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Stourhead, Wiltshire Stourhead was built between 1717 and 1725 by Henry Hoare, whose father, Sir Richard Hoare, had made his fortune in establishing Hoare's Bank. Stourhead then remained with the Hoare family until 1946. Henry Hoare, the Sixth Baronet lost his only son during World War One, and a year before his own death in 1947 he gave Stourhead to the National Trust.
Most of us have taken out a bank loan, or used a credit card. Many people have got into debt and then had annoying mailings from credit card companies offering more credit. All these experiences are relevant to the huge estate at Stourhead which illustrates a crucial stage in the history of economics. Stourhead and the banking fortune which created it date from a financial revolution that accompanied the Glorious Revolution of 1688. In 1688 Parliament clumsily deposed James II, and replaced him with William and Mary. Following this watershed event England's financial situation changed. Before the Glorious Revolution the debt run up in managing national affairs was a monarch's debt. This debt caused many conflicts between monarch and Parliament, since it was Parliament who provided tax revenue, and it was Parliament who used this revenue as a lever to gain control over the monarch. Disputes over tax revenue had caused bitter divisions, and had even been a fundamental cause of the English Civil War. After 1688 British monarchs were obliged to work within the constitution set out by Parliament. Now debt run up by the country became the "national debt." In Wealth of Nations the eighteenth century economist Adam Smith describes how the Bank of England was created in July 1694, and advanced the government £1,200,000 at an interest rate of a rather steep 8%. This was a debt that belonged in a sense to everyone, rather than the monarch alone. Debt became an accepted fact of life. Meanwhile the sin of usury, the practice of lending money at interest, was rapidly losing its sinful status. Adam Smith, who published his Wealth of Nations in 1776 outlined clearly the benefits of responsible lending at interest. If money can be made with money, money could justifiably be paid for. The philosopher Jeremy Bentham published his influential Defence of Usury in 1787. Debt became increasingly accepted, and this new attitude was one of the reasons Britain became such a powerful country in the eighteenth century. Debt was a way of magically multiplying money. Today an echo of the sin of usury remains in periodic news stories about credit card companies offering credit to customers already in debt. Stourhead is physical evidence of the power of buying and selling money. When you visit Stourhead, and perhaps pay an entry charge with your credit card, you are surrounded by the result of a banking system we now use everyday.
The gardens at Stourhead illustrate the world wide power that Britain began to enjoy following the financial revolution. It became increasingly fashionable to have exotic foreign plants in gardens, brought back from countries under British influence. Rhododendrons from the Far East were incredibly popular. Information boards at Stourhead have detailed information on many naturalists who travelled overseas in the nineteenth century to collect plants and bring them back to Britain.
The estate is huge, and includes King Alfred's Tower, a folly of monumental proportions. This fifty meter high building lies at the end of a long coach track leading away from the house. It commemorates King Alfred's victory over the Danes in 878AD. A new financial confidence seemed to bring a new historical confidence expressed in a lavish memorial.
Film enthusiasts may recognise the Temple of Apollo in the Stourhead garden as the place where Mr Darcy proposes to Elizabeth Bennet in the 2005 production of Pride and Prejudice.
Opening Times: The garden is open every day, 9am - 6pm, all year.
The house and tower are open from the 12th March to 30th October, 11am - 5pm, closed on Wednesday and Thursday.
During August the house is open daily and from 14th October to 6th November.
From 2nd to 18th December the house is open Friday to Sunday 11am - 3pm.
Garden, house and tower closed on December 25th.
Address: Stourhead, Stourton, Warminster, Wiltshire BA12 6QD.
Directions: Stourhead is south of Warminster in Wiltshire, just off the B3092. Click here for an interactive map centred on Stourhead.
Access: There are steps to the main door, but all showrooms are on one level. A wheelchair and adapted toilet facilities are available. The grounds are partly accessible. Maps of accessible routes are provided. For use in the grounds there are five wheelchairs, and two powered vehicles. There are Braille and large print guides, and a tactile map of the garden.
Contact:
telephone: 01747 841152
e-mail: stourhead@nationaltrust.org.uk
web site: http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/w-stourhead.htm