29-458: Sutton Court is an English house remodelled by Thomas Henry Wyatt in the 1850s from a manor house built in the 15th and 16th centuries around a 14th-century fortified pele tower and surrounding buildings. The house has been designated as Grade II* listed building . The house is at Stowey in the Chew Valley in an area of Somerset now part of Bath and North East Somerset and near to
58-447: A central three-storey fourteenth century pele tower with a taller circular stair turret and two-storey ranges linking it to the 1558 ' Bess of Hardwick Building' to the left and a four bay 1858–1860 servants' wing of three storeys to the right. Windows to the pele tower and right-hand linking range are 15th century, of two cusped lights with hood moulds , some of which have been renewed, and some relocated from other areas. The doorway to
87-545: A north east wing with a parlour and chapel, which includes Tudor buttresses. Sir William St Loe was a soldier, politician and courtier. His official positions included Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard , Chief Butler of England and Member of Parliament for Derbyshire . He died suddenly without male issue in 1564/5, which Mary S. Lovell suggests may have been as a result of poisoning by his younger brother. All his property
116-576: A partner. This partnership lasted until 1851. Wyatt's son Matthew (1840–1892) became his father's partner in 1860. Wyatt was appointed as consulting or honorary architect to a number of bodies including: Wyatt worked in many styles ranging from the Italianate of Wilton through to the Gothic of many of his churches. His practice was extensive with a large amount of work in Wiltshire largely as
145-486: A practice in the Court of King's Bench . George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham befriended him, and he was knighted and made a King's Counsel in 1671. He was generally considered to be a lawyer of considerable learning. He was Solicitor-General from 11 November 1673 until 25 June 1675, when he was appointed Attorney-General . He directed the prosecution of the victims of Titus Oates's plot in 1678, but resigned from
174-768: A result of his official position and the patronage of the Herbert family, and in Monmouthshire through the Beaufort connection Wyatt secured much work in Wiltshire, including the building of 20 churches, after offering his services at no cost to the Salisbury Diocesan Church Building Association in 1836. Julian Orbach considers the large new church at Wilton – "on a heroic scale" – to have made Wyatt's reputation. Below
203-520: A series very popular to this day in primary schools. The original tower of a fortified house forms a central part of the current building and was built in the 14th century by Walter de Sutton. The estate was later purchased by the St Loe family of Newton St Loe Castle , who expanded the hall and established a small deer park of around 200 acres (81 ha) which covered the site now occupied by Folly Farm . A length of original embattled wall, also built in
232-645: Is a selective list of some of Wyatt's major works. The Hendre was built in 1837/9 near Monmouth for the Rolls family. Llantarnam Abbey was built in 1834/1835 for Reginald Blewitt : a large mansion in the Elizabethan style, built on a dissolution site. Once again an abbey, in possession of the Sisters of St. Joseph. The Church of St Thomas the Martyr, Monmouth was renovated by Wyatt. Usk Sessions House
261-574: The 14th century, survives. G.W. and J.H. Wade suggest that Bishop Hooper , Anglican Bishop of Gloucester and Worcester , found asylum at Sutton Court around 1550 during the Marian Persecutions when the house was owned by the Protestant sympathiser Sir John St Loe , a Member of Parliament (MP) and High Sheriff of Somerset . Sir John St Loe was a friend and neighbour of John Locke a philosopher and physician regarded as one of
290-455: The 2nd Baronet, was appointed High Sheriff of Somerset in 1832 and Edward Strachey the 3rd Baronet High Sheriff in 1864. In 1858 much of the house was remodelled for the 3rd Baronet by Thomas Henry Wyatt . The 4th Baronet who was also Edward Strachey , a Liberal politician, was returned to Parliament for Somerset South at the 1892 general election . He served under Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman and later H. H. Asquith as Treasurer of
319-619: The Household from 1905 to 1909 and under Asquith as Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries from 1909 to 1911. He was raised to the peerage as Baron Strachie in 1911. During the 1970s major restoration work was undertaken to deal with dry rot and replace wiring which resulted in the removal of several ceilings and decorations from many of the rooms. After the death of Edward Strachey, 2nd Baron Strachie in 1973, it passed to Tory MEP Charles Strachey, 4th Baron O'Hagan ,
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#1732772179379348-574: The St Loes, one of whom married Bess of Hardwick . They lived at Sutton Court and expanded the property in the second half of the 16th century. Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries it was owned by the Strachey baronets and their descendants until it was sold in 1987 and converted into apartments. In the early 1980s the house was used as a film location for the BBC Look and Read series Dark Towers ,
377-589: The attorney-generalship in November 1679, saying that he had found the burden of work intolerable. As a man noted for his timid disposition, he was probably not well suited to be a law officer in a time of acute political crisis. He was returned to the House of Commons as member for Plymouth at a by-election on 3 November 1680. He was a manager for the Commons at Lord Stafford 's trial (30 November), where he presented
406-581: The better known Matthew Digby Wyatt . Wyatt was born at Lough-Glin House, County Roscommon . His father was Matthew Wyatt (1773–1831), a barrister and police magistrate for Roscommon and Lambeth. Wyatt is presumed to have moved to Lambeth with his father in 1825 and then initially embarked on a career as a merchant sailing to the Mediterranean, particularly Malta . He married his first cousin Arabella Montagu Wyatt (1807–1875). She
435-440: The coal workings. The purpose was to enhance the value of his grant of a coal-lease on parts of his estate. This work was later developed by William Smith . Henry Strachey , the grandson of the geologist and a senior civil servant, was created a baronet in 1801. When he inherited the house in the 18th century the house had been mortgaged, however the mortgage was redeemed by Strachey's employer Clive of India . Henry Strachey ,
464-468: The geologist , who inherited estates including Sutton Court from his father in 1674 at three years of age. He introduced a theory of rock formations known as stratum , based on a pictorial cross-section of the geology under the estate and coal seams in nearby coal works of the Somerset Coalfield . He projected them according to their measured thicknesses and attitudes into unknown areas between
493-492: The grandson of Frances Constance Maddalena (d.1931), daughter of the 1st Baron Strachie He sold it in 1987 for conversion into flats. The building is now private apartments set in fifteen acres (3 ha) of communal grounds, including a trout lake and tennis court. It is run by a management company made up of the residents. Sutton Court is built of squared and coursed sandstone rubble throughout with freestone and ashlar dressings, copings, slate roofs. The north front comprises
522-496: The late 18th and early 19th centuries a ferme ornée was established, with planting of various trees and the damming of streams to form ponds with paths and seating around them. Tenant farmers leased the majority of the land and during most of the 20th century it was used for dairy cattle, sheep and pigs. Much of the estate was sold in 1987 to the Avon Wildlife Trust who established their Folly Farm nature reserve on
551-423: The laundry and wash house, which was once a brew house. A curtain wall to the north of the house with a gazebo is also designated as a listed building . It includes 14th century masonry at the bottom of the wall; however most of the structure as it is now dates from the 18th and 19th centuries. The corner gazebo was built in the 19th century. The gate lodge, gates and gatepiers were built around 1820. During
580-518: The most influential of Enlightenment thinkers and widely known as the Father of Classical Liberalism . Locke who lived in Belluton , Pensford approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) from Sutton Court. John St Loe was buried at the local Church of St Andrew, Chew Magna . About 1558, according to a date on a fireplace, Bess of Hardwick and her third husband, Sir John's son Sir William St Loe , added
609-707: The prosecution case with skill, and was heavily involved in the passage of the Exclusion Bill through the Commons: his forceful speeches attracted much attention, and were notable contrast to his normal reputation for timidity. He was satirised by the court wits, and John Dryden introduced him as 'Bull-faced Jonas' into Absalom and Achitophel (1681). He was re-elected for Plymouth to the abortive parliament summoned to Oxford in March 1681. The King's declaration of 8 April 1681, justifying his dissolution of parliament,
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#1732772179379638-575: The site. Thomas Henry Wyatt Thomas Henry Wyatt (9 May 1807 – 5 August 1880) was an Anglo-Irish architect. He had a prolific and distinguished career, being elected President of the Royal Institute of British Architects 1870–73 and being awarded its Royal Gold Medal for Architecture in 1873. His reputation during his lifetime was largely as a safe establishment figure, and critical assessment has been less favourable more recently, particularly in comparison with his younger brother,
667-438: The tower dates from 1858 to 1860. The windows to the left-hand linking range and the 'Hardwick Building' are four and six lights, with chamfered mullions . The two-storey 'Hardwick' range has diagonal offset buttresses . There are eighteenth-century battlements to the pele tower, with tall octagonal ashlar stacks. To the north of the servants wing are old stables and stable yard with a coach house and groom's cottage along with
696-496: The village of Bishop Sutton . The house is surrounded by an extensive estate laid out as a ferme ornée , part of which is now the Folly Farm nature reserve. The estate is boarded by the villages of Chew Magna to the north, Cholwell to the south, Clutton to the east and the reservoir Chew Valley Lake to the west. Since the early modern period the house has been the country seat of several prominent families including
725-622: Was answered by Jones in Just and Modest Vindication of the Proceedings of the last two parliaments (London, 1681, anon.); this tract was reissued in 1689 as The Design of Enslaving England Discovered . After its publication Jones appeared little in public life, owing, it was reported, to his dislike of Shaftesbury . He was on intimate terms with Lord William Russell . He died on 2 May 1682, "not much lamented", according to his numerous enemies, who included Samuel Pepys . He had married Elizabeth,
754-405: Was built in 1875–1877. Other works: The Knightsbridge Barracks were built in 1878/9. William Jones (law-officer) Sir William Jones (1631 – 2 May 1682) was an English lawyer and politician. Jones was the son of Richard Jones, of Stowey , Somerset , MP for Somerset in 1654, and his wife Joyce Woodward. He entered Gray's Inn on 6 May 1647. He was called to the bar , and acquired
783-555: Was in the office of Philip Hardwick where he worked until 1832, and was involved in work on Goldsmiths Hall , Euston Station and the warehouses at St Katharine Docks . He began practice on his own account in 1832 when he was appointed District Surveyor for Hackney (a post he held until 1861). By 1838 he had acquired substantial patronage from the Duke of Beaufort , the Earl of Denbigh and Sidney Herbert , and David Brandon joined him as
812-526: Was left to Bess , to the detriment of his daughters and brother. When Bess died in 1608 the house was left to her son Charles Cavendish . In the early 17th century it was the seat of Richard Jones and his son Sir William Jones , the Attorney General of England. In the 1650s the estate was bought by the Baber family. The house soon became the seat of the Strachey family including John Strachey,
841-489: Was the second daughter of his uncle Arthur who was an agent to the Duke of Beaufort . This consolidated his practice in Wales. He lived at and practised from 77 Great Russell Street . He died there on 5 August 1880 leaving an estate of £30,000. He is buried at St Lawrence's Church, Weston Patrick . The Wyatts were a significant architectural dynasty during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Wyatt's early training
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