39-612: Lydiard Park is a 260-acre (110-hectare) country park at Lydiard Tregoze , which was its former name, about 3 miles (5 km) west of central Swindon , Wiltshire , England, in West Swindon parish, near Junction 16 of the M4 motorway . The park, which is included on the Historic England Register of Historic Parks and Gardens at Grade II, surrounds the Grade I listed Lydiard House ,
78-543: A Justice of the peace. A gentleman brought his servant before him, upon an accusation of having stolen some money from him; but it having come out that he had laid it purposely in the servant's way, in order to try his honesty, Sir Godfrey sent the master to prison. In his hometown Lübeck there are works to be seen in the St. Annen Museum and in Saint Catherine Church . His former works at St. Mary's Church were destroyed by
117-529: A big church, but cram-full of enjoyable furnishings, richer than any other of similar size in the country". The benefice was united with Lydiard Millicent in 1956; the incumbent lived at Lydiard Millicent. The two parishes were united in 1981 and following the 1989 building of a church in the Swindon suburb of Shaw, the parish was renamed West Swindon and the Lydiards in 1996. A reorganisation effective in 2018 saw
156-555: A condition of his inheritance. The site of the house Kneller built in 1709 in Whitton , near Twickenham, became occupied by the mid-19th century Kneller Hall , home of the Royal Military School of Music . As to thinking better or worse of mankind from experience, some cunning people will not be satisfied unless they have put men to the test, as they think. There is a very good story told of Sir Godfrey Kneller, in his character of
195-559: A mansion built in the 17th and 18th centuries. A settlement at Lediar , with woodland, is mentioned in the Domesday Book and was owned by the Tregoze family from about 1198. In 1259, Henry III gave Robert Tregoze a royal licence to create a deer park in nearby woodland. In 1420 the estate came by marriage to the St John family (whose seat was at Battersea , London), and they owned it until
234-471: A master's house. An average of 90 pupils attended in 1899, but numbers fell and there were only 30 in 1930. The school closed in 1965 and its 23 pupils transferred to Lydiard Millicent . The building was later extended and is now a small hotel and restaurant. Originally, the parish boundary in the north-east followed the Cheltenham railway. In 1981 an eastern portion of the parish – including Toot Hill and
273-489: A monument in the church following the death of his wife Katherine in 1633. The Wilts & Berks Canal (1810–1914) crossed the parish. The Great Western Main Line railway follows a similar route; there are no local stations, the nearest being Swindon . Between 1840 and 1841, as the railway was being built in stages from London, a temporary terminus known as Wootton Bassett Road was at Hay Lane. The M4 motorway also crosses
312-593: A powerful Saxon nobleman who retains his lands after the Conquest , and a Tenant-in-Chief to King William I of England . Near Royal Wootton Bassett , the parish of Lydiard Tregoze was part of the Kingsbridge Hundred, while its village originally centred on the medieval parish church of St Mary and the nearby manor house , Lydiard House , which came to be the home of the St John family, Viscounts Bolingbroke . However,
351-511: A pupil of Ferdinand Bol and Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn in Amsterdam . He then travelled with his brother John Zacharias Kneller , who was an ornamental painter, to Rome and Venice in the early 1670s, painting historical subjects and portraits in the studio of Carlo Maratti , and later moved to Hamburg . The brothers came to England in 1676, and won the patronage of the Duke of Monmouth . He
390-441: A restoration project which included reinstating a two-acre lake. The park hosted Radio 1's Big Weekend in 2009. In 2017, the park was transferred from Lydiard Tregoze parish to the newly created West Swindon parish. As a result of the 2022 heatwaves , traces of formal gardens thought to date from the 17th century became visible from the air. The manor house , known as Lydiard House or Lydiard Park, has medieval origins and
429-675: A series of " Kit-cat " portraits of 48 leading politicians and men of letters, members of the Kit-Cat Club . Created a baronet by King George I on 24 May 1715, he was also head of the Kneller Academy of Painting and Drawing from 1711 until 1716 in Great Queen Street , London , which counted such artists as Thomas Gibson amongst its founding directors. His paintings were praised by Whig members including John Dryden , Joseph Addison , Richard Steele , and Alexander Pope . On
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#1732885117892468-413: Is a small village and civil parish on the western edge of Swindon in the county of Wiltshire , in the south-west of England. Its name has in the past been spelt as Liddiard Tregooze . The parish includes the small village of Hook , and the hamlets of Hook Street and Ballard's Ash . Lydiard Tregoze is mentioned in Domesday Book as a manor belonging to Alfred of Marlborough , Baron of Ewyas ,
507-559: The Bombing of Lübeck 1942. A large oil portrait (84" x 55") of James VII of Scotland (King James II of England) hangs on the main staircase of private members' Club, The Caledonian Club , in Belgravia, London. A portrait of Queen Anne that belongs to Trinity Hospital in Retford , Nottinghamshire has been attributed to Kneller by the auctioneers Phillips – though it is unsigned. The hospital has
546-530: The kit-cat portrait , he was also commissioned by William III of England to paint eight " Hampton Court Beauties " to match a similar series of paintings of Charles II's " Windsor Beauties " that had been painted by Kneller's predecessor as court painter, Peter Lely . Kneller was born Gottfried Kniller in the Free City of Lübeck , the son of Zacharias Kniller, a portrait painter. Kneller studied in Leiden , but became
585-867: The 18th century State Rooms. These efforts were much helped in 1955 when some good furniture arrived on loan from the National Art Collections Fund , part of the E. E. Cook bequest. During the 1960s Lord Bolingbroke loaned several St John family portraits to the house and later sold them to the corporation. When he died in 1974, he bequeathed to the trustees of the house everything he owned which had come from it. The art collection at Lydiard House includes landscapes and busts as well as portraits spanning over 300 years. The portraits include works by William Aikman , Michael Dahl , John Greenhill , Cornelius Johnson , Godfrey Kneller , Sir Peter Lely , Jonathan Richardson and Maria Verelst . The corporation's successor, Swindon Borough Council , owns and manages
624-504: The British Isles (1887) describes Lydiard Tregoze as: "Liddiard Tregooze, par. and vil., Wilts, 1 mile SE. of Liddiard Millicent, 5142 ac. , pop. 660." Lydiard Tregoze has been suggested as a location for the 9th century Battle of Ellandun . There was a one-room school, supported by Lord Bolingbroke, from the early 1800s. A new school was opened in 1866 near Hook Street, aided by National Society funding; this had two classrooms and
663-615: The Lydiard Park Heritage Trust was awarded grants from the Heritage Lottery Fund towards a £1m project to restore and improve the interior of the church. Lydiard Park was the home of the St John family from 1420 until 1940. In 1943, the local authority, the Corporation of Swindon, bought the then dilapidated house and its overgrown park from the estate trustees. The estate now belongs to Swindon Borough Council ,
702-590: The Pleydell family sat in Parliament for Wootton Bassett : William's son, William Pleydell (fl.1640); another son, John Pleydell (c.1601–1693); and Edmund Pleydell (c.1652–1726). The Pleydells left Midgehall after Edmund's death. The 18th-century farmhouse survives; the manor house was to its north, and the moat around the former manor house was filled in during the construction of the M4 motorway. A church at Lydiard Tregoze
741-481: The Second World War. Formal gardens and a canal were created as part of changes made to the medieval house in the 17th century; Sir John St John also laid out a series of formal avenues. However, many of the formal elements of the park had been removed by 1766. Surviving features from the 18th century include a semi-underground listed ice house and a walled garden, with a bronze sundial at its centre. Large parts of
780-618: The St Johns considerable influence at Court in the early decades of the Tudor dynasty . In 1615, Lucy St John, daughter of Sir John St John of Lydiard Tregoze, married Sir Allen Apsley , one of the founders of the New England Company . Anne St John of Lydiard, the daughter of Sir John St John, 1st Baronet , was married on 2 October 1632 to Sir Francis Henry Lee, 2nd Baronet of Ditchley, son of Sir Henry Lee, 1st Baronet and Eleanor Wharton. Anne
819-431: The granddaughter of regicide William Cawley . The couple had no children. Kneller died of fever in 1723 at Great Queen Street and his remains were interred at Twickenham . He had been a churchwarden at St Mary's, Twickenham , when the 14th-century nave collapsed in 1713 and was active in the plans for the church's reconstruction by John James . His widow was buried at Twickenham on 11 December 1729. A memorial
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#1732885117892858-499: The hamlet of Mannington – was transferred to Thamesdown borough (later the Borough of Swindon ). Most of this area has been developed for housing as the Swindon suburbs of Windmill Hill, Freshbrook, Toothill and Mannington, and it forms part of West Swindon parish, created in 2017. The manor and tithing of Midgehall was south of Hook. It was granted to Stanley Abbey in the 1150s, and in 1534 leased by William Pleydell. Later members of
897-455: The house and park. The house, with its collections of furniture and art – including painted wall panels by Lady Diana Beauclerk – is open to the public in the summer months. The house and a modern annex are operated as a conference centre and wedding venue, with accommodation for guests. Immediately north of the house stands the parish church of St Mary , which is all that remains of the medieval village. The church has 13th-century origins and
936-590: The landing in Horsham Museum in West Sussex hang works of art from the museum's extensive painting collection, featuring a large 18th-century portrait of Charles Eversfield and his wife, of Denne Park House. He married a widow, Susanna Grave, on 23 January 1704 at St Bride's Church , London. She was the daughter of the Reverend John Cawley , Archdeacon of Lincoln and Rector of Henley-on-Thames , and
975-432: The original village of Lydiard Tregoze disappeared, giving way to the grounds of an important country house , although St Mary's church survives and contains important monuments . Margaret Beaufort , mother of Henry VII , was the stepdaughter of Oliver St John of Lydiard Tregoze. His marriage to her mother, Margaret Beauchamp of Bletso , produced six children to whom she remained close throughout her life, and this gave
1014-712: The parish, and its junction 16 provides routes to West Swindon, Royal Wootton Bassett and Wroughton . Godfrey Kneller Sir Godfrey Kneller, 1st Baronet (born Gottfried Kniller ; 8 August 1646 – 19 October 1723) was a German-born British painter. The leading portraitist in England during the late Stuart and early Georgian eras , he served as court painter to successive English and British monarchs , including Charles II of England and George I of Great Britain . Kneller also painted scientists such as Isaac Newton , foreign monarchs such as Louis XIV of France and visitors to England such as Michael Shen Fu-Tsung . A pioneer of
1053-474: The park has been open to the public all year round. The park was designated Grade II on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens in 1987, as an example of a mid-18th century park having archaeological evidence of its 17th-century formal layout. The walls of the walled garden are Grade II listed as is the sundial within it. In 2005, Swindon Borough Council received £3m from the Heritage Lottery Fund towards
1092-505: The park were sold off in the 1920s and 1930s. From 1942 the park was used as a military hospital by the American Forces, and then between about 1943 and about March 1946 it was a Prisoner of War hospital for German soldiers as POW camp No.160. In 1943, Councillor and Alderman Francis Akers bought the estate and the dilapidated house at auction and sold the whole to the local authority, the Corporation of Swindon, for £4,500. Since 1955,
1131-594: The separation of Lydiard Millicent parish, and today the church is part of the West Swindon and Lydiard Tregoze Church Partnership. Parish registers survive from 1666 and are kept in the Wiltshire and Swindon Archives . The medieval wall paintings were included in the Church of England's "100 Church Treasures" campaign, an appeal launched in 2013 which addresses the 100 artworks most in need of conservation. Beginning in 2016,
1170-470: The south chancel chapel was rebuilt for the family in 1633. The plastered nave walls carry paintings, some from the 13th century. Windows have reset medieval glass, and the west window of 1859 is by Alexander Gibbs . A canopied monument to Sir John St John and his wives, c. 1635, is within railings. The tower has six bells, three of them cast by Roger I Purdue in 1635. The building was designated as Grade I listed in 1955. Nikolaus Pevsner wrote "Not
1209-414: The successor of the Corporation. The parkland is operated as a country park and entertainment venue; the house is open to the public in the summer and now has a significant art collection, including fine-painted panels by Lady Diana Beauclerk . See Viscount Bolingbroke for notable members of the St John family. Giles Mompesson (1583/1584 – 1663), a politician who was sentenced for corruption, erected
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1248-650: Was Edward Byng . In the 1690s, Kneller painted the Hampton Court Beauties depicting the most glamorous ladies-in-waiting of the Royal Court for which he received, in 1692, his knighthood from William III . In 1695, he received, in the presence of the king, an honorary Doctorate of Law from the University of Oxford . In 1700, he was created a Knight of the Holy Roman Empire by Emperor Leopold I. He produced
1287-603: Was erected in Westminster Abbey . Kneller's will gave a pension of £100 a year to his assistant Edward Byng and entrusted Byng with seeing that all unfinished work was completed. Byng also inherited the drawings in Kneller's studio. Kneller and his wife had no children together. Most of his fortune was inherited by his grandson, Godfrey Kneller Huckle, who was the son of Agnes Huckle, Kneller's illegitimate daughter by Mrs Voss, and who took his grandfather's surname (Kneller) as
1326-517: Was followed until William Hogarth and Joshua Reynolds . Nevertheless, he established himself as a leading portrait artist in England. When Sir Peter Lely died in 1680, Kneller was jointly appointed Principal Painter in Ordinary with John Riley to the Crown by Charles II. For about 20 years ( c. 1682 –1702) he lived at No. 16-17 The Great Piazza, Covent Garden . Kneller's studio manager
1365-402: Was introduced to, and painted a portrait of, Charles II . In England, Kneller concentrated almost entirely on portraiture. In the spirit of enterprise, he founded a studio which churned out portraits on an almost industrial scale, relying on a brief sketch of the face with details added to a formulaic model, aided by the fashion for gentlemen to wear full wigs . His portraits set a pattern that
1404-496: Was married a second time in 1644 to Henry Wilmot, 1st Earl of Rochester , a leading Royalist during the English Civil War , son of Charles Wilmot, 1st Viscount Wilmot and Sarah Anderson. Anne St John was the mother of John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester and grandmother of Edward Lee, 1st Earl of Lichfield . In 1801, the population of the parish was 578, in 1901 it was 618, and in 1971 549. John Bartholomew's Gazetteer of
1443-446: Was mentioned in 1100. The present St Mary's parish church – sometimes called St Mary's in the Park – stands next to Lydiard House and is built in limestone rubble with some ashlar . The nave and north aisle are from the 13th century, while the chancel, south aisle with porch, and tower are of the 15th. A painted triptych was begun in 1615, its outer panels showing the St John family tree;
1482-420: Was refurbished and enlarged in the 15th and 17th centuries; it is Grade I listed. The dereliction of the hall and the declining fortunes of the St John family formed the backdrop of the 1967 novel The Heir of Starvelings by American writer Evelyn Berckman . 51°33′38″N 01°51′06″W / 51.56056°N 1.85167°W / 51.56056; -1.85167 Lydiard Tregoze Lydiard Tregoze
1521-464: Was remodelled in the 17th century and the 1740s, when the south and east fronts were reworked in Palladian style, probably by Roger Morris . The house was designated as Grade I listed in 1955. When the estate was bought by Swindon Corporation, almost none of the original furnishings remained. In the 1950s, the corporation began to collect suitable contents for the house, aiming in particular to restore
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