Stubbers
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
File:Stubbers Adventure Centre (geograph 2118746).jpg
Stubbers was a stately home in North Ockendon, Essex, England. The house was demolished in 1955 and the grounds became the Stubbers Activity Centre in 2011.
History
The earliest reference to the estate subsequently known as Stubbers was in 1334. The name comes from William Stubber who owned the house in the 15th century.{{cite book|title=Stubbers: A Short History|year=1989|first=Val|last=Body|publisher=Havering Libraries}} In the early 17th century it was the home of William Coys, a well known botanist, who established a walled garden that subsequently provided plants for the establishment of Kew Gardens.{{cite book|title=Stubbers: The Walled Garden|first=RG|last=Smith|year=1989}} The garden contained 342 plant species and in 1604 a yucca plant bloomed there, for the first time in England.{{cite book|title=The Naming of Names|url=https://archive.org/details/namingofnamessea0000pavo|url-access=registration|first=Anna|last=Pavord|page=[https://archive.org/details/namingofnamessea0000pavo/page/327 327]|publisher=Bloomsbury|year=2005|isbn=9781596910713 }} In the book Early English Botanists Coys is attributed with compiling a list of his plants for John Goodyer of Hampshire, this being described as the oldest known list of plants from an English garden giving their scientific names.{{cite book |last = Addison |first = William |title = Essex Heyday |publisher = J.M. Dent & Sons |location =London |year = 1949 |pages = 293–295|isbn = }}
In 1689, the estate was bought by Sir William Russell, a London draper who included King Charles II among his acquaintances. Stubbers remained in the Russel family for nearly 300 years, and Humphry Repton was commissioned to suggest how the gardens could be landscaped for which he produced a "Red Book".{{cite book|chapter=Stubbers, North Ockendon|first=Mary|last=Russell|title=Transactions of the Essex Archaeological Society|volume=XXL}} On Repton's advice, the Coys garden was removed.{{cite book|title=Burke's and Savills Guide to Country Houses, Vol III|first=John|last=Kenworthy-Brown|page=74|publisher=Burke's Peerage|year=1981}} Writing in 1951, before the house was demolished, Glynn Morgan described the southern facade as "attractive".{{cite book|first=Glyn|last=Morgan|title=Forgotten Thameside|year=1951|page=113|publisher=Thames Bank Publishing}} To the east of the house was a dovecote with 662 nesting boxes.
Current usage
File:Russell's_Lake,_Stubbers_Outdoor_Pursuits_Centre,_Essex_-_geograph.org.uk_-_22615.jpg
The house was demolished in 1955 and the grounds are now the site of an activity centre.[http://www.stubbers.co.uk/ Activity Centre web site] In August 2011, it was announced that Havering Council had agreed to sell the land to the activity centre.[http://www.stubbers.co.uk/blog/index.php/2011/08/stubbers-bid-to-purchase-land-accepte/ Announcement of purchase]
Notes
{{coord|51.5384146|0.267266|format=dms|type:landmark|display=title|notes=[http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?cc=ecco;c=ecco;idno=004850386.0001.001;seq=126;page=root;view=text] Progress in Botany (1604).}}