Cassiobury Park (Cashiobury)

Built / Designed For: Arthur Capel, 1st Earl of Essex

House & Family History: The great 17th century house of the earls of Essex suffered an ignoble end. The interiors began to be dismantled in 1922, when the contents were auctioned off; the house itself was demolished in 1927. This dismemberment occurred under the guidance of Adele, Dowager Countess of Essex, and her stepson, the 8th Earl, who needed to raise large sums to pay death duties. Adele was an American heiress of the Grant Locomotive Works. She was born in New York City in 1866 and married (as his second wife) the 7th Earl of Essex in 1893. A noted society beauty (see "Images" section), she was one of the so-called “Lovely Five,” together with the Duchess of Sutherland, the Countess of Warwick, the Countess of Westmorland, and the Countess of Lytton. In 1902 her husband purchased a Cartier diamond tiara, known as the Essex Tiara, for the countess; the same tiara was worn by Clementine Churchill at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. The liquidation of the Cassiobury Estate was extremely thorough: 300 tons of old oak and 10,000 Tudor bricks were sold. Much of the masonry was used in the construction of a new Cassiobury House in Bedford, New York, on a 24-acre estate bordering the Beaver Dam River. The Great House at Castle Hill, Ipswich, Massachusetts, a 59-room house built between 1924 and 1928 to the designs of David Adler, has, in its library, paneling removed from Cassiobury's library at the time of its 1927 demolition. The Castle Hill library contains ornamental carving by Grinling Gibbons, as well as fine English bookcases and paneling (see photos in "Images" section). Castle Hill contains other rooms with English paneling and ornamental woodwork; however, these did not come from Cassiobury, but were purchased from W. & J. Sloane, the upscale New York City furniture store, as interiors from "the Hogarth House" at 75 Dean Street in Soho, London. The dining room at Ocean House, Santa Monica, California, designed by Julia Morgan in 1929 for William Randolph Hearst and his mistress, the actress Marion Davies, had Grinling Gibbons wall carvings from Cassiobury. A circa 1677-80 oak, elm, and pine staircase from the house is today in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (see "Images" section). The staircase, attributed to Edward Pearce, was commissioned by the 1st Earl of Essex for Cassiobury. A watercolor of the house and grounds by J.M.W. Turner, circa 1801, is today in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Part of the former estate grounds now form the public Cassiobury Park, but the site of the house is north of this (southeast of the stables), among urban development.

Collections: The contents of Cassiobury were auctioned between June 12 and June 23, 1922 by Knight, Frank and Rutley in 2,606 lots. At the estate auction on June 8, 1922 the house didn't sell. Further architectural salvage sales occurred up to 1927, when the house was demolished. Some paintings from the Cassiobury collection are today displayed in the Watford Museum.
Garden & Outbuildings: The Grade II-listed early 19th century stables were converted into Cassiobury Court, today an old peoples' home. Part of the grounds now form the public Cassiobury Park, which, at over 190 acres, is the today the largest public open space in Watford.
Architect: Jeffry Wyatville (Wyattville) (Wyatt)

Date of Birth: 1766
Date of Death: 1840
Nationality: British
Notes: Wyatville (originally Wyatt) was the son of Joseph Wyatt and trained as an architect in the London office of his uncle, Samuel Wyatt, followed, in 1792, by work with another uncle, the more famous James Wyatt. After 1799 he setup his own practice, and, by the 1820s, was one of the leading English architects. The pinnacle of Wyatville's career was his transformation of Windsor Castle (between 1824 and 1840) for George IV. On Aug 12, 1824 George IV, by royal license, authorized the architect to change his surname from Wyatt to Wyatville. In 1828 Wyatville was knighted.

Date: Circa 1813
Designed: Performed work for 5th Earl of Essex after James Wyatt's death. What Wyatville designed is uncertain.

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Architect: Hugh May

Date of Birth: 1621
Date of Death: 1684
Nationality: English
Notes: May's first known work is the Stables at Cornbury Park, Oxon. Melton Constable Hall is considered to be a significant example of the Classical country house style of Sir Roger Pratt and Hugh May. May was controller of the works at Windsor Castle from 1673. May can safely be credited with the introduction of the "Wren House", a simple block house with a hipped roof -- a design that derives from Inigo Jones.

Date: Circa 1677-80
Designed: House for 1st Earl of Essex

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Architect: Peter Frederick Robinson

Date of Birth: 1776
Date of Death: 1858
Nationality: British
Notes: Robinson was a student of Henry Holland.

Date: 1836
Designed: Conservatory for 5th Earl of Essex

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Architect: John Webb

Date of Birth: Circa 1754
Date of Death: 1828
Nationality: British
Notes: Webb was a Staffordshire architect and landscape designer; he was a pupil, and later partner, of William Eames.

Date: 1805
Designed: Consulted on landscaping

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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 1800-05
Designed: Remodeled House for 5th Earl of Essex

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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: 2.S. Vol. I, p. 135, 1854.

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. II, 1819.

Country Life: XXVIII, 392, 1910.
Title: Biographical Dictionary of British Architects, 1600-1840, A - SOFTBACK
Author: Colvin, Howard
Year Published: 1995
Reference: pgs. 648, 829, 1031, 1119, 1131
Publisher: New Haven: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300072074
Book Type: Softback
House Listed: Demolished

Park Listed: Grade II
"Summer in February" (2013 - the park was used for the woodland walk).
Past Seat / Home of: Arthur Capell, 1st Earl of Essex, until 1683; Algernon Capell, 2nd Earl of Essex, 1683-1710; William Capell, 3rd Earl of Essex, 1710-43; William Anne Capell, 4th Earl of Essex, 1743-99; George Capell-Coningsby, 5th Earl of Essex, 1799-1839; Arthur Algernon Capell, 6th Earl of Essex, 1839-92; George Devereux de Vere Capell, 7th Earl of Essex, 1892-1916; Capell (Capel) family here until the 1920s.

Current Ownership Type: Government

Primary Current Ownership Use: Visitor Attraction

Ownership Details: The grounds of the former park are owned by the Watford Council and operated by them as a public park.
House Open to Public: Grounds Only
Website: http://cassioburypark.info

Historic Houses Member: No

Cassiobury Park (Cashiobury)

House, Family & Collections History

Gardens, Outbuildings, Chapel & Church History

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