The DiCamillo Companion - Database: House Details

Special Info / Location/ Date

Images

Architects

Extant / Listed / References

Access / Ownership / Seat

History / Gardens & Park / Movies

History

Earlier House(s) / Building(s)

House Replaced By

Built / Designed For

Admiral John Byng

House & Family History

Wrotham is a Palladian house designed by Isaac Ware in 1754 and built for Admiral John Byng, the 4th son of Admiral Sir George Byng, famously executed in 1757 after the failure of his inadequately equipped expedition to relieve Minorca from the French. He was tried by his own government of cowardice and negligence of duty, for which there was a mandatory death sentence. This act of judicial murder prompted Voltaire's famous phrase "In this country it pays well, from time to time, to kill an Admiral to encourage the others." Wrotham is today still owned by the Byng family and is the largest privately-owned house in the Home Counties. The House is used frequently for the filming of movies and television programs. In the autumn of 2009 Simon Cowell held his 50th birthday party at Wrotham, with entertainment by Earth, Wind and Fire and nearly 400 guests, including Kate Moss, Ryan Seacrest, and Randy Jackson.

Collections This field lists art objects that are currently or were previously in the collection of the house.

For information on the history of British currency, click here. To use a chart that allows you to compare the purchasing power of money In Great Britain from 1264 to any other year, including the present, click here. To use a currency conversion to see the current value of the British pound, click here.

Pieter de Hooch’s "Courtyard of a House in Delft" was sold at Christie’s on Dec 11, 1992 for £4.4 million.

Comments

Gardens & Park

Garden, Park, Follies and Outbuildings

Wrotham is set in a park of 2,500 acres.

Chapel & Church

Movies

Location for Movies / TV

"Love in a Cold Climate" (1980 or 2001? - TV mini series). "Lady Chatterley's Lover" (1981). "Hart to Hart" (1983 - TV series, episode "Harts and Hounds"). "Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense" (1984 – in the episode "The Late Nancy Irving," as the hospital). "Half Moon Street" (1986). "Gothic" (1986). "White Mischief" (1987). "Inspector Morse" (1987 - TV series, as Hanbury House in the episode "Ghost In The Machine"). "Agatha Christie's Poirot" (1989 - TV series, in episode 1.3, "The Adventure of Johnnie Waverly," as Waverly Court, the country home of Marcus Waverly). "Lovejoy" (1990 – TV series. in episode "The Italian Venus," as Careyholden House). "Jeeves and Wooster" (TV series - in the 1990 episodes "The Hunger Strike" [aka "How Does Gussie Woo Madeline?"] and "Brinkley Manor" [aka "Will Anatole Return to Brinkley Court?," aka "The Matchmaker," aka "Jeeves' Arrival"] Wrotham was used for the interiors of Brinkley Court) and in the 1991 episodes "Jeeves in the Country" [aka "Chuffy'] and "Kidnapped" [aka "The Mysterious Stranger"]), Wrotham was Chuffnell Hall). "King Ralph" (1991 - as exteriors of Buckingham Palace). "Peter's Friends" (1992). “Lady Chatterley” (1993 - TV movie, as Ragby Hall, home of Sir Clifford and Lady Constance Chatterley). "Jeeves and Wooster" (1993 – TV series, in episode "The Delayed Arrival" [aka "Arrested in a Night Club"] Wrotham was used for the interiors of Brinkley Court). "Princess Caraboo" (1994). "Mad Dogs and Englishmen" (1995). "Stick with Me, Kid" (1995 - TV series). "Victoria and Albert" (1997 or 2001? - TV). "The Governess" (1998). "The Broker's Man" (1998 - TV series, episode 2.4, "Kith and Kin"). "Coming Home" (1998 - TV mini series, as Nancherrow). "The Scarlet Pimpernel" (1999 - TV mini series, as Blakeney Manor). "Blackadder Back & Forth" (1999). "Nancherrow" (1999 - TV mini series, as Nancherrow). "The Cazalets" (2001 - TV series). "Gosford Park" (2001). "Bridget Jones's Diary" (2001 - as Darcy family home). "The Way We Live Now" (2001). "Daniel Deronda" (2002 - TV mini series). "Nine Lives" (2002). "What a Girl Wants" (2003). "Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Silk Stocking" (2004 - BBC TV movie, as interiors of the Duke of Narborough's London home and as the exterior of the palace where the ball took place). "D-Day 6.6.1944" (2004 - TV movie). "Trial & Retribution VIII" (2004 - TV). "Vanity Fair" (2004 - as the interior of the Gaunt House). "The Line Of Beauty" (2006 - BBC TV mini series, as Lord Kessler's house, the scene of Toby Fedden's 21st birthday party, and the pool scenes at the Fedden's French holiday home of Le Manoir). "Spooks" [aka "MI-5"] (2006 - TV series, episode 5.4, as Havensworth Hotel exteriors). "The Culture Show" (2007 - BBC TV series, episode 6.8, "British Film Special," segment on the movie "Gosford Park"). "Sense and Sensibility" (2008 - TV mini series, as Norland exteriors). “Bones” (2008 – TV series, during 2-hour episode when the principal characters visit England). "Poirot" (2008 - TV series; in the episode "The Third Girl" Wrotham is Cross Hedges). "Marple: They Do It with Mirrors" (2009 - TV series, as some interiors of Stoneygates). "Spooks" [aka "MI-5"] (2010 - TV series, Vol. 9, Episode 2, as Robert Westhouse's home). "Downton Abbey" (2012 - TV series, as interiors of Duneagle Castle). "Great Expectations" (2012 - as site of ball where Estella dances).

Bibliography