Fairfield, Stogursey
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| Fairfield | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Location | Stogursey, Somerset, England |
| Coordinates | 51°10′51″N 3°09′50″W / 51.18083°N 3.16389°W |
| Built | 16th century |
| Owner | Elizabeth Gass |
Listed Building – Grade II* | |
| Official name | Fairfield House |
| Designated | 22 May 1969[1] |
| Reference no. | 1175243 |
  Location of Fairfield in Somerset | |
Fairfield House is a historic house in Stogursey, Somerset, England. A house existed on the site from the 12th century and it has been owned by the same family since that time. The current building is largely 16th-century, but has undergone various remodellings since then. It is designated as a Grade II* listed building.[1]
The house was surrounded by a Medieval deer park covering approximately 200 acres (81 ha). Part of this was converted into an Elizabethan garden around 1580, and now includes a walled garden. The current owner is Elizabeth Gass who has sold some of the surrounding parkland to Hinkley Point Power station.
Sale of land
A manor house existed on the site in 1166.[2] Little is known about the original house, but the ownership is given as lying with the Russel family by 1216. The house was considered to be in the Lilstock parish in 1498 when John Verney, a descendant of Russel, paid a fine for his support of Perkin Warbeck. The house has remained in the ownership of their descendants ever since.[3]
Around 1473 a licence was granted by the king to William Verney to surround the house with a wall and seven round towers.[4] Three of the towers were still surviving in the 18th century; however none remain today.[3]
There was a separate chapel from 1288 until the 17th century, but its location is now unknown.[2][5][6]
In the 16th century it was remodelled by Elizabeth Verney including a porch which dates from 1589; however, the house was still described as unfinished in 1633.[5] This may have been because parts of the earlier house built around a courtyard were in the process of being demolished.[3]
In the 18th century the interior was remodeled with the addition of new staircases in each main wing. In the late 18th and early 19th century Sir John Acland made further changes which are believed to have been designed by Richard Carver.[5]
By 1870 Alexander Acland-Hood controlled the estate.[5]
In 1967 Elizabeth Gass inherited from an uncle the family's ancestral seat, and gave up her teaching career to concentrate on managing the estate which came with it. She was the Lord Lieutenant of Somerset between 1998 and 2015.[7][8][9]
In 1994, Lady Gass, sold some 230 acres of her land on the coast beneath the Quantock Hills for about £50 million. The land was the part of her Fairfield estate lying immediately to the west of the Hinkley Point power station and was earmarked for the development of a wind farm.[10] The site is now (2018) being used for the construction of two new nuclear reactors at Hinkley Point C.[7]
Architecture
Parts of the two-storey house still have fabric from the 12th-century building, but most of it dates from around 1589, with the south front being remodelled in the late 18th century. Like many Elizabethan mansions, is built in an 'E' shape. The stone work has lime rendering with Bath Stone dressings, topped by a hipped slate roof.[2]
The house and gardens are occasionally opened to the public.[11][12]
