Two South Hertfordshire Grand Houses

Enjoy exclusive tours of two exceptional Grade II* houses located in the beautiful unspoilt Hertfordshire countryside.

Explore Wrotham Park, a Grade II* neo-Palladian house designed by Isaac Ware in 1754 for Admiral John Byng, the fourth son of Admiral George Byng, 1st Viscount Torrington, and surrounded by a 2,500-acre estate. The house has featured in numerous films such as Gosford Park, Downton Abbey, The Crown and Bridgerton. Originally part of an estate known as Pinchbank, the property passed to Thomas Reynolds, a director of the South Sea Company, who renamed the estate Strangeways. Admiral John Byng changed the name of the house to Wrotham Park in honour of the original family home in Wrotham, Kent. Byng never had an opportunity to live in retirement at Wrotham. Following his inadequately equipped expedition to relieve Menorca from the French during the Seven Years' War, he was court martialled and executed in 1757. The house was inherited by John Byng, 1st Earl of Strafford in 1847 and passed to his son, George Byng, 2nd Earl of Strafford, on the first earl's death in 1860. A disastrous fire in 1883 burned slowly enough to permit retrieval of the contents of the house, but gutted it. The house was rebuilt exactly as it was and still remains in the hands of the Byng family. 

Later, discover Gaddesden Place, designed by James Wyatt, architect to George III, and built between 1768 and 1773 and originally the home of the Halsey family. The Palladian house is set in an elevated position overlooking the Gade Valley with one of the finest views in the Home Counties. The house, thought to be Wyatt’s first country work, features an entrance surrounded by a 19th century porte-cochère. There is a large central portico of five bays, supported by Ionic columns and a distinctive semi-circular single-storey conservatory added in 1891. The house was gutted by fire in 1905 and was subsequently rebuilt in 1908 by Cole A. Adams. The house has featured in numerous TV dramas, often portrayed as 10 Downing Street due to the similarity of the house’s hall and drawing room with the Cabinet room.

Tickets £65 including a two-course pub lunch at the Six Bells Inn.

Gaddesden Place image © Tom Presland / Gaddesden Place / CC BY-SA 2.0