Wrotham Park

Wrotham Park is a neo-Palladian English country house in Hertfordshire. It lies south of the town of Potters Bar, 17mi from Hyde Park Corner. The house was designed by Isaac Ware in 1754 for Admiral John Byng, the fourth son of Admiral Sir George Byng, and remains in the family at the heart of a 2500acre estate. It is one of the largest private houses inside the M25 motorway. Its distinctive exterior has been used over 60 times as a filming location. HistoryOriginally part of an estate known as Pinchbank, first recorded in Middlesex in 1310 and owned in the 17th and early 18th centuries by the Howkins family, the property passed to Thomas Reynolds, a director of the South Sea Company, who renamed the estate Strangeways. His son, Francis, sold the property to Admiral John Byng who had the house rebuilt by Isaac Ware in 1754. Admiral John Byng changed the name of the house to Wrotham Park in honour of the original family home in Wrotham, Kent. Byng never had an opportunity to live in retirement at Wrotham. Following his inadequately equipped expedition to relieve Menorca from the French during the Seven Years' War, he was court martialled and executed in 1757. This event was satirised by Voltaire in his novel Candide. In Portsmouth, Candide witnesses the execution of an officer by firing squad; and is told that "in this country, it is wise to kill an admiral from time to time to encourage the others" .

Wrotham Park is a neo-Palladian English country house in Hertfordshire. It lies south of the town of Potters Bar, 17mi from Hyde Park Corner. The house was designed by Isaac Ware in 1754 for Admiral John Byng, the fourth son of Admiral Sir George Byng, and remains in the family at the heart of a 2500acre estate. It is one of the largest private houses inside the M25 motorway. Its distinctive exterior has been used over 60 times as a filming location. HistoryOriginally part of an estate known as Pinchbank, first recorded in Middlesex in 1310 and owned in the 17th and early 18th centuries by the Howkins family, the property passed to Thomas Reynolds, a director of the South Sea Company, who renamed the estate Strangeways. His son, Francis, sold the property to Admiral John Byng who had the house rebuilt by Isaac Ware in 1754. Admiral John Byng changed the name of the house to Wrotham Park in honour of the original family home in Wrotham, Kent. Byng never had an opportunity to live in retirement at Wrotham. Following his inadequately equipped expedition to relieve Menorca from the French during the Seven Years' War, he was court martialled and executed in 1757. This event was satirised by Voltaire in his novel Candide. In Portsmouth, Candide witnesses the execution of an officer by firing squad; and is told that "in this country, it is wise to kill an admiral from time to time to encourage the others" .