Rudding Park, Harrogate, England

The following is from the English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest.

HISTORIC DEVELOPMENT

Rudding Park was originally part of the forest of Knaresborough and some of the ancient oaks were retained within the parkland. In the early 18th century, Rudding was owned by a Mr Williamson of Wetherby. He sold it to a Mr Craddock who in turn sold it to James Collins who enlarged the house and planted avenues in the park. Collins was succeeded by Thomas Wilson, following whose death in 1778 the estate was purchased in 1788 by Alexander Wedderburn, Lord Loughborough and Earl of Rosslyn. On acquiring Rudding, Loughborough called in Humphry Repton (1752-1818) to put forward suggestions for the redesigning of the garden and park. Repton's first recorded visit was in 1790 and he quotes from the Red Book he prepared in his Sketches (1794), has entries for the work in his account books, and also uses an illustration of Rudding for Peacock's Polite Repository. The Red Book was sold at Sothebys in 1916 and its present whereabouts (2000) is unknown, so the extent of Repton's contribution to the site remains unclear. Following the death of Loughborough in 1805 the estate was sold to the Hon William Gordon. He demolished the old house and began work on a new mansion on a different site. In 1824, with the house still unfinished, Gordon sold the property to Sir Joseph Radcliffe who employed R D Chantrell to complete it. The estate remained in the Radcliffe family until sold by Captain Sir Everard and Lady Radcliffe to Mr MacKaness in 1972. Sir Everard redeveloped the garden in the 1950s with the help of James Russell, building a terrace and garden room. Mr MacKaness converted the kitchen garden into a caravan park after 1972 and the house into a hotel and conference centre. In the early 1980s the redundant farm buildings to the north of the site, previously Home Farm, then The Stables, were sold off for a private housing development known as Rudding Dower. The site remains (2004) in multiple ownership.