Painswick House

{{Short description|Building in Painswick, Gloucestershire, England}}

{{Infobox historic site

| name = Painswick House

| image = Painswick House - geograph.org.uk - 525870.jpg

| caption =

| type = House and garden

| locmapin = Gloucestershire

| map_relief = yes

| coordinates = {{coord|51.7927|-2.1995|display=inline,title}}

| location = Painswick, Stroud District, Gloucestershire, England

| area =

| built = begun 1737, extended 1837

| architect = John Strahan, 18th-century work; George Basevi, 19th-century work

| architecture = Neoclassical

| owner =

| designation1 = Grade I

| designation1_offname = Painswick House

| designation1_date = 21 October 1955

| designation1_number = 1153435

| designation2 = Historic garden

| designation2_offname = Painswick Rococo Garden

| designation2_date = 28 February 1986

| designation2_number = 1000181

| designation3 = Grade II*

| designation3_offname = Eagle House 25M west of the stables

| designation3_date = 29 May 1968

| designation3_number = 1340532

| designation4 = Grade II*

| designation4_offname = Pigeon House at Painswick House

| designation4_date = 24 August 1990

| designation4_number = 1090941

| designation5 = Grade II*

| designation5_offname = Red House 150M north of the stables

| designation5_date = 24 August 1990

| designation5_number = 1304275

| designation6 = Grade II*

| designation6_offname = Gothic Seat 150M south-west of Painswick House

| designation6_date = 24 August 1990

| designation6_number = 1153492

}}

Painswick House is a Neoclassical country house in Painswick, Gloucestershire, England. It was built c.1737 for Charles Hyett by the architect John Strahan. It was extended in the 19th century by George Basevi for William Henry Hyett. In the 1740s, Benjamin Hyett, Charles' son and heir, created a Rococo pleasure ground to the north of the house. By the 1950s, the garden was derelict and planted over with conifers. Restored from the 1980s, based on a painting of the park by Thomas Robins the Elder dated 1748, it is now England's "sole surviving complete rococo garden". The garden is listed at Grade II* on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England, while the house is listed at Grade I.

History

The house and a range of outbuildings were built in the 1730s by Charles Hyett to escape the smog of Gloucester but Hyett died in 1738 not long after moving there.{{cite web|url=https://www.rococogarden.org.uk/our-story/|title=Painswick Rococo Garden in the Cotswolds, Gloucestershire, nr Cheltenham, Stroud and Gloucester|publisher=Painswick Garden Trust|access-date=30 March 2020}} He demolished an earlier farmhouse which stood on the site.{{sfn|Baggs|Jurica|Sheils|1976|pp=65-70}} It was originally known as "Buenos Ayres".{{cite web |title=Painswick Rococo Garden |url=https://www.cotswoldsadventures.co.uk/painswick-rococo-garden/ |publisher=Cotswold Adventures |access-date=30 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181225063629/http://www.cotswoldsadventures.co.uk/painswick-rococo-garden/ |archive-date=25 December 2018 |url-status=live }} Hyett's architect was likely John Strahan.{{efn|Pevsner is not definitive as to the attribution of the house to Strahan, but notes the close similarities to his probable Frampton Court.{{sfn|Verey|Brooks|2000|pp=552-553}}}} Around 1830 the house was extended by George Basevi adding the east and west wings.{{sfn|Baggs|Jurica|Sheils|1976|pp=65-70}}{{efn|Both Historic England and British Listed Buildings Online misspell George Basevi's surname as "Baseri".{{NHLE|num=1153435|desc=Painswick House|grade=I|access-date=30 March 2020}}{{NHLE|num=1000123|desc=Painswick House Park and Garden |grade=II*|access-date=1 May 2025}}{{cite web|url=https://britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/101153435-painswick-house-painswick|title=Painswick House|publisher=British Listed Buildings Online|access-date=1 May 2025}}}}

Architecture and description

The limestone building has tiled roofs. The nine-bay front has a central door set in an Ionic porch with a pediment. The interior of the building has many original fireplaces and makes extensive use of friezes for decoration.

Painswick [[Rococo]] Garden

The grounds include the Painswick Rococo Garden, as it is now known, which was laid out by Charles's oldest son Benjamin (1708-62), the brother of Nicholas Hyett, constable and keeper of the Castle of Gloucester. The garden was painted by Thomas Robins the Elder in 1748.{{sfn|Verey|Brooks|2000|pp=552-553}}{{efn|Alan Brooks, in his Gloucestershire 1: The Cotswolds volume, in the Pevsner Buildings of England series, revised and re-issued in 2000, notes the tradition that Robins may have designed the garden as well as painting it.{{sfn|Verey|Brooks|2000|pp=552-553}}}} Robins's painting allowed the garden to be restored from the 1980s under the direction of Painswick's owner, Lord Dickinson, who inherited the house in 1955.{{cite news |first=Patricia|last=Cleveland-Peck |date=11 September 1998 |title=Gardening: Portrait of a paradise regained |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/gardening-portrait-of-a-paradise-regained-1197609.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180201020256/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/gardening-portrait-of-a-paradise-regained-1197609.html |archive-date=1 February 2018 |access-date=31 January 2018 |work=The Independent}}{{cite web|first=Anna|last=Pavord |title=Gardening: Scene by the limner of Bath|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/property/gardening/gardening-scene-by-the-limner-of-bath-in-the-first-of-an-occasional-series-on-gardens-in-paintings-anna-pavord-looks-at-thomas-robinss-18thcentury-study-of-painswick-in-gloucestershire-1481779.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150806003020/http://www.independent.co.uk/property/gardening/gardening-scene-by-the-limner-of-bath-in-the-first-of-an-occasional-series-on-gardens-in-paintings-anna-pavord-looks-at-thomas-robinss-18thcentury-study-of-painswick-in-gloucestershire-1481779.html |archive-date=6 August 2015 |access-date=7 August 2015 |work=The Independent}}

The garden is the only surviving garden of the rococo period which is open to the public. The Gardens Trust describes it as England's "sole surviving complete rococo garden".{{cite web|url=https://thegardenstrust.org/painswick-rococo-garden-gloucestershire/|title=Painswick Rococo Garden, Gloucestershire|publisher=The Gardens Trust|access-date=1 May 2025}} It was designed and laid out in the 1740s.{{cite web |title=Painswick Rococo Garden |url=https://www.historichouses.org/houses/house-listing/painswick-rococo-garden.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200329181632/https://www.historichouses.org/houses/house-listing/painswick-rococo-garden.html |archive-date=29 March 2020 |access-date=30 March 2020 |publisher=Historic Houses}} The garden has been restored since 1984 having been abandoned in the 1950s.{{cite web |title=Painswick Rococo Garden |url=https://www.cotswolds.com/things-to-do/painswick-rococo-garden-p129443 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171228194934/https://www.cotswolds.com/things-to-do/painswick-rococo-garden-p129443 |archive-date=28 December 2017 |access-date=30 March 2020 |publisher=Cotswolds.com}} It includes woodland, flower and vegetable plots, garden buildings and a maze. Several snowdrops, particularly Galanthus 'Atkinsii' are found in the grounds.{{cite news |last1=Gifford |first1=Jane |date=21 January 2010 |title=Painswick Rococo Garden |url=https://www.cotswoldlife.co.uk/homes-gardens/gardens/painswick-rococo-garden-1-1632965 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181018132431/http://www.cotswoldlife.co.uk/homes-gardens/gardens/painswick-rococo-garden-1-1632965 |archive-date=18 October 2018 |access-date=30 March 2020 |work=Cotswold Life}} There are a series of ponds and streams on the slopes of the valley with small waterfalls. Some of the structures within the garden are reconstructions of original buildings, while others, such as the Exedra, are 20th-century recreations of buildings which were lost.{{sfn|Verey|Brooks|2000|pp=552-553}}

= Historic listing designations =

The house is a Grade I listed building while the garden is listed at Grade II* on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England.{{NHLE|num=1000123|desc=Painswick House Park and Garden |grade=II*|access-date=1 May 2025}} The garden and park contain 15 further listed structures. Those at the second highest grade, Grade II*, include: the Eagle House; the Pigeon House; the Red House; the Gothic Seat; the Ram House; a Classical seat; a wellhead; a Spring Head and associated pool; a statue of Pan and a pair of urns.*The Eagle House: {{NHLE|num=1340532|desc=Eagle House Circa 25 Metres West of the Stables|grade=II*|access-date=1 May 2025|ref=none}} *The Pigeon House: {{NHLE|num=1090941|desc=Pigeon House at Painswick House|grade=II*|access-date=1 May 2025|ref=none}} *The Red House: {{NHLE|num=1304275|desc=The Red House Circa 150 Metres North of the Stables|grade=II*|access-date=1 May 2025|ref=none}} *The Gothic Seat: {{NHLE|num=1171158|desc=Gothic Seat Circa 150 Metres South West of Painswick House|grade=II*|access-date=1 May 2025|ref=none}} *The Ram House: {{NHLE|num=1090944|desc=Ram House Circa 30 Metres South East of Plunge Pool|grade=II*|access-date=1 May 2025|ref=none}} *Doric Seat: {{NHLE|num=1340531|desc=Classical Seat Circa 150 Metres North West of the Stables|grade=II*|access-date=1 May 2025|ref=none}} *Wellhead: {{NHLE|num=1090943|desc=Well Head Circa 35 Metres South West of the Classical Seat|grade=II*|access-date=1 May 2025|ref=none}} *Spring Head: {{NHLE|num=1304279|desc=Spring Head and Pool Circa 150 Metres West of the Stables|grade=II*|access-date=1 May 2025|ref=none}} *Statue of Pan: {{NHLE|num=1153446|desc=Statue of Pan Circa 35 Metres South East of the Stables|grade=II*|access-date=1 May 2025|ref=none}} *Western Urn: {{NHLE|num=1304306|desc=Urn Circa 30 Metres West of Stable Block at Painswick House|grade=II*|access-date=1 May 2025|ref=none}} *Southern Urn: {{NHLE|num=1340530|desc=Urn Circa 6 Metres South of South East Corner of Painswick House|grade=II*|access-date=1 May 2025|ref=none}} Those listed at Grade II include: the stables; a carriage house; a pair of gates; and a lodge.*The Stables: {{NHLE|num=1090940|desc=The Stables, Painswick House|grade=II|access-date=1 May 2025|ref=none}} *The Carriage House, Painswick House: {{NHLE|num=1304300|desc=Carriage House and Open Shed Circa 7 Metres East of the Stables|grade=II|access-date=1 May 2025|ref=none}} *Gates at Painswick House: {{NHLE|num=1090942|desc=Pair of Gates Circa 30 Metres West of the Stables|grade=II|access-date=1 May 2025|ref=none}} *The Lodge, Painswick House: {{NHLE|num=1393905|desc=Painswick House Lodge, gatepiers and flanking dwarf walls|grade=II|access-date=1 May 2025|ref=none}}