Regency England - Country Seats - Ackermann's Repository

Ackermann's Repository did an extensive series in the 1820's regarding Country Seat Estates.
At the time, this would have been the equivalent of a modern day magazine spread
on Mansions of the Rich and Famous.

In Regency England the members of the peerage and holders of a title would usually have a "Country Seat".  Engaging in "trade" was considered a taboo for the gentry, so many of them obtained their income off the land via their estates. Those enterprises necessitated the best profit from those working the lands surrounding their estates and the home base of these operations would normally have been considered the Country Seat.  In many cases, these estates were of such significances to a titled lord, that they were entailed properties that could not be sold or gambled away; therefore insuring that they remained in the family at all costs.

A Country Seat would also have been a large estate or property in the country
for those without title and rank but of great fortune.
This was becoming more readily scene as men from the lower gentry and upper
middle class were making their fortune in various pursuits such as: 

Military, Medicine, Law, Banking and Investment Speculation. 

One of my favorites from Ackermann's Country Seat series

I read a lot of Regency romances, and many of those books include homes and estates with Hall, Priory, Lodge, Abbey, or Park as part of it's name.  I found it most educational to view a variety of estate homes with these names as part of their title and to see what one might have actually looked like in Regency times.

Ackermann's always included information for each of the Country Seats depicted.  Some of the articles were brief and to the point while others were very elaborate and informative.  I guess this depended on the importance of the person who owned the estate and/or the history of the estate itself. Many of the estates shown hold an interesting historical past that have connections to previous British nobility and were then purchased in Regency times by men of great fortune but little or no rank in the British aristocracy.

This is the article that accompanied the above rendition of Lubscombe

Country Seat of Charles Hoare, Esq
(this one was a brief narrative about the home)

It's interesting to know that during this time period it was not uncommon for persons of
quality visiting an area to request permission to tour a great home of interest.
These articles may have proved useful for those who were so inclined to request a "visit".


Here is another article of a Country Seat; however this example shows a more in-depth account.
This one is for Eaton Hall - Country Seat of the Earl of Grosvenor

 Ackermann's covered around 150 "County Seats" from 1823 - 1828

I've only chosen to show 36 of the more interesting and attractive views.

 Enjoy!

 Views of Country Seats 1823 - 1828

1823 Chiswick House -  Duke of Devonshire country seat

1823 Frogmore House front view - Princess Augusta's

1823 Frogmore - The Ruins - Princess Augusta's

1823 - His Majesty's Cottage from the lake  - King George IV

1823 His Majesty's Cottage Windsor - King George IV

1823 Sion House - Duke of Northumberland's country seat

Sion House - The Park Entrance - Duke of Northumberland's

1823 Ditton - Seat of Lord Montagu

1823 Eaton Hall - Entrance Front - Seat of Earl of Grosvenor

1823 Eaton Hall - West, Front - Seat of Earl of Grosvenor

1823 Sophia Lodge  - wooded view - W.M. Dawson, Esq Residence

1823 Sophia Lodge - Residence of W.M. Dawson, Esq

1823 Talby House - Knutsford, Cheshire - Baronet Leiceter's country seat

1824 Delaford Park - Seat of C. Clowis, ESQ

1824 Wanstead House - William Pole Tilney Long Wellsley, Esq. Country Seat

1824 Hampton House - Residence of the late Mrs. Garrick

1824 Mrs Palmer's Villa - Richmond

1824 Newstead Abbey - Lieutenant-Colonel Wildman's Country Seat
Previously owned by Lord Byron

1824 Riching's Lodge (Iver) - Seat of The Right Hon. John Sullivan

1824 Flamstead House (Grenwich Park)  - converted to become The Royal Observatory

1825 Belvoir Castle (Leicestershire) - Duke Rutland's Seat

1825 Moor Park (Hertfordshire) - Seat of Robert Williams, Esq.

1825 Wimbledon Park - Lord Spencer's Seat

1826 Coleorton Hall - Seat of Sir George Beaumont, Baronet

1826 Appuldurcombe (Isle of Wight) - Seat of the Earl of Yarborough

1826 Cobham Hall (Kent) - Seat of the Earl of Darnley

1827 Burford Priory (Oxfordshire) - Seat of J.W. Lenthall, Esq.

1827 Eridge Park (Sussex) -The Earl of Ashburnham's Country Seat

1828 Ashbridge House (Herts) - Countess of Bridgewater's Country Seat

1828 Muskaw in Silesia (Prussia) - Prince Pichler

On occasion the "Country Seat series" would include elaborate estates 

on the continent, this was one of those "special" cases.

1828 Selsdon (Surrey) - Seat of George Smith, Esq. M.P.

1828 Belmont House (Devon) - Seat of John Norman, Esq.

1828 Chevenign (Kent) - The Earl of Stanhope's Country Seat

1828 Endsleigh (Devon) - Duke of Bedford - Country Seat

1828 Harefield (Devon) - Gattey, Esq.

1828 Luscombe (Devon) - Charles Hoare, Esq.

1828 Seat of G.B. Greenough. Esq - Regent's Park

I enjoy using vintage images like these in my digital art.  They can make a great
backdrop in a digital scene or can be used in a variety of crafting projects.
In a previous post I showed how took images similar to these to create fun
digital scrapbook pages.

Thanks for joining me on my continuing series into Ackermann's Repository.


Till we meet again...

Thanks for visiting me here at EKDuncan.blogspot.com

If you have enjoyed seeing these images from Ackermann's Repository 

and would like the opportunity to see and read an original for yourself 

they are are available on line at www.archive.org

Click HERE then choose the volume you are interested in.

You can then see and read them online or download 

them to your computer for future reference.

Enjoy!