The house from a 1909 postcard
Built / Designed For: Joseph Shuttleworth
House & Family History: Old Warden Park was built in 1872 for Joseph Shuttleworth. The three-story yellow brick house is in the Jacobean style and has a fine staircase hall with a glazed lantern and a library with a gold and white ceiling and skylights.
Garden & Outbuildings: Shuttleworth is really three attractions rolled into one based around the Victorian mansion of Shuttleworth House. First there is a remarkable collection of veteran and vintage airplanes dating to the earliest days of flight. Unlike many museums, most of Shuttleworth's planes are airworthy, and fly regularly in flying displays held between May and October. Shuttleworth also features regular displays of modern aircraft, in addition to the popular vintage machines. The second center of attraction at Shuttleworth is the collection of vintage automobiles and motorcycles, the earliest example of which is an 1898 Panhard et Levassor. The extensive collection fills seven large hangers, including a workshop where you can see vehicles being worked on, and a separate coach room for horse-drawn carriages. Perhaps not surprisingly, Shuttleworth is frequently used as meeting place for vintage and antique vehicle clubs. Also on display are a wide variety of cars, motorcycles, and other vehicles such as the Clayton and Shuttleworth steam traction engine and horsedrawn carriages, with regular flying displays. The third attraction at Shuttleworth is Swiss Garden, a 10-acre early Victorian garden centered around a tiny Swiss style cottage. Swiss Garden is a romantic exercise in gardening, with a variety of rare shrubs and trees dotting a landscape of pools, islands, and wrought-iron bridges. There are exotic structures like an Indian kiosk, a mock chapel, and a grotto incorporated into the garden. (This history kindly provided by Britain Express: www.britainexpress.com. The UK Travel and Heritage Guide).
Title: Buildings of England: Bedfordshire, Huntingdon and Peterborough, The
Author: Pevsner, Nikolaus
Year Published: 1997
Publisher: London: Penguin Books
ISBN: 0140710345
Book Type: Hardback
House Listed: Grade II*
Park Listed: Grade II*
Past Seat / Home of: Joseph Shuttleworth, 19th century.
Current Ownership Type: Charity / Nonprofit
Primary Current Ownership Use: Wedding & Event Venue
Ownership Details: Owned by the Shuttleworth Trust. The grounds are open to the public; the house is available for weddings and events.
House Open to Public: Grounds Open to the Public - House Only Open for Events / Exclusive Use
Phone: 01767-627-927
Fax: 01767-627-053
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://www.shuttleworth.org/
Historic Houses Member: No