Farnborough Hall

Ambrose Holbech acquired the Farnborough estate in 1684 from the Ralegh family, who had owned it since the thirteenth century.[1] Archaeological research has demonstrated that the Raleghs had re-sited the hall from its former, moated location earlier in the seventeenth century.[2] The new house was built of Hornton stone.[3] Although it was Ambrose Holbech who had purchased the property, it was his son William who began to renovate it after his marriage to Elizabeth Arlington in 1692.[4]

William Holbech inherited the estate, and, after his return from a Grand Tour in the 1730s, began a scheme of work c. 1740 to make it a suitable setting for the display of the art and antiquities he returned with.[5][6] His collection included ceramics and sculpture, as well as paintings by Canaletto and Giovanni Paolo Panini.[5] The interiors of the house include extremely fine plasterwork undertaken by stuccatore William Perritt.[5][1] The hall was remodelled in the Palladian style c.1745 -1750, for William Holbech, perhaps by the designer Sanderson Miller.[7] Much of what is known about this period comes from a work written by Miller's great-grandson Reverend George Miller, who published a history of Farnborough in his Rambles Round the Edge Hills, published in 1900.[1]

In 1771, another William Holbech inherited the estate.[8] Since 2015 the Trust has been working to restore the parkland to the design shown on a surviving estate plan that dates to 1772.[9] From 1815 to 1816, another Holbech commissioned Henry Hakewill to build a new coach-house.[10]

During the First World War, the hall was adapted to become a hospital, and was known as Farnborough Auxiliary Hospital.[11] After the war the originals of the Canaletto and Pannini paintings were sold by Ronald Holbech, although the final publication of the Will of Lieutenant W.H. Holbech, Ronald's older brother, states that "his household effects, etc. at Farnborough Hall, are to devolve as heirlooms with the property as settled on 2nd February 1910. The residue of his property is left equally to his brother, Ronald Acland Holbech, and his sisters Olive Ruth Holbech and Marjory Walrond Holbech."[12] For example, one of the paintings by Canaletto that was sold was entitled Venice, the Grand Canal looking East with Santa Maria della Salute.[12] The house was also used as an auxiliary military hospital during the Second World War.[4]

The estate was endowed to the National Trust in 1960 by Geoffrey Holbech.[13] As of 2022, the Holbech family continued to live in the hall, and administer seasonal visitor access on behalf of the Trust.[14]

The parkland is a rare surviving example of the ferme ornée (ornamental farm) style of landscaping.[9] It combined agricultural practicality with fashionable design: farm buildings were ornamental, yet suited for their purpose, and could be features within the landscape.[15] Sanderson Miller, a contemporary of Capability Brown, remodelled the parkland at the request of William Holbech II.[15]

Obelisk at Farnborough Hall

One of the most significant introductions to the garden design was the Terrace Walk, which was constructed on an existing slope and has 26 viewing points along it.[15] It is 1200m long.[2] Closest to the Hall is the Ionic Temple; this is followed by the Oval Pavilion.[1] At the end of the Terrace Walk, is the 18m high Obelisk, which overlooks the Warmington Valley.[15][5] The Obelisk was first recorded by a visitor in 1746.[1] It was rebuilt in 1828 after it collapsed in 1823 and has the names of many visitors etched into the base – most notably one of an Italian prisoner of war that was inscribed during the Second World War.[16] The Terrace scheme also included a cascade; repairs to it were undertaken in 2016.[17] The park also included a Georgian amphitheatre.[2]

Planting

Farnborough Hall Rose Garden

Miller used trees, such as Scots' pines, to draw attention to features in the landscape, both close to the house and further away.[15] In addition, between 1786 and 1790, several Cedar of Lebanon trees were given to Mrs William Holbech by her great-grandson Lord Warwick, for the estate.[18]

The gardens also include the remains of an orangery, as well as a rose garden.[5]

The estate and gardens at Farnborough are notable not just for the preservation of the ferme ornée (ornamental farm) style of landscaping.[9] They also represent an important stage in the development of the landscape garden movement in the first half of the eighteenth century.[1]

It is a Grade I listed building.[7]

The first mention of the landscape garden in literature is found in a poem called Edgehill by Richard Jago.[1]

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  Ionic Temple
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  Oval Pavilion
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  Game Larder
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  Obelisk

Media related to Farnborough Hall, Warwickshire at Wikimedia Commons

• Farnborough Hall information at the National Trust
• English Heritage: architectural description of listed building
• Farnborough Hall collections

52.13763°N 1.37314°W / 52.13763; -1.37314