Belhus Park, Thurrock, England

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

HISTORIC DEVELOPMENT

The name Belhus derived from 14th century tenants of the manor who, according to Morant (1768), came from Ramsden Bellhouse. The first of the family, Nicholas, settled at Aveley in about 1327 and by the early 15th century the Barretts had inherited by marriage a share of the Belhus estate. This they added to and consolidated until by the mid 17th century they had built up one of the largest estates in Essex. John Barrett, who died in 1526, rebuilt Belhus House towards the end of his life.

In 1618 Sir Edward Barrett obtained a license to make a park, and the elaborate parterre shown on an estate map of 1619 was probably of the same date. A bird's-eye view of the property in the late 17th/early 18th century shows much the same layout (Thurrock Museum). Following his succession to the estate, Thomas Barrett-Lennard, later Lord Dacre, made extensive improvements to both house and grounds between 1744 and 1777. Dacre's friend, the architect Sanderson Miller (1716-1780) advised on the building, while Lancelot Brown (1716-1783) was commissioned to remodel the grounds between 1753 and 1763. Correspondence between Dacre and Miller shows that the owner was short of money but Brown nevertheless created a modern park which was given minor additions by Richard Woods, who was commissioned in 1770. The landscape they created is depicted on the Chapman and Andre county map of 1777.

After Dacre's death the Belhus estate was inherited by his natural son, Thomas Lennard (created baronet in 1801) who was friendly with Humphry Repton (1752-1818). Although there is no evidence in the estate account books of payment to Repton, Belhus is illustrated in Peacock's Polite Repository for 1807, suggesting that Repton may have given some advice there. Comparison between Chapman and Andre (1777) and the Ordnance Survey Surveyor's drawings (1799) shows that the avenue flanking the main approach had disappeared by the later date, with just a length of it retained beyond the house.

Thomas Lennard died in 1856 at the advanced age of ninety-five, a year after his own son had passed away. Belhus was thus inherited by Thomas's grandson, also Thomas, who lived at Belhus until his death in 1919. The third Baronet, Sir Thomas Barrett Lennard, was sixty-six when he inherited Belhus and had long resided at Horsford Manor, the family estate in Norfolk. Although he spent time maintaining and repairing the house and estate, Sir Thomas did not live there, retaining Horsford as his principal seat, and in 1923 he dispersed the contents of the house.

During the Second World War Belhus was damaged by bombing and by military occupation and it was demolished in 1957. Belhus Park was purchased by Essex County Council and developed as a recreation centre, with swimming pool, gym, and golf course focused on a new clubhouse built in the southern half of the park. The site remains (2000) in local authority ownership.