Claydon, Aylesbury, England

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

HISTORIC DEVELOPMENT

Claydon became the seat of the Verney family in 1620. Sir Ralph Verney returned in 1653 from self-imposed exile in France, to embark on remodelling the manor house, in addition planting the garden with many ornamentals and creating a deer park which held fifty-five deer, sited probably in the position of the present park, but on a smaller scale. He also made a new road to the house and probably began the development of the natural stream about 1660 (National Trust 1990). Little further alteration to the estate was made until Ralph, second Lord Verney, inherited it in 1752, and set about improving the estate in order to try and rival the works being carried out at nearby Stowe. He built the stable court in about 1754, and began work on the house, continuing through the 1770s and 1780s. The park was landscaped by James Sanderson of Reading between 1763 and 1776, when he died. Sir Harry Verney inherited the estate in 1827, making improvements to the house and estate, including creating the west terrace by the house, until his death in 1894. His second wife, Frances Parthenope, was the sister of Florence Nightingale, a frequent visitor to Claydon during the second half of the 19th century. In 1956 the house and gardens were given to the National Trust.