Stansted Park, Hampshire, England

Stansted Park began as a hunting lodge 800 years ago. Royal visitors are recorded from Henry II to the present generation. After several owners, and a calamitous fire in 1900, the mansion was rebuilt in 1901 on the exact footprint of the 1688 house, and became the family home of the Ponsonbys, Earls of Bessborough, in 1924.

“A House seeming to be a Retreat” Daniel Defoe, 1724

The elegant Regency Chapel of St Paul has a complex history. It stands on the site of the first great Stansted House (ruined in the Civil War) and re-uses some of its 15th century masonry. Its stained glass windows ‘tripple-arch’d and diamonded’ directly inspired the poet John Keats.

The chapel’s unique East Window (the only Hebrew window in a Christian church in the country) has recently been restored with support of the Friends of Stansted Park and the Leche Trust.

A fine collection of paintings, textiles and furniture in the State Rooms of Stansted House illustrates the history of the family, presented as if the Earl was still at home. The fully furnished Servants’ Quarters ’Downstairs’ date from 1901 and give one of the best 'below stairs" tours in the South of England.

“Probably the best and most informative country house that I have visited in 50 years”

“..Its romance is irresistible” Aslet

The house was used by the families of the 9th and 10th Earls of Bessborough as their family home, and still contains family portraits by Kauffman, Lawrence, Hoppner, Reynolds, and Liotard. The 9th Earl of Bessborough, Vere Ponsonby, was a popular Governor General of Canada in the 1930s.

Since 1983 the House and Estate have been owned by Stansted Park Foundation, an independent charitable trust set up by the 10th Earl. He was a diplomat, Minister of State, a founder of Chichester Festival Theatre, and a Vice-President of the European Parliament.

Stansted Park is now a popular venue for events, weddings, and exclusive corporate use. The Drawing Room was recently refurbished by Nicky Haslam Design.

The award-winning House and Grounds are now a very popular tourist attraction and a valuable educational resource, sustainably managed for conservation and used by schools, students and families all year round.

“The effect, from every point of view, is strikingly magnificent” Dallaway, 1792