Ditchley Park, Oxfordshire - a photo on Flickriver

            One of the finest and grandest houses in England, Ditchley Park, just north of Blenheim Palace, was designed by James Gibbs and built for the Second Earl of Lichfield in the 1720s.   It was subsequently owned by several generations of the Viscounts Dillon until, in 1933, it was bought by Sir Ronald Tree and his wife Nancy who, as Nancy Lancaster, became famous as an interior designer and gardener.   

This is when Ditchley entered its most important and glamorous phase.  While Ditchley already had a landscape park in the style of Stowe and Stourhead, complete with temples, eye-catchers and a ha-ha, Sir Ronald and Nancy also wanted a major formal garden befitting the Italianate house.   Influenced by the 1926 book Italian Gardens of the Renaissance, they commissioned its co-author, Geoffrey Jellicoe, to create such a garden on the east side of the house.  This was Jellicoe’s first major commission and his scheme involved a large central parterre enclosed by yew hedges and two parallel lines of pleached limes.  At the far end was a bathing pool replete with water jets. 

Sir Ronald became a Leicestershire MP in 1933 and in the late 1930s he spoke passionately against his government’s policy of appeasing  Adolf Hitler.  Sir Ronald and Nancy, who had also decorated the interior of Ditchley, hosted many parties - guests included Noel Coward, David Niven as well as all the leading Conservative politicians of the time, including Sir Winston Churchill who was a regular house guest.  After the outbreak of war, Ditchley Park even became Churchill’s official residence - his home at Chartwell as well as Chequers being regarded as security risks.  Churchill made many key strategic decisions at Ditchley and it was also where he first viewed the 1941 film Lady Hamilton, starring Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh, which Churchill later said was his favourite film.  By 1942, though, security at Chequers was upgraded and Churchill moved out.

Sir Ronald and Nancy divorced in 1947 and Ditchley Park was eventually sold to the tobacco magnate, Sir David Wills.  In 1958 Wills created the Ditchley Foundation and thus the house started its present life as a centre for promoting Anglo-American relations. Prime Ministers, Presidents as well as HM The Queen have all planted trees on the grand south terrace.

Today, Geoffrey Jellicoe’s garden only partially survives - the yew hedging and pleached limes can still be seen though the central parterre was cleared after the war to be replaced by a plain lawn. Two box parterres have been added closer to the house and there is also a magnificent bronze bust of Churchill, sculpted by Angela Conner and unveiled in 1994 by US Secretary of State Warren Christopher and British Foreign Secretary Douglas Hurd.  

Ditchley Park is a fascinating place to visit, though it is never open to the public. My thanks to the staff at Ditchley Park Foundation for allowing me to take these photographs.  Later that day I also visited Nancy Lancaster’s most celebrated garden at Haseley Court.

Taken in: United Kingdom / England / Fulwell (show map)

Taken on: July 29, 2011

Tags:

Ditchley Park

James Gibbs

Oxfordshire

Ronald Tree

Winston Churchill « less

Sets appears in: • 5000+Views • Ditchley Park

Groups appears in: • Georgian Architecture • (Officially) England's Best Buildings

Camera: Nikon D300, f/11.0, 1/800 sec, 18mm (=27mm), ISO 500 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Nikon D300
Aperture:	f/11.0
Exposure Time:	0.001 sec (1/800)
Focal Length:	18mm (35mm equivalent: 27mm)
ISO:	500
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	No Flash
Exposure Program:	Program AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Manual
Light Source:	Cloudy
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	QuickTime 7.6.6
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