Silverton Park

Silverton Park

Silverton Park, shortly before being blown up in 1901

Approximately one mile to the east of Silverton is the site of the mansion built for George Francis Wyndham, the fourth and last Earl of Egremont. Designed in 1838 by J. T. Knowles the house was never completed and little now remains except the stables.

Stables October 2008

The stables today, now converted into holiday accommodation by the Landmark Trust.

While he inherited the title and assets from his uncle, the third earl, the family seat, Petworth House, was inherited by his cousin, and to upstage him George Wyndham had the Greek-style mansion he named Silverton Park, designed to be larger in many respects than Petworth.
Silverton Park was constructed on the site of an Elizabethan property, known as Combesatchfield House, but instead of demolishing the old building its replacement was built surrounding it. Craftsmen were brought from Italy to cast the frieze that encompassed the new house and was said to portray the journey of the Israelites from Egypt to Canaan. In total there were 187 rooms, and supporting them beneath were 150 cellars, some as low as two feet in height. It has been estimated that a quarter of a million pounds had been spent on the structure, a fortune in the mid-nineteenth century, but the earl died in 1845, never seeing the building completed.

Section of frieze
One of many sections of the ornamental frieze that remain. This has been incorporated in another property in the locality.

The death of the Earl left many debts, and the house was put up for sale, but as no buyer was found the structure was sold to builders, and dynamited in 1901, the remains being left to decay.