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Westonbirt House is a country house in Gloucestershire, England. It belonged to the Holford family from 1665 until 1926. The first house on the site was an Elizabethan manor house. The Holfords replaced it first with a Georgian house, and then Robert Stayner Holford, who inherited Westonbirt in 1839, replaced that house between 1863 and 1870 with the present mansion which was designed by Lewis Vulliamy. He also remodelled the gardens, diverted the main road and relocated the villagers. The house is constructed of high quality ashlar masonry on a grand scale. The exterior is in an Elizabethan style, with a symmetrical main block and asymmetric wings, one of them containing a conservatory. The interiors are in a sumptuous classical style. The house was fitted with the latest technology such as gas lighting, central heating, fireproof construction and iron roofs. It is now a Grade I listed building. Extensive formal terrace gardens were created around the house and of ornamental woodlands were planted in the 19th century. Since 1928, the house has been occupied by the girls' boarding school Westonbirt School. Westonbirt House is open to the public on certain days, and the gardens are open more frequently. The house is also licensed to hold civil ceremonies and is used as a wedding venue.〔(Westonbirt House )〕 ==Robert Stayner Holford and Mary Anne Holford== Robert was born in 1808 to George Peter Holford and Anne Holford who was the daughter of Reverend Averell Daniell of Lifford, County Donegal, Ireland.〔Lee, Rev. Alfred (1857) 'The history of the town and parish of Tetbury', John Henry and James Parker, London, pp. 219–20.〕 He was the only male born to this couple but he had three sisters. George Peter Holford was a lawyer and a member of parliament. He also wrote books which usually related to religion and Christianity.〔Obituary of G. P. Holford, The Gentleman's Magazine, July–Dec 1839. London〕 He inherited a mansion at Westonbirt from his father. This house was the original manor which had been erected in the reign of Elizabeth or the early part of the time of James I.〔'Jones views of the seats of noblemen and Gentlemen of England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland', Jones and Company, 1829, London.〕 This house was demolished by George in 1818 and a new house built in 1823.〔Register of Parks andGardens of Special Historic Interest, (1999) 'Westonbirt, Gloucestershire, Cotswold' Ref No 1426.〕 In 1829 at the age of 21, Robert graduated from Oriel College at Oxford University with a Bachelor of Arts Degree.〔Dod, Robert (1857) 'The Parliamentary Companion for 1857', Whittaker and Company, London, p. 208.〕 In the same year the Arboretum on the Westonbirt Estate commenced and Robert played a significant role in this project. In 1838 he inherited his uncle's fortune of over one million pounds. In the following year his father died and he became the owner of Westonbirt House. He was a keen lover of art and literature and his enormous wealth now allowed him to indulge this interest. He began collecting paintings and books for what was to become the famous "Holdford Collection". To accommodate this collection he built Dorchester House in Park Lane, London between 1851 and 1853 and employed Lewis Vulliamy as the architect.〔Cancellor, E. B. (1908) 'The private Palaces of London: Past and Present', Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner and Co., London, p. 250.〕 During this time he became a Magistrate for Gloucester and Wilts and in 1843 was the High Sheriff for Wilts. In December 1854 he was first elected as the Member for Gloucestershire East.〔Dod, Robert (1857), p. 208.〕 In August 1854 Robert at the age of 46 married Mary Anne Lindsay who was the 25-year-old daughter of Lieutenant-General James Lindsay.〔Marquis of Ruvigny and Raineval,(1994) The plantagenet Roll of the Blood Royal: The Clarence Volume, Genealogical Publishing Company, p. 248.〕 Over the next five years the Holfords had three daughters – Margaret, Evelyn and Alice. It was not until 1860 that George Holford was born who was to become heir to the family fortune. Between 1863 and 1870 Robert built the present Westonbirt house. It was reputed to be one of the most expensive houses constructed in the Victorian era. Robert continued his work as a member of parliament until 1872 when he retired.〔The Bristol Mercury and Daily Post, 27 February 1892.〕 He continued to collect plants for the garden at Westonbirt House and also for the Arboretum. George also developed an interest in gardens and plants and assisted his father with this work. After Robert's retirement, the couple spent time at both Westonbirt and Dorchester House. In 1875 Charles Gayard, a French diplomat visited Westonbirt and gave an account of his experience as follows. :''This morning I have lost no time. Sometimes Mrs Holford, sometimes Evy, took me about the house, which surpasses in magnificence any that you know. There is a hall, a sort of conservatory three stories high, something like the great apartments of Louis XIV. The most original room in the house is the one painted by Mrs Holford, in a bizarre fanciful style, something between Delacroix landscape and Rouen pottery''. :''After luncheon my friends took me on a pony chaise, across the beauties of the park to the keeper's lodge. I saw conservatories without end, then a lake, a bit of a wild, heaps of rocks that it seems have been newly brought there. And the lake too is a thing of yesterday. The pheasants were so thick we fairly trod on them. At last we reached the Head-keepers's lodge, and saw a pack of thirty spaniels with legs short enough to make the rabbits dance for joy.'' The garden at Westonbirt House and the Arboretum continued to expand and in 1886 an extensive article was written about it in a notable publication called "The Garden". It said that "Mr Holford's aim has been to create variety without confusion, informality and picturesqueness without losing sight of that polish in the vicinity of the mansion which must always be regarded as in accordance with correct taste.".〔Goldring, W., 'Westonbirt', The Garden: and Illustrated weekly journal of gardening in all its branches", 20 Feb 1886, p. 157.〕 In February 1892 Robert died at Dorchester House.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Westonbirt House」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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