Burton Pynsent, Yeovil, England

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

HISTORIC DEVELOPMENT

An engraving of the house at Burton Pynsent as it existed before 1765 shows it to have been an irregular structure which clearly evolved over a protracted period (Collinson, 1791). This process appears to have been commenced by Marmaduke Jennings around 1565, and to have been continued in the early 17th century by his successor, also Marmaduke Jennings (Country Life, 1934). In 1679 Thomas Jennings died leaving the estate to a female relation, who married as her second husband ,Sir William Pynsent. Their only son died in 1754, and late in life Sir William appears to have developed an interest in politics. Disillusioned by the dismissal from the government of William Pitt (1707-78) in 1761, and angered by Lord Bute’s proposal in 1763 for a tax on Somerset cider which enjoyed the support of his putative heiress’ husband, Lord North of Wroxton Abbey, Oxfordshire (see description of this site elsewhere in the Register), Sir William Pynsent made a new will in 1764 bequeathing his Somerset estate to Pitt. Pynsent died in 1765, and despite challenges to the will mounted by relations who had been left 1,000 guineas each, which continued until 1771 (Stroud, 1975), Pitt immediately travelled to Somerset to inspect the estate, writing to his wife that `I propose to pass the rest of my days [there] if I find the place tolerable’ (CL, 1934). Political commitments prevented Pitt, who was created Earl of Chatham in 1766, from taking up residence at Burton Pynsent until 1767, but as early as September 1765 he had commissioned Lancelot Brown (1716-1783), whom he had originally met at Stowe, Buckinghamshire (see description of this site elsewhere in the Register), to design a column commemorating Sir William Pynsent’s benefaction. Brown also appears to have advised on the formation of the park landscape, and may have been responsible for the design of a new wing which Pitt constructed at the eastern end of the existing house in 1765-7 (Stroud 1975). The Pynsent Column was built by Philip Pear, a builder from Curry Rivel, at a cost of £2,000, and was also completed in late 1767 (Bond, 1998).

Lord Chatham continued to reside periodically at Burton until his death in 1778 and he himself directed improvements to the landscape including extensive tree-planting (Stroud 1975). The species planted included more exotic subjects and large numbers of cedars, many being supplied by London nurserymen including John Brodrick (Garden History 1996); while Capt Samuel Hood sent black spruce from Nova Scotia (Bond, 1998). In 1768 Chatham repurchased his previous seat at Hayes Place, Kent which had been sold in 1766, the repurchase being financed by the sale of part of the Burton estate. After Lord Chatham’s death his widow and his granddaughter, Lady Hester Stanhope (1776-1839), lived at Burton until the death of Lady Chatham in 1803.

The estate was offered for sale in lots in 1805, the house and park being sold to a speculator for £8,810. It was immediately re-sold to Col Pinney who demolished all but the mid-18th-century wing of the house. The Pynsent Column had been purchased by Dr Woodford of Taunton, Lord Chatham’s physician, in order to prevent its destruction, and was subsequently conveyed to Col Pinney. The estate was owned by a series of non-resident proprietors in the 19th century, finally being sold in 1909 to Mrs Crossley, a relation by marriage of Harold Peto (1854-1933). Peto was commissioned to lay out formal gardens to the east and west of the 18th-century house, which was also provided with a new entrance front to the south-west (CL 1934; Rockley, 1938). Burton Pynsent is one of a group of sites in Somerset and Dorset, including Wayford Manor (see description of this site elsewhere in the Register) and Seaborough Court, at which Peto worked for his relations during a period when he was officially barred from practising in England under the terms of the dissolution of his partnership with Sir Ernest George in 1892.

Burton Pynsent remained the property of Mrs Crossley’s descendants until being sold in the late 20th century. Today (2002), it remains in private ownership.