Description

SU 82 SE WOOLBEDING WOOLBEDING LANE
11/34 Woolbeding House
(National Trust)
18.6.59
- I
Of the H-shaped Elizabethan house built here by William Aylwin, there survive 2
chimney-breasts, one at the west end of the south front and one on the north side,
some of the walling of the west range and a fire-place in the bedroom in the south
west angle of the building. In 1679 the house passed to the Mill family. The
present house was probably built by Sir Richard Mill Bt between 1711 and 1760 and
was then of quadrangular shape with an open courtyard in the middle. In 1791 it
was sold by his youngest son, the Rev Sir Charles Mill Bt, to Lord Robert Spencer,
third son of the third Duke of Marlborough who occupied the house until his death
in 1831. He made alterations to the house in 1791, roofing over the interior
courtyard. His architect was John White of Marylebone, Surveyor to the Duke of
Portland. Most of the interior decoration dates from this time. During Lord
Robert Spencer's occupation of the house it became one of the principal Whig
centres in England, "a kind of rural Brooks's" (Disraeli). Charles James Fox, to
whom Lord Robert Spencer was so devoted that his epitaph in Woolbeding Church
records that he "lived the friend of Fox", was frequently at the house. This still
contains several portraits and busts of Fox. In the late C19 the east side of the
house was altered by Lord Lanerton and the main staircase inserted in the centre of
the house, previously the courtyard, which had been roofed over by Lord Robert
Spencer. The main front faces south. 2 storeys and attic. 7 windows. 5 hipped
dormers surmounted by ball finials. Coursed Hythe sandstone. Moulded stone stringcourse. Parapet. Hipped slate roof. Glazing bars intact. Chimney-breast east of the western-most window bay. The west or entrance front is half H-shaped, 5 windows
and 5 dormers, the 3 centre ones similar to those on the south front, the outer
ones with pediments over. Coved eaves cornice. The ground floor of the recessed
centre is filled by a portico of 4 fluted Ionic columns with entablature above. In
front of each of the columns is a low stone post intended to protect the columns
from damage by wheels of carriages.

Listing NGR: SU8732522719

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Woolbeding House at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q17528905

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

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