatt

Date of Birth: 1746
Date of Death: 1813
Nationality: British
Notes: One of the most important 18th century British architects, James Wyatt was born in Staffordshire in 1746 and received significant recognition in 1770 for the Pantheon (now destroyed), a theater on Regent Street that was modeled after the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul. Wyatt's interiors at Heavingham Hall in Suffolk are among his most significant designs, but his most famous work was Fonthill Abbey, the Gothick extravaganza he created for William Beckford in the Wiltshire countryside. He also began the Wyatt dynasty of architects, the most notable member of whom was probably his nephew, Jeffry Wyatt (later Wyatville).

Date: Circa 1790
Designed: House for William Lowndes-Stone II
(Attribution of this work is uncertain)
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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. II, p. 196, 1853.
House Listed: Not Listed

Park Listed: Not Listed
"Midsomer Murders" (TV series - multiple episodes).
Past Seat / Home of: SEATED AT EARLIER HOUSES: Baldwin de Bereford, 14th century. Francis Lowe, until 1754. William Lowndes-Stone I, until 1772; William Lowndes-Stone II, 1772-89. SEATED AT CURRENT HOUSE: William Lowndes-Stone II, 1791-1830.

Current Ownership Type: Individual / Family Trust

Primary Current Ownership Use: Private Home
House Open to Public: No
Historic Houses Member: No

Brightwell Park (Brightwell House)

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