Penn House
Location/Address
None recorded
Type
Description
18th, 19th and early 20th century landscaped park, gardens and pleasure grounds for a Chiltern country house on an earlier site.
Penn House is a country house of the Curzon and Howe families with a park, gardens and pleasure grounds in which a small garden surrounding the house in the 1760s was extended successively in the late C18/early C19, and late C19, with minor additions in the early-mid-C20. The grounds survive intact with much mature ornamental planting and are a good example of a Chiltern estate. Detailed description in Buckinghamshire Gardens Trust report.
Statement of Significance
Asset type
Seventeenth century formal gardens at Penn House, with 18th and 19th century landscaped park, gardens and pleasure grounds.Architectural and Artistic Interest
Architectural interest: The house, stable block, service structures, lodges and kitchen garden walls form a group of architectural note, built incrementally between the mid-C18 and early C20. Garden structures of this period are of considerable importance as part of the landscape design, particularly the group of Pope’s obelisk and urns which were brought from his garden in Twickenham c1830 and which now stand here. The late C19 work on the house and stables/ coach house was carried out by the architect David Brandon. Artistic interest: The site is a typical Chiltern country estate comprising park, garden and pleasure grounds, developed over c.200 years, to reach its zenith in the mid-C20. The layout remains intact, focussed on the house, formal gardens to the east and kitchen garden to the north, with many mature trees, including Wellingtonias, and fine avenues and belts along the drives. Pope’s Obelisk and Urns are the most significant ornamental feature, terminating an axis from the entrance of the house. The long south drive is of particular note with a winding course from the early C20 lodge up the hillside to the plateau, taking in extensive views of the steep hillsides and estate land. Other estate structures particularly the kitchen garden walls and cottages form incidents along the drives.Historic Interest
The estate has been associated with the notable Curzon and Howe families for several centuries, and a related archive survives (Buckinghamshire Archive). The early C19 connection of the Howe family with Pope’s renowned Villa in Twickenham is of significance for the destruction of the villa by Baroness Howe, and the removal of one of the most important elements of his influential garden, commemorating his mother, that now adorn the grounds at Penn.Archaeological Interest
The site has the potential for evidence associated with medieval agricultural and woodland uses, particularly relating to the surviving ancient trees, banks, routes, boundaries, buildings and the tile industry. It has potential for the early house (c.C16 and possibly earlier) and associated features, and for former features of the designed landscape from the C18 onwards, e.g. buildings, paths, beds, terraces, boundaries, particularly for the kitchen garden, and lost drives and rides.Images and Documents
Date Listed
12 Jan 2023
Last Updated
12 Jan 2023