Corsham Court, Wiltshire, England

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

A mid-18th-century park improved by Lancelot Brown around 1760 and Humphry Repton around 1800. 

LOCATION, AREA, BOUNDARIES, LANDFORM, SETTING

Corsham Court, a site of around 188 hectares, occupies a roughly square piece of level land situated immediately to the east of the town of Corsham. The park is surrounded to the north, west, and south by a wall dating from the 18th and early 19th centuries (Pearson Assocs 1997). Along its southern boundary runs Lacock Road. To the north the site is bounded by the A4 between Bath and Chippenham. To the east the site is bounded by farmland and in the south-east corner, the village of Westrop.

REFERENCES Used by English Heritage

Peacock's Polite Repository (July 1800)

H Repton, Observations on the Theory and Practice of Landscape Gardening (1803)

J P Neale, Views of the Seats (1829)

The Studio, (1907-08), plates xli, xlii [photographs showing the park entrance and rose garden]

C Holme, Gardens of England in Southern and Western Counties (1907), pp 41-3

Landscape and Garden 3, no 3 (1936), pp 149-52

Country Life, 12 (19 July 1902), pp 94-5; 82 (20 November 1937), pp 516-21; (27 November 1937), pp 548-54

B Jones, Follies & Grottoes (1974), p 407

F J Ladd, Architects at Corsham Court (1979)

J Sales, West Country Gardens (1980), pp 201-04

Lord Methuen, Corsham Court, guidebook, (1983)

D Stroud, Capability Brown (3rd edn 1984), pp 35, 86-90

Architectural History 27, (1984), p 388

T Hinde, Capability Brown (1986), pp 79-83

Wiltshire Gardens Trust Newsletter 15, (March 1987)

Corsham Park, Wiltshire - Historic Landscape Survey and Management Plan, (Nicholas Pearson Associates 1997) 

Maps

Plan showing Corsham House and Grounds, c 1745 (private collection)

Greening, Plan for the garden at Corsham House, c 1747-9 (private collection)

Oram, Plan for the grounds at Corsham House, c 1750 (private collection)

Lancelot Brown, Plan showing both existing and proposed features at Corsham Court, 1761 (private collection)

Andrews and Drury, Map of Wiltshire, 1773
Map of the Manor of Corsham for Paul Cobb Methuen, 1806 (Wiltshire and Swindon Record Office)

Corsham Parish Plan, 1820 (private collection)

Tithe map for Corsham parish, 1838 (Wiltshire and Swindon Record Office)

OS Old Series, 1" to 1 mile, published 1828

OS 6" to 1 mile:

1st edition surveyed 1885, published 1889

2nd edition revised 1900, published 1902

OS 25" to 1 mile:

1st edition surveyed 1885, published 1887

2nd edition revised 1900, published 1902
 

Illustrations

T Hearne, Corsham House in Wiltshire, the Seat of Paul Methuen Esqr, 1784 (reproduced in Pearson Assocs 1997)

A Robertson, Engraving showing east front of Corsham Court with the lake as created by Lancelot Brown in the foreground, 1792 (reproduced in Pearson Assocs 1997)

Engraving after H Repton's drawing showing the view from the south end of The Lake (Peacock's Polite Repository 1800)

R Havell, Engraving and aquatint showing The Lake and the east front of Corsham Court, 1816 (reproduced in Pearson Assocs 1997)

 Archival items

The Corsham Collection is held at the Wiltshire Record Office.

Series of postcards and photographs of Corsham Park, early 20th century (Wiltshire and Swindon Record Office)