England

Staffordshire

Codsall Wood, Brewood and Coven

52.6585

-2.2029

1724 rebulild of an earlier house w/1789 alterations

Fully Extant

Grade I

Not Listed

No

CIII, 326, 378, 426, 1948.

Yes

Yes

01902-850-236

01902-850-768

HHA/Sotheby's Restoration Award, 2009.

Individual / Family Trust

Private Home

Mr. and Mrs. John Giffard; Giffard family here since 1178.

The Giffard family has called Chillington their home since medieval times – the family is one of the few that have a direct link by descent from one of the knights who came over with William the Conqueror in 1066. The present owners, John and Cres Giffard, represent the 29th generation to live there. The family’s distinctive panther crest was awarded to them following a gallant deed of Sir John Gifford in the reign of Henry VIII, who shot a panther that had escaped from a menagerie with his bow and arrow as it was about to pounce upon a woman and child on the Estate. At the center of a great park landscaped by Capability Brown (with one of his largest lakes), the House is still approached via a great oak avenue which marches across two public roads. Today’s house is an early 18th century rebuilding by Francis Smith, onto which the entrance range, with its noble portico and the central top-lit saloon, was added by Sir John Soane. The great saloon, which predates Soane’s famous top-lit banking halls for the Bank of England, together with the Entrance Hall, has recently been superbly restored and redecorated by the Giffard family, forming, with the other main rooms, a splendid gallery of family collections. (We are very grateful to Gareth Williams for this history of Chillington).

Chillington contains two exceptional Pompeo Batoni portraits and other items acquired on 18th century Grand Tours.

The Park was designed by Capability Brown and contains one of his largest lakes (there is a four-mile path around the Lake). The grounds also contain a number of follies, including the Temple and the Sham House, among others.