Near Bearsted, Maidstone
Kent
England
Circa Date: 1793-1801 w/19th & 20th century alterations and additions
Status: Fully Extant
House Open to Public: Grounds Only
Country House: Yes
An 1825 engraving of the House from "Neale's Views of Seats"
Earlier Houses: There was an earlier house on, or near, the site of the current house.
Built / Designed For: 2nd Earl of Romney
House & Family History: At Mote, on August 1, 1799, George III and Prime Minister William Pitt inspected approximately 3,000 troops of the Kent Volunteers, a local militia formed to defend the county from a possible invasion by Napoleon. Marcus Samuel, 1st Viscount Bearsted, who purchased Mote Park in 1895, was born into an Iraqi Jewish family from Mesopotamia (today part of Iraq). A successful banker and oil pioneer, in 1897 Samuel founded Shell Oil Company (today Royal Dutch Shell). In 1929 the 2nd Lord Bearsted sold most of the estate to Maidstone Borough Council for £50,000 and converted the house into an orphanage. Between 1932 and 1941 Mote Park was home to the Caldecott Community, a charity that was then primarily an orphanage (it today provides therapeutic care for children). In 1941 the house was requisitioned by the British government and became a military training facility. After the war Mote Park was used as offices for the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food; it later was converted into a Cheshire care home for the disabled. The house and grounds are today part of a retirement village.
Garden & Outbuildings: The Pavilion was erected in 1801 by the Volunteers of Kent as tribute to Lord Romney.
Architect: Daniel Asher Alexander
Date: 1793-1801John 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. 240, 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: 2.S. Vol. II, 1825.
Title: Biographical Dictionary of British Architects, 1600-1840, A - SOFTBACK
Author: Colvin, Howard
Year Published: 1995
Publisher: New Haven: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300072074
Book Type: Softback
House Listed: Grade II*
Park Listed: Grade II
Past Seat / Home of: Charles Marsham, 2nd Earl of Romney, 1800-45; Charles Marsham, 3rd Earl of Romney, 1845-74; Charles Marsham, 4th Earl of Romney, 1874-95. Marcus Samuel, 1st Viscount Bearsted, 1895-1927; Colonel Walter Horace Samuel, 2nd Viscount Bearsted, 1927-29.
Current Ownership Type: Corporation
Primary Current Ownership Use: Retirement Home
Ownership Details: The house is part of Audley Mote House retirement village; the grounds are a public park operated by Maidstone Borough Council.
House Open to Public: Grounds Only
Phone: 01622-297-192
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.audleyretirement.co.uk
Historic Houses Member: No