SO8844 : Croome Court and Park, Capability Brown's first commission
taken 18 years ago, near to High Green, Worcestershire, England
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