| Gaddesden Place | |
|---|---|
 Gaddesden Place | |
  Location of Gaddesden Place in Hertfordshire | |
| General information | |
| Type | English country house |
| Architectural style | Palladian/Neoclassical |
| Address | Red Lion Lane Great Gaddesden Hemel Hempstead HP2 6EX |
| Town or city | Great Gaddesden |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Coordinates | 51°47′20″N00°29′46″W / 51.78889°N 0.49611°W /51.78889; -0.49611 |
| Construction started | 1768 |
| Completed | 1773 |
| Renovated | 1905 |
| Client | Halsey baronets |
| Owner | Charles Moir |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect(s) | James Wyatt |
| Designations | Grade II* listed building[1] |
| Renovating team | |
| Architect(s) | Cole A Adams |
| Website | |
| www | |
Gaddesden Place, nearHemel Hempstead inHertfordshire,England, was designed byarchitectJames Wyatt and built between 1768 and 1773, and was the home of the HertfordshireHalsey family.
The house is set in an elevated position overlooking theGade Valley and is said to enjoy one of the finest views in theHome Counties.
The Halseys moved toGreat Gaddesden in 1458 and later became lessees of the Rectory of Gaddesden until 12 March 1545. WhenKing Henry VIIIdissolved the monasteries during theReformation, he granted the estate ofKing's Langley Priory to William Hawes (or Halsey, also Chambers).[2]
The Halsey family residence was at the Golden Parsonage, a sixteenth-century mansion situated in Gaddesden Row.Thomas Halsey (1731–1788)MP erected a new mansion, Gaddesden Place, to Wyatt's design,[3] about a mile south-west of the Golden Parsonage. In 1774 the family moved to Gaddesden Place, and the Golden Parsonage was partially demolished. In 1788, Thomas Halsey died, leaving the estate to his only surviving daughter, Sarah. She married Joseph Thompson Whately, and he adopted took the Halsey name andcoat of arms.[4]
Gaddesden Place was gutted by fire on 1 February 1905, and was subsequently rebuilt in 1908 by Cole A. Adams. The quadrant links and north and south pavilions were demolished in 1955 and 1963 because of dry rot.[5]
The building was purchased in 1984 by the technology entrepreneur Charles Moir, founder of the software companyComputer Concepts, now known asXara. Since then, Gaddesden Place has been the headquarters of Xara Group Ltd. In 2007, Xara was acquired by the German software companyMagix.[6]
Gaddesden Place is aGrade II* listed building and is a noted example ofPalladian architecture.[1] It is said to be Wyatt's first country work and represents his conformity at the start of his active career to the English Palladian tradition.[1]
It features an entrance surrounded by a 19th-centuryporte-cochère. On the south side, overlooking the valley, there is a large centralportico of five bays (rebuilt 1905) supported byionic columns. A distinctive semicircular single-storey conservatory, added in 1891, links to an outer wing which hasVenetian windows.[7][1]
At the entrance to the grounds on Red Lion Lane there is an 1870half-timbered brick andBath stonegatehouse lodge, which is Grade II listed.[5][8]
The landscaped gardens, which feature a pair ofAtlas cedars were laid out byEdward Kemp in 1872.[5]
Gaddesden Place and its grounds have been frequently used asfilm locations.[9] The house was used as the location forVilla Diodati inKen Russel's 1986 horror film,Gothic, in whichLord Byron (Gabriel Byrne) entertainsMary Shelley (Natasha Richardson) andPercy Bysshe Shelley (Julian Sands).[10]
It has also appeared in the TV seriesLewis;[11] in "The Once and Future Ex" episode ofJeeves and Wooster (1993), asLord Worplesdon's New York residence; and in theFoyle's War episode, "A Lesson in Murder".[12]
Other productions that have shot at Gaddesden Place have includedFanny by Gaslight (1944),A Kiss Before Dying (1991),Little Britain (2000–07), theChuckleVision episode "The Mystery of Little Under Standing",The Legend of Tarzan (2016),The Current War (2018),Slaughterhouse Rulez (2018), andHolby City (s21e01 2019).[9]
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) (British History Online)