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62-576: North Stoneham Park , also known as Stoneham Park , was a landscaped parkland and country house of the same name, north of Southampton at North Stoneham , Hampshire . It was the seat of the Fleming (subsequently Willis Fleming) family. The park was remodelled by Lancelot Brown in the 18th century. It is listed in the Hampshire Register of Historic Parks and Gardens. In 2011, controversial plans were announced to build 1,300 new houses on

124-455: A château or a Schloss can be a fortified or unfortified building, a country house, similar to an Ansitz , is usually unfortified. If fortified, it is called a castle, but not all buildings with the name "castle" are fortified (for example Highclere Castle in Hampshire ). The term stately home is subject to debate, and avoided by historians and other academics. As a description of

186-700: A country house, the term was first used in a poem by Felicia Hemans , "The Homes of England", originally published in Blackwood's Magazine in 1827. In the 20th century, the term was later popularised in a song by Noël Coward , and in modern usage it often implies a country house that is open to visitors at least some of the time. In England, the terms "country house" and "stately home" are sometimes used vaguely and interchangeably; however, many country houses such as Ascott in Buckinghamshire were deliberately designed not to be stately, and to harmonise with

248-428: A fortunate few; it was the centre of its own world, providing employment to hundreds of people in the vicinity of its estate . In previous eras, when state benefits were unheard of, those working on an estate were among the most fortunate, receiving secured employment and rent-free accommodation. At the summit of this category of people was the indoor staff of the country house. Unlike many of their contemporaries prior to

310-633: A great work of art or music". Stockbridge is home of the Houghton Fishing Club, an exclusive fishing club founded in 1822, which meets in the Grosvenor Hotel. In December 2006, Sport England published a survey which revealed that residents of Test Valley were the 8th most active in England in sports and other fitness activities. 26.9% of the population participate at least 3 times a week for 30 minutes. In March 2012 Test Valley

372-529: A mixture of high architecture , often as interpreted by a local architect or surveyor, and determined by practicality as much as by the whims of architectural taste. An example of this is Brympton d'Evercy in Somerset, a house of many periods that is unified architecturally by the continuing use of the same mellow, local Ham Hill stone . The fashionable William Kent redesigned Rousham House only to have it quickly and drastically altered to provide space for

434-487: A partnership of Eastleigh council with local people.' The £100,000 restoration was funded by developers' contributions following the redevelopment of North Stoneham Rectory. In 2008, Heritage Lottery-funding was awarded towards the project in order to return the Stoneham War Shrine to its original condition and further the conservation of the surrounding parkland. In 2011, Eastleigh Borough Council published

496-488: A recreational, and above all, unique educational resource that it represents. There are few other places in the United Kingdom where such unbroken continuity in the landscape can be demonstrated to the public. Following these surveys, the need to protect and restore the remaining parkland was built into local and regional plans. The Eastleigh-Southampton Strategic Gap Planning and Management Framework (1993) set out

558-459: Is acknowledged that it forms part of an historic landscape, but much of this has now become degraded." The Council's 13-acre countryside site however would not be included: "The part that is of most interest (the woodland surrounding the Shrine) would be protected". The plan states that "whilst the site was previously part of the strategic gap separating Southampton and Eastleigh, it is considered that

620-599: Is also covered by civil parishes , which form a third tier of local government. In the part of the borough within the New Forest National Park, town planning is the responsibility of the New Forest National Park Authority . The borough council appoints one of its councillors to serve on the 22-person National Park Authority. The council has been under Conservative majority control since 1999. The first election to

682-405: Is one of the few ancient manors in England where development can be traced in an almost uninterrupted line for two thousand years. … It should be afforded greater merit as part of [Southampton's] heritage than its present status affords. Efforts should be made to prevent any future deprivations, and attempts should be made to bring as much of this landscape into public ownership as possible for use as

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744-473: Is politics; they talk politics; and they make politics, quite spontaneously. There are no written terms for distinguishing between vast country palaces and comparatively small country houses; the descriptive terms, which can include castle , manor and court , provide no firm clue and are often only used because of a historical connection with the site of such a building. Therefore, for ease or explanation, Britain's country houses can be categorised according to

806-532: Is the ITV series Downton Abbey . Test Valley Test Valley is a local government district with borough status in Hampshire , England, named after the valley of the River Test . The council is based in the borough's largest town of Andover . The borough also contains the town of Romsey and numerous villages and surrounding rural areas. A small part of the borough at its southern end lies within

868-553: The Draft Eastleigh Borough Local Plan 2011-2029 , which included the recommendation that up to 1,300 houses plus community facilities should be built on the surviving Avenue area of North Stoneham Park. The designated area includes the Avenue area that was placed in public ownership in 1996 and restored in 2000. The Plan states that the area "is not subject to major environmental constraints" and that "it

930-615: The New Forest National Park , and part of the borough north of Andover lies within the North Wessex Downs , a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty . The neighbouring districts are Basingstoke and Deane , Winchester , Eastleigh , Southampton , New Forest , Wiltshire and West Berkshire . The district was created on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972 , covering

992-399: The agricultural depressions of the 1870s , the estates, of which country houses were the hub, provided their owners with incomes. However, the late 19th and early 20th centuries were the swansong of the traditional English country house lifestyle. Increased taxation and the effects of World War I led to the demolition of hundreds of houses ; those that remained had to adapt to survive. While

1054-567: The 1850s, with the English economy booming, new mansions were built in one of the many revivalist architectural styles popular throughout the 19th century. The builders of these new houses were able to take advantage of the political unrest in Europe that gave rise to a large trade in architectural salvage. This new wave of country house building is exemplified by the Rothschild properties in

1116-419: The 18th century with houses such as Castle Howard , Kedleston Hall and Holkham Hall . Such building reached its zenith from the late 17th century until the mid-18th century; these houses were often completely built or rebuilt in their entirety by one eminent architect in the most fashionable architectural style of the day and often have a suite of Baroque state apartments, typically in enfilade , reserved for

1178-474: The 20th century, they slept in proper beds, wore well-made adequate clothes and received three proper meals a day, plus a small wage. In an era when many still died from malnutrition or lack of medicine, the long working hours were a small price to pay. As a result of the aristocratic habit of only marrying within the aristocracy, and whenever possible to a sole heiress, many owners of country houses owned several country mansions, and would visit each according to

1240-575: The Eastleigh Southampton urban fringe, and has great potential for future use if ownership problems can be overcome. It is at the centre of the Eastleigh Southampton Strategic Gap and an improvement of its present landscape character is essential to the improvement of the environmental quality of the gap. Although parts of the original landscape have been degraded or destroyed ... the parkland character of

1302-473: The Isle of Wight how the parkland formed "a narrow but effective green belt between Eastleigh and Southampton ". From 1991, Hampshire County Council recognized that efforts should be made to conserve, restore, and enhance North Stoneham Park as a viable historic and natural landscape, and commissioned a number of surveys and evaluations. [North Stoneham Park’s] landscape is almost unique at present in that it

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1364-597: The architect Christopher Hatton Turnor , who had designed the Watts Gallery in Surrey. The Shrine was dedicated on 28 July 1918 by James Macarthur , Bishop of Southampton . During the late 20th century, the Shrine fell into an advanced state of dereliction. In 2011, it was restored to its original condition, and was re-dedicated on 22 May 2011. In 1967, Pevsner described in his Buildings of England : Hampshire and

1426-505: The area of four former districts which were all abolished at the same time: The new district was named Test Valley after the River Test which flows through the area. The district was awarded borough status on 22 October 1976, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor. Test Valley Borough Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Hampshire County Council . The whole district

1488-467: The best-known examples of the showy prodigy house , often built with the intention of attracting the monarch to visit. By the reign of Charles I , Inigo Jones and his form of Palladianism had changed the face of English domestic architecture completely, with the use of turrets and towers as an architectural reference to the earlier castles and fortified houses completely disappearing. The Palladian style, in various forms, interrupted briefly by baroque ,

1550-524: The circumstances of their creation. The great houses are the largest of the country houses; in truth palaces, built by the country's most powerful – these were designed to display their owners' power or ambitions to power. Really large unfortified or barely fortified houses began to take over from the traditional castles of the crown and magnates during the Tudor period, with vast houses such as Hampton Court Palace and Burghley House , and continued until

1612-491: The composition of the council was: The next election is due in 2027. Since the last boundary changes in 2019 the council has comprised 43 councillors representing 20 wards , with each ward electing one, two or three councillors. Elections are held every four years. The council has its main offices at Beech Hurst in Andover. The site had previously been a large house built in the 1850s, which had been purchased in 1947 by

1674-406: The contribution that development on this site would make to addressing housing needs outweighs the limited erosion of this gap." Country house An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house . This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these people,

1736-470: The council was held in 1973, initially acting as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new arrangements took effect on 1 April 1974. Political control since 1974 has been as follows: The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in Test Valley. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council . The leaders since 1980 have been: Following the 2023 election ,

1798-523: The country saw the building of the first of the unfortified great houses. Henry VIII 's Dissolution of the Monasteries saw many former ecclesiastical properties granted to the King's favourites, who then converted them into private country houses. Woburn Abbey , Forde Abbey and many other mansions with abbey or priory in their name became private houses during this period. Other terms used in

1860-428: The design of the wing around the next corner. These varying "improvements", often criticised at the time, today are the qualities that make English country houses unique. Wealthy and influential people, often bored with their formal duties, go to the country in order to get out of London, the ugliest and most uncomfortable city in the world; they invented the long week-end to stay away as long as possible. Their métier

1922-427: The early 1970s, hundreds of country houses were demolished . Houses that survived destruction are now mostly Grade I or II listed as buildings of historic interest with restrictions on restoration and re-creation work. However such work is usually very expensive. Several houses have been restored, some over many years. For example at Copped Hall where the restoration started in 1995 continues to this day. Although

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1984-479: The home counties and Bletchley Park (rebuilt in several styles, and famous for its code-breaking role in World War II). The slow decline of the English country house coincided with the rise not just of taxation, but also of modern industry, along with the agricultural depression of the 1870s. By 1880, this had led some owners into financial shortfalls as they tried to balance maintenance of their estates with

2046-435: The household. These houses were always an alternative residence to a London house. During the 18th and 19th centuries, for the highest echelons of English society, the country house served as a place for relaxing, hunting and running the country with one's equals at the end of the week, with some houses having their own theatre where performances were staged. The country house, however, was not just an oasis of pleasure for

2108-556: The immediately preceding war then in World War I, were now paying far higher rates of tax, and agricultural incomes had dropped. Thus, the solution for many was to hold contents auctions and then demolish the house and sell its stone, fireplaces , and panelling . This is what happened to many of Britain's finest houses. Despite this slow decline, so necessary was the country house for entertaining and prestige that in 1917 Viscount Lee of Fareham donated his country house Chequers to

2170-438: The income they provided. Some relied on funds from secondary sources such as banking and trade while others, like the severely impoverished Duke of Marlborough , sought to marry American heiresses to save their country houses and lifestyles. The ultimate demise began immediately following World War I . The members of the huge staff required to maintain large houses had either left to fight and never returned, departed to work in

2232-455: The landscape survives over a considerable part of the area, together with a number of historical features. The most important of these features are the remnants of The Avenue (which pre-dates Capability Brown’s work), three man-made ponds, the walled garden and a shrine ... The Framework was adopted in 1995 by Eastleigh Borough Council and Test Valley Council, and the restoration of Avenue area took place in phases between 1995 and 2011. In 1996,

2294-491: The landscape, while some of the great houses such as Kedleston Hall and Holkham Hall were built as "power houses" to dominate the landscape, and were most certainly intended to be "stately" and impressive. In his book Historic Houses: Conversations in Stately Homes , the author and journalist Robert Harling documents nineteen "stately homes"; these range in size from the vast Blenheim Palace and Castle Howard to

2356-544: The latter two are ducal palaces, Montacute, although built by a Master of the Rolls to Queen Elizabeth I, was occupied for the next 400 years by his descendants, who were gentry without a London townhouse , rather than aristocracy. They finally ran out of funds in the early 20th century. However, the vast majority of English country houses, often owned at different times by gentlemen and peers , are an evolution of one or more styles with facades and wings in different styles in

2418-655: The minuscule Ebberston Hall , and in architecture from the Jacobean Renaissance of Hatfield House to the eccentricities of Sezincote . The book's collection of stately homes also includes George IV's Brighton town palace, the Royal Pavilion . The country houses of England have evolved over the last five hundred years. Before this time, larger houses were usually fortified, reflecting the position of their owners as feudal lords , de facto overlords of their manors . The Tudor period of stability in

2480-416: The most eminent guests, the entertainment of whom was of paramount importance in establishing and maintaining the power of the owner. The common denominator of this category of English country houses is that they were designed to be lived in with a certain degree of ceremony and pomp. It was not unusual for the family to have a small suite of rooms for withdrawing in privacy away from the multitude that lived in

2542-399: The munitions factories, or filled the void left by the fighting men in other workplaces. Of those who returned after the war, many left the countryside for better-paid jobs in towns. The final blow for many country houses came following World War II ; having been requisitioned during the war, they were returned to the owners in poor repair. Many estate owners, having lost their heirs, if not in

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2604-468: The names of houses to describe their origin or importance include palace , castle , court , hall , mansion , park , house , manor , and place . It was during the second half of the reign of Elizabeth I , and under her successor, James I , that the first architect-designed mansions, thought of today as epitomising the English country house, began to make their appearance. Burghley House , Longleat House , and Hatfield House are among

2666-454: The nation for the use of a prime minister who might not possess one of his or her own. Chequers still fulfills that need today as do both Chevening House and Dorneywood , donated for sole use of high-ranking ministers of the Crown. Today, many country houses have become hotels, schools, hospitals and museums, while others have survived as conserved ruins, but from the early 20th century until

2728-423: The objectives to reduce further damage to the landscape, bring portions of land into public ownership as a ‘recreational and educational resource’, and protect and reinstate surviving features. North Stoneham Park is a site of considerable historic and landscape interest which has become severely degraded ... Nevertheless, it retains a large number of historic features worth safeguarding, is a significant element in

2790-725: The old Andover Borough Council to use as its headquarters. The house continued to serve as offices for Test Valley after the new council's creation in 1974 until 1990 when it was demolished and replaced by a modern building on the same site, retaining the Beech Hurst name. The council also maintains a smaller office at the former Magistrates' Court on Church Street in Romsey. Full council meetings are held alternately at Andover Guildhall and at Crosfield Hall in Romsey. Test Valley covers some 250 square miles (650 km ) of western Hampshire , stretching from boundaries with Southampton in

2852-468: The owner of a "power house" or a small manor, the inhabitants of the English country house have become collectively referred to as the ruling class, because this is exactly what they did in varying degrees, whether by having high political influence and power in national government, or in the day-to-day running of their own localities or "county" in such offices as lord/deputy lieutenant , magistrates , or occasionally even clergy. The Country house mystery

2914-529: The owner's twelve children. Canons Ashby , home to poet John Dryden 's family, is another example of architectural evolution: a medieval farmhouse enlarged in the Tudor era around a courtyard, given grandiose plaster ceilings in the Stuart period , and then having Georgian façades added in the 18th century. The whole is a glorious mismatch of styles and fashions that seamlessly blend together. These could be called

2976-512: The ownership or management of some houses has been transferred to a private trust , most notably at Chatsworth , other houses have transferred art works and furnishings under the Acceptance in Lieu scheme to ownership by various national or local museums, but retained for display in the building. This enables the former owners to offset tax, the payment of which would otherwise have necessitated

3038-462: The private sale of the art works. For example, tapestries and furniture at Houghton Hall are now owned by the Victoria and Albert Museum . In addition, increasing numbers of country houses hold licences for weddings and civil ceremonies . Another source of income is to use the house as a venue for parties, a film location or a corporate entertainment venue. While many country houses are open to

3100-472: The public and derive income through that means, they remain homes, in some cases inhabited by the descendants of their original owners. The lifestyles of those living and working in a country house in the early 20th century were recreated in a BBC television programme, The Edwardian Country House , filmed at Manderston House in Scotland. Another television programme which features life in country houses

3162-464: The season: Grouse shooting in Scotland , pheasant shooting and fox hunting in England. The Earl of Rosebery , for instance, had Dalmeny House in Scotland, Mentmore Towers in Buckinghamshire, and another house near Epsom just for the racing season. For many, this way of life, which began a steady decline in 1914, continued well into the 20th century, and for a few continues to this day. In

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3224-444: The second category of Britain's country houses are those that belonged to the squirearchy or landed gentry . These tend either to have evolved from medieval hall houses, with rooms added as required, or were purpose-built by relatively unknown local architects. Smaller, and far greater in number than the "power houses", these were still the epicentre of their own estate, but were often the only residence of their owner. However, whether

3286-578: The south to near Newbury in the north. Test Valley is a predominantly rural area. It includes part of the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty . The River Test is the centrepiece of the Test Valley; the river is a chalk stream of particular beauty known for its fishing , salmon and trout , which Lord Crickhowell (onetime chairman of the National Rivers Authority ) said "should be treated as

3348-402: The southern portion (61 acres) of the Avenue was placed in public ownership. In 2000, a well-received landscape restoration project to the whole of the Avenue area, including Eastleigh Borough Council’s northern portion (13 acres). The Southern Daily Echo reported: 'The huge restoration project of the vital green lung on Easteigh's southern boundary with Southampton has been made possible through

3410-443: The style "town council". Whilst Stockbridge is a post town it has a parish council rather than a town council. Some of the smaller parishes have a parish meeting rather than a parish council. The parishes of Frenchmoor and West Tytherley share a grouped parish council. The area is served by BBC South and ITV Meridian with television signals received from either Rowridge or Hannington TV transmitters. Radio stations for

3472-607: The surviving portion, Avenue Park. The deer park at North Stoneham was probably part of a Saxon ecclesiastical estate in the early Middle Ages. Later it belonged to Hyde Abbey . Following the Dissolution of the Monasteries , the manor was acquired in 1545 by Henry Wriothesley, 2nd Earl of Southampton . In 1599, Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton sold the North Stoneham estate to Sir Thomas Fleming , whose descendants owned it until 1953. The Stoneham War Shrine

3534-572: The term distinguished between town and country. However, the term also encompasses houses that were, and often still are, the full-time residence for the landed gentry who dominated rural Britain until the Reform Act 1832 . Frequently, the formal business of the counties was transacted in these country houses, having functional antecedents in manor houses . With large numbers of indoor and outdoor staff, country houses were important as places of employment for many rural communities. In turn, until

3596-493: The true English country house. Wilton House , one of England's grandest houses, is in a remarkably similar vein; although, while the Drydens, mere squires, at Canons Ashby employed a local architect, at Wilton the mighty Earls of Pembroke employed the finest architects of the day: first Holbein , 150 years later Inigo Jones, and then Wyatt followed by Chambers. Each employed a different style of architecture, seemingly unaware of

3658-520: Was a popular genre of English detective fiction in the 1920s and 1930s; set in the residence of the gentry and often involving a murder in a country house temporarily isolated by a snowstorm or similar with the suspects all at a weekend house party. Following the Industrial Revolution of the 18th century, a third category of country houses was built as newly rich industrialists and bankers were eager to display their wealth and taste. By

3720-518: Was built in 1917–18 in the Avenue Park portion of the parkland by John Willis Fleming, in memory of thirty-six local men killed in World War I , including his own son Richard. (An identical shrine was built at Havenstreet , Isle of Wight ). The Stoneham War Shrine was sited on Cricketers' Hill, facing towards St. Nicolas' Church along the line of the former Avenue. The monument was designed by

3782-545: Was ranked 14th best rural area to live out of 119 local authority areas in Great Britain by the Halifax . This was based on factors including employment and income levels, the weather, health and life expectancy, education, crime, broadband access and other things. The whole borough is covered by civil parishes . The parish councils for Andover and Romsey have declared their parishes to be towns, allowing them to take

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3844-422: Was to predominate until the second half of the 18th century when, influenced by ancient Greek styles, it gradually evolved into the neoclassicism championed by such architects as Robert Adam . Some of the best known of England's country houses were the work of only one architect/designer, built in a relatively short, particular time: Montacute House , Chatsworth House , and Blenheim Palace are examples. While

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