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BOWOOD, 



WILTSHIRE, 



THE SEAT OF THE MOST HON. THE MARQUIS OF LANSDOWNE. 



JJOWOOD anciently formed part of the royal and magnificent forest of " Pewisham," which extended 

 from Chippenham almost to Devizes, and from Lacock to Calne, having the River Avon for its north- 

 western boundary. It is said that James I amused himself by hunting deer in this forest ; but after 

 his decease it was disafforested and granted partly to the ancestors of Lord Audley, and partly to the 

 family of Carey, in Devonshire. Bowood was included in the first-mentioned portion. It was also 

 comprised amongst other estates seized by Parliament as forfeited on the establishment of the Commonwealth. 

 It was then laid open, and tradition relates that the Parliamentary Commissioners, wishing to convey the 

 deer it contained over Lockswell Heath to Spye Park, were for some time unable to accomplish their 

 object. In their embarrassment the clothiers of the neighbourhood came to their aid, and constructed a 

 skirted road of broad cloth between the places, along which the wild and obstinate deer were safely 

 driven. 



In the reign of Charles II, this domain was granted to Sir Orlando Bridgeman, Kt., the Lord 

 Keeper, and one of that monarch's favourites. His son, who came next into possession of the property, 

 having fallen into difficulties, it was purchased by John Fitzmaurice, first Earl of Shelburne, second son. 

 of the Earl of Kerry, by the daughter and heiress of the celebrated Sir William Petty, whose large 

 estates in Ireland and Hampshire he inherited in right of his mother, and added the surname of Petty 

 to his own of Fitzmaurice in consequence. On the decease of the then Earl of Kerry, in 1818, 

 without issue, the title and estates fell to his cousin, the present Marquis of Lansdowne, and the title 

 of Earl of Kerry, merging into the Marquisate, was taken up by his eldest son. At the time Bowood 

 was first purchased by Lord Shelburne, a mansion had been commenced by the Bridgemans, which was 

 afterwards completed by Lord Shelburne, and some years subsequently was further improved by the 

 erection of the front portico and other embellishments from the designs of Adams, the great architect of 

 the day. His son and successor, William, second Earl of Shelburne (afterwards created Marquis of 

 Lansdowne), continued making additions by adding the west wing (part of which forms the back-ground 

 of our view), and an extensive range of offices in the rear, and also a suite of private apartments, 

 forming the east wing. These completed, the improvements of the park and grounds commenced. 

 Eighty acres was dissevered from the park and formed into a private garden; this was enclosed and 

 planted from 1770 to 1775, with a great variety of native and exotic trees, and now form the pleasure 

 grounds. Prior, however, to this date, extensive plantations, enclosing a large extent of park, had been 

 commenced ;— -these have now grown into large timber, and form so important a feature of the neighbourhood. 

 The pleasure grounds encircle three sides of the mansion, and as they are partly on an higher level 

 than the house, and one thickly clothed with trees, they form an admirable back-ground to it, especially 

 when viewed from an opposite direction. These grounds are admitted by every person of taste, to form the 

 beau-ideal of English garden scenery. Extensive lawns and far-stretching glades are separated by trees 



