The park lies nearEasebourne,West Sussex, in theSouth Downs National Park. The estate belongs toViscount Cowdray, whose family have owned it since 1909. It has a golf course, and it offersclay pigeon shooting and corporate activity days, as well as the more traditional activities of agriculture, forestry and property lets.
The preserved ruins ofCowdray House an importantTudor era great house lie in the park and are open to visitors.
The estate was owned by theBohun family from approximately 1185.[1] Sir David Owen builtCowdray House in the 16th century. His son sold the estate toWilliam FitzWilliam, 1st Earl of Southampton in 1529. His half-brother SirAnthony Browne inherited the estate in 1542. Browne's sonAnthony Browne, 1st Viscount Montagu inherited in 1548. The7th Viscount employedCapability Brown to landscape the park in 1770. The park and gardens areGrade II* listed.[1] On 25 September 1793, a fire destroyed Cowdray House, reducing it to its present ruined state.[2] The ruins are Grade I listed.[3]
The 7th Viscount's daughter marriedWilliam Stephen Poyntz. On his death in 1840, the estate was purchased byGeorge Perceval, 6th Earl of Egmont. The present house was built by his sonCharles Perceval, 7th Earl of Egmont in the 1870s.[2] It was purchased in 1909 byWeetman Pearson, later 1stViscount Cowdray, who restored the house.[2] His heir and his twinAngela Pearson were born in 1910 and they and their three sisters were brought up here.[4] His heir made further alterations in 1927.[2]
During the Second World War it was occupied by theRoyal Army Service Corps. After the war, architect Percy Wheeler made alterations forJohn Pearson, 3rd Viscount Cowdray. The house was refurbished byMichael Pearson, 4th Viscount Cowdray from 1995. It is Grade II listed.[2] Numerous other aspects of the estate are listed.[1]
In 2005 theHeritage Lottery Fund awarded a grant of £2.7m towards the cost of stabilising the ruins and they were opened to the public on 31 March 2007.[5] In May 2009 Lord Cowdray sought to turn the house into a country house hotel, but the project was abandoned when Cowdray failed to find a business partner.[6] Cowdray moved to another family property atFernhurst.[7] The following year, in September 2010, the house was put on the market for £25 million, not including the rest of the estate.[6][8] Lord Cowdray, claimed that he did not want his son to inherit the burden of maintaining the house.[6]
The collection housed within Cowdray Park was auctionedin situ byChristie's over three days, between 13 and 15 September 2011.[9] Among the objects sold were furniture, silver, paintings, tapestries and porcelain, with a portrait previously identified as QueenElizabeth I (but now considered more likely to beCatherine Howard,née Carey,Countess of Nottingham) achieving the highest auction price of £325,250.[10] In total, the auction raised £7.9 million.[10]
The estate is home to the Cowdray ParkPolo Club, which describes itself as the "Home of British Polo".[11]The club was founded in 1910. The Cowdray Gold Cup tournament was inaugurated in 1956.[12]
Media related toCowdray Park at Wikimedia Commons
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