Wrest Park is a country estate located in Silsoe, Bedfordshire, England. It comprises Wrest Park, a country house, and Wrest Park gardens, both of which are grade I listed. The gardens surround the mansion and include a number of other buildings, monuments and statues, some of which are grade II listed, and an early-18th-century baroque pavilion, designed by Thomas Archer, which is a grade I listed building. The garden entrance of the house aligns with the pavilion, and the long water and pathways from the house that precede it.
Between the 13th and 20th centuries the house was occupied by the de Grey family, a family who held positions including Lord High Treasurer of England. The early 18th-century gardens were created for Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Kent, who along with commissioning Thomas Archer to create buildings in the grounds, employed Batty Langley to design a bowling green house. During this time, the gardens were enlarged and a woodland garden with canals enclosing it were added to the estate. Subsequent generations of the family employed gardeners and landscape architects, including Lancelot "Capability" Brown, to develop the estate further.
The current house was built by Thomas de Grey, 2nd Earl de Grey in the 1830s, in a Louis XV style that is unique in England. His visits to Paris and illustrations in Jacques-François Blondel's publications provided the inspiration for Thomas, who was the first president of the Royal Institute of British Architects, to build the house in this style. The interior state rooms are adorned with Rococo-style gilt and white plasterwork, which experienced a revival in the 19th century. Since the construction, the plan layout of the house and decoration in the state rooms have been well preserved and three rooms contain rare wallpapers.
English Heritage own the estate, have managed it since 2006, and have undertaken an extensive restoration project. Parts of the house and the gardens are open to the public. English Heritage house an archeological collection store at Wrest Park in a purpose-built building that was opened to the public in 2014, which holds over 150,000 artefacts. Wrest Park has been used as a filming location, including for period dramas such as Belgravia and Bridgerton.
History From the Middle Ages, until the early 20th century, Wrest Park (almost continuously) belonged to the de Grey family. The feudal aids detail Reginald de Grey, 1st Baron Grey de Wilton, being a landowner in Flitton and Silsoe between 1284 and 1286 and Chancery papers about Reginald's assets when he died specify a "capital mesuage with a dovecote worth 4 shillings per annum", presumably in reference to the inception of the original house. The family gained prominence throughout the Middle Ages, in particular when Edmund Grey, 1st Earl of Kent, assisted Edward IV at the Battle of Northampton and was subsequently made Lord High Treasurer of England and Earl of Kent in the 1460's.
As anticipated by his father, George Grey, 2nd Earl of Kent, ownership of Wrest Park was relinquished by Richard Grey, 3rd Earl of Kent, in the early 16th century. Richard experienced financial difficulties, possibly due to gambling and fines. Richard's half brother Henry Grey, 4th Earl of Kent, managed to re-purchase the estate. An inventory made when Reginald Grey, 5th Earl of Kent, died in 1573 showed that the original house had been extended and more rooms had been added. Thomas Carew (1595–1640) wrote his country house poem "To My Friend G.N. from Wrest" in 1639, that described the old house.
Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Kent, was responsible for creating the woodland gardens in the early 18th century, he also commissioned baroque architect Thomas Archer to design buildings in the grounds. Jemima, 2nd Marchioness Grey, inherited Wrest Park in 1740, from her grandfather Henry, on the condition that she marry Philip Yorke, 2nd Earl of Hardwicke, the Lord Chancellor's son, who resided at Wimpole Hall. The marriage went ahead and in 1743 the couple moved into Wrest Park. Along with employing Lancelot "Capability" Brown, the couple were known for their literary circle of friends and family that they named Wrestiana, that included Charles Yorke, the antiquarian Daniel Wray, historian and writer Thomas Birch, author Catherine Talbot, and poet Thomas Edwards. The group created a manuscript of poems, plays and inscriptions, with one such inscription included on the gothic folly at Wimpole.
Amabel Hume-Campbell, 1st Countess De Grey, the daughter of Philip and Jemima, became the 5th Baroness Lucas of Crudwell, when her mother died in 1797. Whilst the marquessate of Grey could not transfer down the female line, Amabel became Countess in 1816 and when she died in 1833, Wrest Park was inherited by her nephew Thomas de Grey, 2nd Earl de Grey. Thomas was responsible for creating the existing house and upper gardens, and was elected as first president of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1835. When Thomas died in 1859, his daughter Anne Florence, Countess Cowper, the wife of George Cowper, 6th Earl Cowper, inherited Wrest Park and was responsible for remodelling the Chinese summerhouse and rebuilding the Chinese bridge. Francis Thomas de Grey Cowper, 7th Earl Cowper, subsequently inherited Wrest Park. Francis did not have children so upon his death, the estate passed to his nephew, Auberon Herbert, 9th Baron Lucas, who in 1905 rented Wrest Park to the US diplomat Whitelaw Reid, at a cost of £1,500 per annum. During this time he was US ambassador to Great Britain, and in 1909 he wrote to President Roosevelt sharing the details of his recent shooting excursions on the estate, and he also entertained King Edward VII at Wrest Park.
Nan Ino Cooper, 10th Baroness Lucas, ran Wrest Park as a military hospital during World War I, although a fire in September 1916 halted this usage of the house. Following the death of her brother Auberon Herbert, 9th Baron Lucas, who died in action in 1916, she succeeded her brother, and put Wrest Park up for auction in 1917. It was sold after World War I to John Murray, a businessman involved in the brewery and coal industries. During his tenure, some of the garden statuary was sold, while felling stripped the garden of some old trees. Wrest Park was later purchased by Sun Insurance (who became Sun Alliance Insurance and are now known as RSA Insurance Group) who moved from offices in Threadneedle Street to Wrest Park, during World War II, building 12 huts and converting stables to house 300 employees. After the war the centre for modern agricultural engineering research was based at Wrest Park. English Heritage began to manage the house and gardens in 2006 and launched a 20-year restoration project.
Filming location Wrest Park has been used as a location for filming including: the video for the 2008 song "The Fear" by Lily Allen; episodes of BBC's Flog It!, The Serpent and Countryfile; the films Flyboys and The Death of Stalin; and drama series The Royals, Belgravia, and Bridgerton.
Wrest Park house The current grade I listed house at Wrest Park was built between 1834 and 1839 by Thomas de Grey, 2nd Earl de Grey. The house has two storeys (excluding the basement and attic), uses bath stone ashlar and has a mansard roof. It is unique for Britain, due to it being built and decorated in the style of Louis XV, in a single phase, with few layout alterations made since its construction. Thomas was influenced by architecture in France, and the inspiration for the design of the house that is north facing, was based on illustrations of Hotel Matignon in Paris, in Jacques-François Blondel's Architecture Française (1752). This side has thirteen bays, three project outwards at the entrance, with further projection to either end of the building, on top of which there are leaded cupola. Inside the entrance it is single storey with a pavilion style roof. The statues in the staircase hall have been at Wrest Park since the current building was built. Outside the entrance is a balcony where the parapet incorporates the Grey family coat of arms.
The south facing garden front was based on a design in Jacques-François Blondel's Maisons de Plaisance (1737). It includes fifteen bays and sculptural work by John Edward Carew. The windows retain the original blind boxes. Outside, the dark stone terrace leads to the gardens, down steps. Piers either side of the steps support a pair of molossian dogs made from portland stone. There is a cross axis of enfilades between the entrance, staircase and library in the house, which aligns with the long water and Archer Pavilion, and the state rooms. Although the house is not situated where the previous building was, this alignment was preserved and created additional distance between the house and Archer Pavilion. The library and drawing room ceilings were decorated by John Wood. The dining room incorporates a fireplace mantel taken from the family's London home. State rooms, which have been well preserved in their original form, are decorated with Rococo gilt and white plasterwork and are some of the earliest Rococo Revival interiors in England. The Countess's sitting room is also a fine example of this style of interior. A room on the first floor, in the north-west corner includes wallpaper in an "El Dorado" pattern which is created using flora and fauna from four different continents. This wallpaper was printed and includes 120 different colours. It was made by French company Zuber & Cie in 1849, which is very rarely found in England. During restoration work in 2006, English Heritage uncovered rare 18th-century Chinese wallpaper behind panelling in two rooms in the south front, on the first floor. The wallpaper in one room includes a bird and flower pattern and in the other room the pattern depicts scenes of life and occupations in China. They were subsequently restored.
When the house was built James Clephan was employed as clerk of the work, pp. 58-62 who had previously been clerk of the works at the Liddell seat, Ravensworth Castle in County Durham, and had recently served as professional amanuensis and builder for Lord Barrington. Although Nikolaus Pevsner, in his 1968 volume Bedfordshire, Huntingdon and Peterborough in the Buildings of England series, incorrectly identified Clephan (Cléphane) as "an otherwise unknown French architect" and attributed the design of the house to him, other authors including Simon Jenkins, William Page, Mark Girouard and Howard Colvin are clear that the design was by Thomas. The 2014 revised Bedfordshire, Huntingdon and Peterborough, as edited by Charles O'Brien, corrects the earlier guide, emphasising that Thomas assumed responsibility for the design of the house.
Wrest Park gardens Wrest Park has an early-18th-century garden, that is grade I listed and spread over . Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Kent, increased the size of the gardens, created a woodland area around the long water, added formal canals that surround the woodland garden that include avenues, and a number of buildings were constructed in the grounds, some which survive to this day. From the garden entrance of the house, the park is divided by a central pathway, and later by a long water leading onto the pavilion. In 1726, east and west half houses were constructed in small clearings either side of the long water. These contain arched openings, with semi circular seating, are of slightly different design and both are grade II listed.