Campsey Ashe Park, (also known as Campsea Ashe), Ipswich, England

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

HISTORIC DEVELOPMENT

The construction of High House at Campsey is said to have been started in 1558 by John Glover, servant to Thomas Howard, third Duke of Norfolk, and finished in 1600 by his son William Glover I (Deben Valley Place Names Project). The Glovers sold the estate to the Sheppeard Family in 1648 in whose hands it remained until 1883. The layout of the formal gardens, including the surviving canals, yew hedges and yew-encircled bowling green, together with the two main avenues radiating from the House across the park, date from the 17th century, being the work of either the Glovers or John Sheppeard I. John Sheppeard III (1706-42) is attributed with making alterations and improvements to the canals and the gardens (DVPN). The park is first shown on Bowen's map of the county in around 1750 and in greater detail on the 1839 Tithe map; both show it extending mainly to the north of the House. In 1865 High House was destroyed by a fire and John Sheppeard VI commissioned Anthony Salvin (1799-1881) to rebuild it. On Sheppeard's death in 1883 the estate was sold to the Hon William Lowther who extended the park to the east. His son, the Viscount Ullswater (Speaker of the House of Commons), added numerous Edwardian features to the gardens in the form of a sunk rose garden, a Japanese garden and a rock garden, all within the 17th-century framework. Lord Ullswater died in 1949 and his trustees sold parts of the estate, including the House with its grounds which were purchased by Lady Delaney. The park remained in the hands of Ullswater's nephew Arthur Lowther. Lady Delaney died almost immediately and the House and grounds were sold to a developer who turned the coach house, stables and squash court into housing. High House fell into a ruinous state and the gardens were divided. The House and its immediate surroundings were bought in 1952 by Richard Schreiber who demolished the remains and extended the squash court to become Campsea Ashe House. Part of the walled and ornamental gardens together with the Gardener's Cottage were sold separately and the registered site remains (1998) in divided private ownership.