Nieuport House, (also known as Newport House), Leominster, England

Nieuport House was a gabled mediaeval house in a level geometric garden depicted in a painting of 1683 by Thomas Dingley.

In 1712 the property was acquired by Thomas, Lord Foley. A new house was built around 1718, overlooking a rectangular garden dominated by an octagonal pool, with the regular lines of the layout extended by avenues to the edge of a walled deer park.

The garden layout continued to receive attention during the later 18th century. Fruit trees for the kitchen garden were supplied by Thomas Greening, who lived at Shobdon Court and was gardener to King George I. A plan proposing a new layout was supplied by John Bach of Hereford in 1767.

In 1863 the property was bought by James Watt Gibbs Watt, the grandson of the inventor James Watt. W.A. Nesfield altered the layout on the garden front, introducing a garden centred on a large stone tazza.

In the early years of the 21st century restoration work was carried out in the garden, focusing on the Nesfield layout.

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

HISTORIC DEVELOPMENT

In 1712 Thomas Pember and his two brothers sold Newport to Thomas, first Lord Foley, of Great Witley (now known as Witley Court - see description of this site elsewhere in the Register), in Worcestershire. Foley, an ironmaster, purchased several other properties locally, possibly for their timber reserves. Newport was transferred to his cousin, Paul Foley, a lawyer and the second son of Paul 'Speaker' Foley of Stoke Edith (see the description of this site elsewhere in the Register), Herefordshire. By 1718 the Pember house had been demolished and replaced by the present house. This was surrounded by a formal garden, shown in an estate painting of the early 18th century. Foley died without an heir around 1739, and Newport passed to his nephew Thomas Foley (II) of Stoke Edith (died 1749). During his time, and especially that of his son Thomas (III), Newport was not the main residence. Little was spent there until 1767 when, perhaps anticipating the establishment there of his third son, Andrew, Foley employed the Hereford surveyor John Bach to survey the property and to suggest improvements. Bach had performed the same service the year before at Stoke Edith. Newport remained with the Foleys until 1863 when Richard Foley Onslow sold it to James Watt Gibbs, the grandson of James Watt, for whom the house and gardens were modernised in the Italianate style, the latter by William Andrews Nesfield (1793-1881). The 3890-acre (about 1575 hectares) estate was sold soon after being offered for sale in 1909, and the new owners appear to have again reworked the gardens. After the Second World War Newport was home to a Latvian community. This left in the 1990s, and in 1998 the house and its grounds were in the hands of a development company.