Basildon Park, Reading, England

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

HISTORIC DEVELOPMENT

The part of the manor of Basildon now occupied by Basildon Park was owned by the Yonge family during the 16th and early 17th century, passing to Sir Henry Fane in 1680, in whose family the estate remained until the mid 18th century. At this time the manor house, possibly of Tudor origin, stood in what is now parkland; it is believed to have been situated west of the present house, although no visible trace remains of this structure (R Jordan-Baker pers comm, 1998). Sir Henry's grandson, the second and last Viscount Fane, may have been responsible for planting some of the trees in the park, together with the building of the gothick lodges on the west and south drives (guidebook 1995). By the mid 18th century (Rocque, 1761) most of the park had been laid out, except for the strip to the north of the west drive, with woodland bounding the western edge, and a house and related buildings had appeared on the site of the present house.

In 1771 Sir Francis Sykes (1732-1804), the youngest son of a Yorkshire yeoman, bought Basildon Park with the proceeds of his career from 1751-68 in the East India Company. Sykes was one of several `nabobs' living in the area, including Richard Benyon at Englefield and Warren Hastings who lived at Purley Hall during his impeachment by Parliament in the 1780s. Sykes built a new house from 1776, probably extending the park at the same time to its present size, and employed Lancelot Brown (1716-83) in 1778 to design the kitchen garden, and possibly to advise on the park planting (guidebook 1995). The Sykes family sold the estate to a Liberal MP, James Morrison, in 1838. Morrison completed rooms left unfinished by Sir Francis and built the main garden terrace, having received advice from William Andrews Nesfield (1793-1881) and Edward Kemp (1817-91), finally employing the architect David Brandon to construct it. The estate remained in the Morrison family into the 20th century, although unlived in by the family from 1910 and gradually falling into disrepair. It was bought in 1952 by the Hon Langton Iliffe, later Lord Iliffe, and his wife. They restored the house and park, giving the estate, now open to the public, to the National Trust in 1982.