DiCamillo Companion
England

Bryanston House (Bryanstone House)

Bryanston, near Blandford

Dorset

England

Historic County: Dorsetshire

Start Date: 1889

Completion Date: 1894

Status: Fully Extant

House Open to Public: No

Country House: Yes

The second (current) house from a circa 1911 postcard

The first house (demolished) from an 1811 engraving

  • Earlier Houses: Today's Shaw-designed house replaced an earlier 18th century house (Bryanstone House) by James Wyatt (demolished 1890) that was a 1/4 mile further down the hill.

    Built / Designed For: 2nd Viscount Portman

    House & Family History: Bryanston is a late 19th century banded red brick Baroque style house with a very grand entrance facade of 11 bays. The primary rooms sport rich plasterwork in Baroque and Neoclassical styles and fine chimneypieces, some of which may have been removed from Wyatt's earlier house. In 1927 the house became a boys' (now coeducational) public school.

  • Garden & Outbuildings: The entrance to the estate from the southeast is via the triumphal arch gateway built by James Wyatt circa 1778.

  • Architect: James Wyatt

    Date: 1778-circa 1781
    Designed: First house (destroyed) and Gateway (extant) for H.B. Portman

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    Architect: Norman Shaw

    Date: 1889-94
    Designed: Second (current) house for 2nd Viscount Portman

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  • 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: Vol. I, 1818.

  • Title: Biographical Dictionary of British Architects, 1600-1840, A - SOFTBACK
    Author: Colvin, Howard
    Year Published: 1995
    Reference: pg. 1115
    Publisher: New Haven: Yale University Press
    ISBN: 0300072074
    Book Type: Softback

    Title: Buildings of England: Dorset, The
    Author: Newman, John; Pevsner, Nikolaus
    Year Published: 1999
    Reference: pgs. 118-120
    Publisher: London: Penguin Books
    ISBN: 0140710442
    Book Type: Hardback

    Title: Country Houses of Dorset
    Author: Oswald, Arthur
    Year Published: 1935
    Publisher: London: Country Life Ltd.
    ISBN: NA
    Book Type: Hardback

  • House Listed: Grade I

    Park Listed: Not Listed

  • Past Seat / Home of: SEATED AT EARLIER HOUSE: Henry B. Portman, late 18th century; Edward Berkeley Portman, until 1823; Edward Berkeley Portman, 1st Viscount Portman, 1823-88. SEATED AT CURRENT HOUSE: Henry Berkeley Portman, 2nd Viscount Portman, 1890-1919; Henry Berkeley Portman, 3rd Viscount Portman, 1919-23; Claud Berkeley Portman, 4th Viscount Portman, 1923-27.

    Current Ownership Type: School

    Primary Current Ownership Use: School

    Ownership Details: Since 1927 Bryanston School

  • House Open to Public: No

    Phone: 01258-452-411

    Fax: 012580-484-537

    Email: [email protected]

    Website: http://www.bryanston.co.uk

    Historic Houses Member: No

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