VEN, near Milborne Port, Somerset, has to be one of the most romantic houses in England. Begun in about 1700 and extended in the reign of George I, it remained in the same family until 1957, at which point it seemed to be in terminal decline, before being rescued in the 1980s and magnificently restored. It was built for James Medlycott, an ambitious London lawyer who bought the manor and its existing farmhouse mainly, it would seem, as an easy route into political power: Milborne Port was a classic rotten borough, fielding two MPs despite its diminutive size, and, after showering the local people with cash, Medly-cott was duly returned to Parliament in 1710.
In 1725, presumably to underline his upgraded social status, he commissioned the Wincanton architect Nathaniel Ireson to enlarge the original house. Ireson and Medlycott may have taken their inspiration from the London home of the 1st Duke of Buckingham and Normanby, which had been built some 20 years earlier. Designed by William Winde on a prominent site overlooking St James’s Park, Buckingham House is now rather better known as Buckingham Palace, having since been aggrandised beyond all recognition by John Nash and Sir Aston Webb.
The new, improved Ven needed a suitably smart new setting, so Medlycott engaged the services of a landscape architect to remodel its grounds. The design is generally attributed to Richard Grange, whose name appears on a series of plans that have recently returned to Ven, although there are some doubts about the attribution: Grange is otherwise unknown to history and the plans are dated 1739, some eight years after Medlycott’s death.
Denne historien er fra March 29, 2023-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra March 29, 2023-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Tales as old as time
By appointing writers-in-residence to landscape locations, the National Trust is hoping to spark in us a new engagement with our ancient surroundings, finds Richard Smyth
Do the active farmer test
Farming is a profession, not a lifestyle choice’ and, therefore, the Budget is unfair
Night Thoughts by Howard Hodgkin
Charlotte Mullins comments on Moght Thoughts
SOS: save our wild salmon
Jane Wheatley examines the dire situation facing the king of fish
Into the deep
Beneath the crystal-clear, alien world of water lie the great piscean survivors of the Ice Age. The Lake District is a fish-spotter's paradise, reports John Lewis-Stempel
It's alive!
Living, burping and bubbling fermented masses of flour, yeast and water that spawn countless loaves—Emma Hughes charts the rise and rise) of sourdough starters
There's orange gold in them thar fields
A kitchen staple that is easily taken for granted, the carrot is actually an incredibly tricky customer to cultivate that could reduce a grown man to tears, says Sarah Todd
True blues
I HAVE been planting English bluebells. They grow in their millions in the beechwoods that surround us—but not in our own garden. They are, however, a protected species. The law is clear and uncompromising: ‘It is illegal to dig up bluebells or their bulbs from the wild, or to trade or sell wild bluebell bulbs and seeds.’ I have, therefore, had to buy them from a respectable bulb-merchant.
Oh so hip
Stay the hand that itches to deadhead spent roses and you can enjoy their glittering fruits instead, writes John Hoyland
A best kept secret
Oft-forgotten Rutland, England's smallest county, is a 'Notswold' haven deserving of more attention, finds Nicola Venning
