SEE-zin-kt

England

Gloucestershire

Moreton-in-Marsh

51.9775

-1.7512

1805

1820

Fully Extant

Grade I

Grade I

No

LXXXV, 502, 528, 1939.

Vol. II, 1819.

Yes

Yes

Voted number 10 in the Top 10 Regal Wedding Venues in the UK in 2011 by "The Times."

Individual / Family Trust

Private Home

Edward and Camilla Peake

Sir William Juxon, late 17th century. 3rd Earl of Guildford, 18th century. John Cockerell, late 18th century. Sir Charles Cockerell, late 18th-early 19th centuries. Cockerell family until 1884. James Dugdale, late 19th century. Sir Cyril Kleinwort, mid-20th century.

The original manor house at Sezincote was a small building in the Cotswold vernacular style. This house was replaced by the current house.

Sir Charles Cockerell

Jan Morris, writing in "Heaven's Command: An Imperial Progress": “Sezincote stands in one of the most intensely English parts of England, on the northern slopes of the Cotswold Hills, but it is the most exotically un-English building imaginable.” The name Sezincote is derived from Cheisnecote – “the hillside of the oaks” – “la chene” being French for oak tree, and “cote” meaning hillside in Old English. The original manor house at Sezincote was a small building in the Cotswold vernacular style. It was this house that Sir William Juxon sold to the 2nd Baron Guilford in 1692. In 1795 Colonel John Cockerell, who had made a fortune as an officer in the East India Company, purchased the Sezincote Estate from the 3rd Earl of Guildford. It seems likely that the Estate was found for Cockerell by Warren Hastings, the former Governor-General of Bengal who was completing his own country house nearby (Daylesford) to the designs of Cockerell’s brother, Samuel Pepys Cockerell. At the death of John Cockerell in 1798, his younger brother, Sir Charles Cockerell, who had also made a fortune in India as a nabob of the East India Company, inherited the Sezincote Estate. It was Sir Charles who ramped up the plans for his brother’s house and commissioned “Calcutta in the Cotswolds,” the only Mogul-style building surviving in Western Europe. The House we see today was designed for Sir Charles by another brother, Samuel Pepys Cockerell, who was assisted in his designs by Thomas Daniell, a noted topographical artist who was an authority on Indian design (he had just returned from 10 years in India when he began to work with Cockerell). Sezincote is, architecturally, a mixture of Muslim and Hindu styles, inspired by Akbar, the 3rd Mughal Emperor of India (reigned 1556 to 1605). Stone for the House was mined nearby (probably from Barrington Quarry) and may have been artificially stained to provide it with a rich, orange color. One of the most famous features of the House is its copper-sheathed turquoise onion dome, which stands proudly and exotically over the Gloucestershire countryside. The famous and spectacular semi-circular Orangery sweeps from the south of the House in a great arc to its terminus – a delightful hexagonal aviary. By the mid-20th century the Orangery had become badly eroded by weather, and, in 1955, a mould was taken of the carving and the entire façade was refaced. In 1980, due to further deterioration, another refacing of the Orangery took place. The balancing wing on the north side of the House contains offices and service spaces; this wing was once fronted with another Orangery that led to an octagonal pavilion that was Sir Charles’s famous tent bedroom. Neither the bedroom nor the Orangery survives, but the ornamental wooden spears of Sir Charles’s bed are today incorporated into a modern bed in the main house. In spite of its exotic exterior, the interiors of the House are in a classic, if rich, Georgian style with dramatic spaces. Maintaining the tradition of striking interiors, in 1982 the Peake family commissioned George Oakes to design an enchanting trompe l'oeil mural in the first floor Dining Room. The Estate remained in the Cockerell family until 1884, when James Dugdale, a Lancashireman, purchased it. In 1944 Sir Cyril Kleinwort bought Sezincote from Mrs. Dugdale and it has remained in the Kleinwort’s direct line since. (Sezincote was the Poet Laureate John Betjeman’s favorite country house.)

The gardens are traditionally English in their layout, though they are punctuated by Mogul-inspired fountains and follies, peppered with cast iron Brahman bulls and fibreglass elephants. At the top of the North Garden is the Temple Pool, presided over by the Hindu goddess Souriya, who occupies a stepped pyramid-roofed shrine. From Souriya’s shrine a small stream flows under the Indian Bridge to the Serpent Fountain. Humphry Repton was consulted about the landscaping and became so enthusiastic about the Indian style of architecture that he convinced the Prince of Wales to visit Sezincote in 1807. The Prince was enchanted by what he saw; it was from this visit that the idea of remodeling the Royal Pavilion in the Indian style sprang.

In the nearby village of Longborough the parish church of St. James’ contains the Sezincote Chapel, with memorials to the Cockerell and Rushton families.