Compton Wynyates Park

1 Sir William Compton began the park in about 1513, when he had a licence to impark certain grounds enclosed at the time and also 2000 acres more land and wood in Compton Superior and Compton Inferior. This was probably disparked about the year 1760.
2 The enclosure destroyed two homesteads and put three ploughs out of use. It was not until 1519 that William Compton obtained the royal licence to impark his land in Compton.
3 Parkland including gardens with terraces, moat, fountain, dovecote, canal/ pond; site of 19th century topiary garden. Capability Brown partially surveyed the grounds in the 1750s, but plans were probably not executed. Recommended for inclusion on Register.
4 Compton Wynyates is noted for the beauty of the Post Medieval house, but the Comptons had held the manor since the 13th century. The surrounding grounds have evolved over a long period. It has been suggested that vineyards were a feature of the Medieval landscape, but no sites are known. In 1513, a park of 100 acres was enclosed and in 1519 a licence to enclose about 2000 acres was granted. Capability Brown was commissioned in the 1760s to prepare plans, but these appear not to have been carried out due to the financial difficulties of the then landowner, the 8th Earl of Northampton. For much of the rest of the 18th century and part of the early 19th century the estate was exploited for timber and produce, though the Earl’s agent protected it to some extent. From the mid 19th century onwards, a series of formal terrace gardens was laid out, surviving features of which include two fountain pools below the south front, and elements of a courtyard garden in the quadrangle. In 1895 the moat garden and a topiary garden known as the Best Garden were laid out. The topiary garden (photograph included) has been replaced by a rose garden containing old varieties, which is itself of some interest.
5 The OS 1:10560 1886 Sht Warks 54NE shows some features of the formal gardens before 1895.
6 The OS 1:10560 1923 Sht Warks 54NE shows shaded parkland and shows the position of the topiary garden, with its central pond.
7 Park shown on Greenwood’s map of 1822.