Basildon Park (A Palladian Mansion in Berkshire), Nr. Streatley, Berkshire, England - June 2025

Описание: Basildon Park is a country house situated approximately 3 km (2 miles) south of Goring-on-Thames and Streatley in West Berkshire, between the villages of Upper Basildon and Lower Basildon. It is owned and administered by the National Trust. The house was built between 1776 and 1783 for Sir Francis Sykes and designed by John Carr in the Palladian style at a time when Palladianism was giving way to the newly fashionable neoclassicism. Thus, the interiors are in a neoclassical style.

The house was never fully completed, the house passed through a succession of owners. In 1910 it was standing empty and in 1914, it was requisitioned by the British Government as an army convalescent hospital. It was again sold in 1928 and quickly sold again. In 1929, following a failed attempt to dismantle and rebuild the house in the US, it was stripped of many of its fixtures and fittings and all but abandoned.

During World War II, the house was again requisitioned and served as a barracks, a training ground for tanks, and finally a prisoner of war camp—all activities unsuited to the preservation of an already semi-derelict building.

In the 1050's the house was restored and today, Basildon Park is as notable for its mid-twentieth-century renaissance and restoration, by Lord and Lady Iliffe, as it is for its architecture. In 1978, the Iliffes gave the house, together with its park and a large endowment for its upkeep, to the National Trust in the hope that "The National Trust will protect it and its park for future generations to enjoy."

Aswell as being a popular tourist attraction in the Thames Valley the estate is a popular location for filming movies and period television dramas such as Downton Abbey.

This video was filmed during a visit in early June and is accompanied by the Allegro from Symphonie in E Flat by the 18th Century English gentleman composer, John Marsh performed by the Hanover Band.