BOW-WOOD (bow as in bow and arrow)

England

Wiltshire

Calne Without

51.42874

-2.03773

1720

Partially Extant

Big house by Adam demolished 1955-56

Grade I

Grade I

No

2.S. Vol. I, p. 92, 1854.

XV, 738. XXXIV, 324. CXXVII, 159. CLI, 1448, 1546. CLIX, 964. CLXVI, 273. VII, 432. XVII, 126. CLI, 1610. CLII, 546.

2.S. Vol. II, 1825.

Yes

Yes

01249-812-102

01249-821-757

Individual / Family Trust

Private Home

Marquess of Lansdowne (Marquis of Lansdowne), Earl of Shelburne, Mercer Nairne Petty-Fitzmaurice family; family here since 1754.

Bridgeman family, until 1739. Richard Long, 1739-54.

Bridgeman family

Bowood Park was once part of the royal forest of Chippenham. The 2nd Earl of Shelburne (elevated as 1st Marquess of Lansdowne in 1784 by George III for his role for successfully negotiating the Treaty of Paris, which ended the American War of Independence) purchased the Estate and the unfinished House in 1754 from the Bridgeman family and completed its construction shortly thereafter, engaging Robert Adam to improve the House. Adam designed the Mausoleum and the Diocletian wing, which includes the laboratory where Joseph Priestley discovered oxygen gas (originally called de-phlogisticated air) on August 1, 1774. Priestly was a friend of the 1st Marquess and tutor to his sons; the Laboratory was later used by Dr. Jan Ingenhousz, who discovered the process of photosynthesis in plants and worked on an inoculation against smallpox. On September 3, 1783, Lord Shelburne, then Prime Minister, conceded independence to the United States in the Treaty of Paris, drawn up with Benjamin Franklin in the Round Room at Lansdowne House in London; the Earl was created 1st Marquess of Lansdowne in 1784 in recognition of this accomplishment. The 1st Marquess was a controversial figure, called “the Jesuit of Berkeley Square,” and attacked by Horace Walpole, who described him as “a fictitious violin, which is hung out of a music shop to indicate in what goods the tradesman deals; not to be of service, nor to be depended on for playing a true note. He was so well known that he could only deceive by speaking truth.” He had his admirers as well, among them Jeremy Bentham, who described him as “one of the pleasantest men to live with that ever God put breath into; his whole study seems to be to make everybody about him happy.” Lord Lansdowne was noted for working for the rights of Nonconformists, and for his efforts to settle American loyalists in Canada after the American Revolution (the town of Roseway in Nova Scotia changed its name to Shelburne in recognition of his work in this regard; Lord Lansdowne was Earl of Shelburne at this time). He also befriended and entertained a wide group of people, including Reynolds, Johnson, Goldsmith, Hume, Mirabeau, Turgot, and Benjamin Franklin. In addition, he was a great admirer of George Washington. Benjamin Disraeli called the 1st Marquess “the ablest and most accomplished statesman of the 18th century.” The 3rd Marquess restored Bowood and commissioned C.R. Cockerell to alter Adam's Library and design the Chapel. The Chapel armorial glass was designed by Louisa, the wife of the 3rd Marquess. Sir Charles Barry built the Clock Tower and the Golden Gates. The 4th Marquess built the East Terrace and moved the Doric Temple from the Pleasure Grounds to the edge of the lake. The Orangery was used as a military hospital during the First World War. During World War II the Big House was taken over by Westonbirt School, and later by the Royal Air Force. By 1955 the Big House had become so dilapidated that the 8th Marquess took the decision to have it demolished. The only room to survive the destruction of the Big House is Adam's Dining Room, which is now the Board Room at Lloyd's of London. The House and grounds were opened to the public in 1975.

The Sculpture Garden houses the current collection of Lansdowne Marbles. Through Emily de Flahault, wife of the 4th Marquess, the collection of Napoleonic treasures came into the family. Her father, the Comte de Flahault, was Napoleon's aide-de-camp. The Library contains vases by Josiah Wedgwood that were inspired by engravings in William Hamilton's 1776 book "Antiquites Etrusques Grecques et Romaines."

The Sculpture Garden includes the famous collection of Lansdowne Marbles. More than 2,000 acres of grounds were landscaped between 1762 and 1768 by Lancelot ''Capability'' Brown, including the Pinetum, the Arboretum, and a Doric Temple. The Cascade was designed by Hamilton of Painshill, circa 1785. In 1764 Robert Adam completed the Mausoleum, considered one of his finest early classical style buildings.

There is fine Chapel designed by C.R. Cockerell.

"Robin Hood" [aka "Robin of Sherwood"] (1984 - TV series, episode 1.1, "Robin Hood and the Sorcerer," using Hamilton's cascade for the staff fight between Robin and John). "Northanger Abbey" (1987 - BBC TV Screen Two movie, with grounds and cascade used during the Beechan Cliff walk and rowboat scenes).