Newsells Park
{{Short description|Country house in Hertfordshire, England}}
File:Entrance to the eastern section of Newsells Park Stud - geograph.org.uk - 388929.jpg
Newsells Park is a country house and estate at Barkway in Hertfordshire.
History
The estate and the original manor house, built in the late 17th century,{{cite web|url=http://www.hertfordshire-genealogy.co.uk/data/places/places-b/barkway/barkway-newsells.htm|title=Newsells, Barkway|accessdate=1 December 2013}} was acquired by Admiral Sir John Jennings in 1721 and was his home until he died in 1743.{{cite web|url=http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1690-1715/member/jennings-sir-john-1664-1743|title=Jennings, Sir John (1664-1743), of Byfleet, Surrey|publisher=History of Parliament|accessdate=5 August 2017}} His son, George Jennings, commissioned Richard Woods to lay out the park in 1763.{{cite web|url=http://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=MHT1831&resourceID=1008|title=Hertfordshire HER & St Albans UAD|publisher=Heritage Gateway|accessdate=5 August 2017}} The main house went on to become the family home of Field Marshal Lord Strathnairn in the early 1880s.{{cite web|url=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/descriptions/entry_page.jsp;jsessionid=3A598FBD1C2E5F2DE14A2469EBE0C5E9?text_id=1745320&word=BARKWAY|title=Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for Newsell Park|publisher=Vision of Britain|accessdate=1 December 2013}} Strathnairn was keen on horses and had an obelisk erected in memory of his favourite charger which he had ridden during the Indian Mutiny.{{cite web | title=Newsells Park Stud | url=http://www.newsells-park.com/stud/history| work= | publisher= | date= | accessdate=1 December 2013}}
Sir Humphrey de Trafford, a prominent racehorse owner, acquired the house in 1926 and lived there with his family until the house burnt down during the Second World War. De Trafford had a new house built and continued to live on the estate, breeding famous racehorses including Alcide, who won the 1958 St. Leger Stakes and the 1959 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, and Parthia, who won the 1959 Epsom Derby, until his death in 1971. The estate continues to operate as an active horse stud and, since 2000, has been owned by Jacobs Holding AG.{{cite web | title=About Us | url=http://www.newsells-park.com/stud/about-us| work= | publisher=Newsells Park Stud | date= | accessdate=1 December 2013}}