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Wintershill House (also known as Wintershill Hall, Wintershill Estate)

Introduction

The site has 70 acres of parkland, with clumps of oak, hornbeam and beeches. There are superb views in one direction, but the views are marred by pylons in the other.

In the 1980s there were clumps of oak in the parkland, mixed with hornbeam, beeches and some pines. There were also specimen trees in clumps around the house and on the lawn. There was a cedar of Lebanon on the lawn to the south of the house. There were two glasshouses, and fruit trees formed an archway through the centre of the garden. There was also a circular pond with clumps of oaks around and a sundial in the rose garden engraved with two dragons and the words ‘Tyme flyes'. Outbuildings consist of a stables and a coach house with a weather vane on top, with a water pump nearby.

The views to White Hill on the northern side are superb. However, the views to Durley on the southern side are marred by pylons.

History

In 1693 the parcel of land at the top of Winters Hill was in the hands of Richard Ffriend but Wintershill Estate did not exist until the Enclosures Act in the middle of the 19th century. In 1838 Charles Marett held the land and George Henry Stares held the adjoining land. These two families were in partnership as attorneys at the end of the 18th century.

At the time of the Enclosures the Common Lands were now called Stroudwood Common and Wintershill Common (formerly Parkhurst and Wintershill Heath). By 1852 Stares had acquired the Wintershill site where he built the first substantial stone house. After his death his widow lived there until the 1880s when it was finally bought by John Snow Moss.

In 1902, Moss enlarged Wintershill house by adding the larger part with the stone façade and he renamed it Wintershill Hall, though the 3rd edition Ordnance Survey map of 1910, still carries the name Wintershill House. At this time, Upper Lodge (which is called South Lodge on current maps) lay to the south of the house, at a mid point of the western edge of the parkland.

By 1939, there were still 70 acres. The Ordnance Survey map of 2001 shows a second dwelling (Park Cottage) nearby, but the extent of the parkland remains.

Period

Victorian (1837-1901)

Features & Designations

Designations

  • Site of Nature Conservation Importance

  • Site of Special Scientific Interest

Features

  • Fishpond
  • Description: There is a circular pond with clumps of oaks around.
  • Earliest Date:
  • Rose Garden
  • Earliest Date:
  • Sundial
  • Description: There is a sundial in the rose garden engraved with two dragons and the words `Tyme flyes?.
  • Earliest Date:
  • Glasshouse
  • Description: Two glasshouses remained until at least the 1980s.
  • Earliest Date:
  • Stable
  • Description: Outbuildings consist of a stables and a coach house with a weather vane on top, with a water pump nearby.
  • Earliest Date:
  • Lawn
  • Earliest Date:
  • Clump
  • Description: In the 1980s there were clumps of oak in the parkland, mixed with hornbeam, beeches and some pines.
  • Earliest Date:
  • House (featured building)
  • Earliest Date:
  • Latest Date:
  • Specimen Tree
  • Description: There was a cedar of Lebanon on the lawn to the south of the house until at least the 1980s.
Key Information

Type

Park

Purpose

Ornamental

Principal Building

Domestic / Residential

Period

Victorian (1837-1901)

Survival

Extant

Civil Parish

Upham