Page 7 - cn - ah national trust society and nature 25-03-24

Croome Court , Worcestershire.

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George William Coventry {later 6 Earl} inherited Croome Court and surrounding estate in 1751 when he was 30.
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The 6 Earl’s intention was to transform the 1640’s house into a fashionable Neo-Classical mansion in the form of
Palladian style built between 1752-62, including the surrounding land, much of which was water logged and a
virtual mire, and creating a parkland and pleasure garden, the first and most innovative of its time.
Two men key to the project’s success were commissioned, namely; Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown, who came from
Stowe Park in 1752 at the age of 32 and Robert Adam in 1760. Brown first remodelled the house, with some
suggestions being made by the Gentleman Architect Sanderson Miller who was a friend of the Earl. A considerable
construction of drainage systems was carried out in order to drain the surrounding raised land and direct the water
into a man-made river course. The existing church of St Mary Magdalen was demolished and rebuilt by Brown in
the Gothic style to the north east on raised ground.
The composition captures the wider estate and aligns the church of St Mary Magdalen, the southern elevation of
Croome Court and the man- made river course including the Chinese Bridge built in 1750-51 designed by William
Halfpenny. The scene celebrates and stands as a statement to Brown’s initial vision and the resultant effect of some
300 years of maturity. The time of year is October with the season’s autumn tints and deepening tones of late after-
noon light; adding a sense of transience’- yet the scene of distant cattle sets an arcadian scene becoming a reminder
of the vision of the idyll so often depicted in Claude Lorrain’s paintings, which was the inspiration for so many
parkland settings at that time.
In a way this is borne out by the fact that Croome Court and Parkland survived especially through the Second World
War, when RAF Defford was created with runways and military buildings for the purpose of developing radar
technology. Once again Croome stands triumphant as an arcadian setting saved for the modern world.
The original tapestries for Croome Court now hang in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

View to Croome Court from the Park.
20 x 30 inches -o/p