Corsham Court has belonged to the Methuen family for eight generations. James Methuen-Campbell has been the Lord of the manor, and heir to the title, currently held by Lord Robert Methuen, since 1994. The family can be traced back to the mid sixteenth century.
The house is Elizabethan, dating from 1582, and contains a famous collection of paintings and eighteenth century furniture. The picture gallery, the largest room, was constructed by Capability Brown, in the 1760’s, to display the collection of Sir Paul Methuen, in white marble, which was made using his death mask.
The park was laid out by Capability Brown and Humphrey Repton. There is a lake on one side of the house, and belts of trees mark the park perimeter. A carriage drive laid out by Repton leads from the graveyard of St Bartholomew’s Church through the park to the woods. The park is accessible from the gates in Church Square, and two public footpaths run through it.
There are two distinct gardens, The Old Rose Garden, and the Lily Pond garden. The oldest trees include an oriental plane, a black walnut of approximately 150 years old, and a sequoia. The gardens also contain a collection of magnolias made by the 4th Lord Methuen, which, with a mixed bulb collection, flower every spring.
The state rooms of the house and the gardens are open to the public from 20th March to 30th September, daily except Mondays and Fridays, from 2pm to 5.30pm, and from 1st October to 19th March, weekends only, from 2pm to 4.30pm.
Further information is available on the website; www.corsham-court.co.uk
email; staterooms@corsham-court.co.uk
phone; 01249 701610
address; Corsham Court, Corsham, Wiltshire SN13 0BZ