| Orchardleigh House | |
|---|---|
 | |
  Location within Somerset | |
| General information | |
| Town or city | Frome |
| Country | England |
| Coordinates | 51°15′40″N 2°19′19″W / 51.2611°N 2.3219°W |
| Completed | 1856 |
| Client | William Duckworth |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect(s) | Thomas Henry Wyatt |
Orchardleigh (also spelled Orchardlea) is a country estate in Somerset, approximately two miles north of Frome, and on the southern edge of the village of Lullington. The privately-owned estate comprises a Victorian country house, Orchardleigh Lake with its island church, and an 18-hole golf course. It operates as a wedding and events venue.
Within the old estate are the Orchardleigh Stones, a probable neolithic burial chamber which was excavated in 1803 and 1804, when human bones and cremation urns were discovered.[1]
The Church of St Mary, dates from the 13th century and is a Grade I listed building.[2] The churchyard contains the grave of the poet Sir Henry Newbolt. The Gloucester Lodge gatehouse was built in the early 19th century.[3]
The parish was part of the hundred of Frome.[4]
The old Orchardleigh House was just south of the church. Its heyday was the time of Sir Thomas Champneys, 1st Baronet, High Sheriff of Somerset in 1775, but all that remains of that period is the boathouse, rotunda, the Lullington gateway, and the Tudor-style lodges dating from the 1820s. The old house was demolished and the present one built in 1856 by Thomas Henry Wyatt for William Duckworth. The new house is described by Pevsner as "picturesque, irregular, and in a mixed Elizabethan style", and is a Grade II* listed building.[5][6][7]
The estate is listed at grade II* on the Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England.[8]
- ^ Historic England. "Orchard Leigh Stones (203110)". Research records (formerly PastScape). Retrieved 7 February 2015.
- ^ Historic England. "Church of St Mary, causeway bridge, and gates (Grade I) (1058142)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 20 November 2007.
- ^ Historic England. "Gloucester Lodge (1295783)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
- ^ "Somerset Hundreds". GENUKI. Retrieved 8 October 2011.
- ^ Historic England. "Orchardlea House, forecourt walls and gates (1058140)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 20 November 2007.
- ^ Historic England. "Church Lodge (1058143)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 20 November 2007.
- ^ Historic England. "Temple Lodge (1345350)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 20 November 2007.
- ^ "Orchardleigh". Historic England. Retrieved 27 April 2022.