Burton Pynsent, Yeovil, England

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

A mid 18th-century landscape laid out by Lancelot Brown and William Pitt, Earl of Chatham, together with early 20th-century formal gardens designed by Harold Peto.

LOCATION, AREA, BOUNDARIES, LANDFORM, SETTING

Burton Pynsent is situated about one kilometre west of Curry Rivel, to the north of the A378 road. The roughly 98 hectare site comprises about one hectare of formal gardens and pleasure grounds, and about 97 hectares of park and ornamental plantation. To the east and west the site adjoins agricultural land and woodland, from which it is separated by a variety of fences and hedges, while to the south the boundary is formed by the A378 road. The northern boundary is marked by a track, South Drove, and Burton Dairy Farm. The site occupies a plateau of high ground which falls away steeply to the west and north-west, affording far-reaching views across West Sedge Moor towards the Quantock Hills. From the park to the south of the house there are also extensive views towards high ground about 10 kilometres south-east. The plantations on the west and north-west facing slopes within the park merge with areas of woodland beyond the boundaries of the registered site, including Swell Wood to the south-west and Stoneley Copse to the north-east.

REFERENCES Used by English Heritage

J Collinson, History and antiquities of Somerset I (1791), p 24

Country Life 76 (6 October 1934), pp 360-6

Lady Rockley, Historic Gardens of England (1938), p 172-3

N Pevsner, The Buildings of England: South and West Somerset (1958), p 111

D Stroud, Capability Brown (1975), pp 135-6, 219

Garden History 24 no 1 (1996), pp 129-30

J Bond, Somerset Parks and Gardens (1998), pp 89-90

Maps

Tithe map for Drayton parish, 1822 redrawn 1840 (M5146/1), (Somerset Record Office)

Tithe map for Curry Rival parish, 1841 (M5136/1), (Somerset Record Office)

OS 6” to 1 mile: 1930 edition

Archival items

Lord Chatham’s papers, including correspondence, plant lists and plans, are held at the Public Record Office.
 

Description written: December 2002

Edited: May 2004