SO8844 : Croome Court and Park, Capability Brown's first commission
taken 18 years ago, near to High Green, Worcestershire, England
During World War II some of the parkland to the east and Defford Common became RAF Defford, the airfield playing an important role in the development of RADAR during wartime. The 10th Earl of Coventry was killed on active service in France in 1940 and after the war the Coventry family sold Croome Court in 1948. For many years until the 1979 it was a school. In the early 1980s it was home to the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (The Hare Krishnas). Afterwards the house was in private ownership, however, in December 2007, it was purchased by the Croome Heritage Trust and has been leased to the National Trust on a 999 years lease. The house was first open to the public in September 2009.
Lancelot 'Capability' Brown was born in Kirkharle, Northumberland, and baptised on 30 August 1716. The National Trust is celebrating the tricentenary of his birth in 2016 at many of the properties where he landscaped the grounds. 'Capability' Brown landscaped more than 200 parklands throughout the country, including Blenheim and Chatsworth.
Before the National Trust acquired Croome Park the land was under arable use. See: SO8844 : Straw bales at Croome Court In restoring the park the Trust have sought to return the park to pasture land.
To discover more about Croome Court and its parkland see this Geograph article: Link
The Croome Court we see today is the result of a rebuild or makeover by 'Capability' Brown (possibly with some influence from Sanderson Miller) in the 1750s and 1760s for the 6th Earl of Coventry. Brown added the west and east wings which as top with the corner towers and pyramid roofs. The Palladian hides an earlier Carrollian house behind its Bath stone facade. The chimneys are part of this earlier house. The Carrollian house replaced an earlier house which was the victim of a fire in the early 17th century. The house was the seat of the earls of Coventry and it remained the family home until the Second World War. For many years after the war the court was a private school, and then in the early 1980s it belonged to the Society of Krishna Consciousness. The parkland the court is set in is of historical importance, being the first park landscaped by Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown. The park is now in the care of the National Trust. Croome Court was purchased by the Croome Heritage Trust in December 2007. The house opened to the public in September 2009 and is leased by the National Trust. Many aristocratic families had a London home the Earls of Coventry owned a house on Piccadilly. See: TQ2880 : Former London home of the Earls of Coventry