Packwood House

UK Heritage

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Packwood House - Hockley Heath, Warwickshire (NT)

The land at Packwood once formed part of the vast estates belonging to the Benedictine monks of Coventry, but it came into private ownership in the sixteenth century after the Dissolution of the Monasteries. The builder of the present house was probably John Fetherstone with further additions including the impressive outbuildings by his son, also John around 1670. The Fetherstons seem to have maintained a carefully neutral position during the Civil War as, in addition to Ireton's stay, they entertained Charles II in 1651 after the battle of Worcester.

Situated only two miles away from Baddesley Clinton, Packwood House contains much old furniture and many tapestries that were bought from Baddesley Clinton in the early part of the twentieth century. The last owner before Packwood was given to the National Trust was Mr Graham Baron Ash, who undertook an energetic refurbishment of the house, removing many Georgian and Victorian alterations and refitting with authentic earlier pieces. His dream was to recreate as far as possible the look of the house as it could have been when first built in the late sixteenth century. He also added the Great Hall and the Long Gallery, converting what was once a cow byre and barn into a medieval-style Hall, complete with gallery above and linking it to the old house by an Elizabethan or Jacobean style gallery for the display of beautiful objects and exercise in bad weather.In the Great Hall is a fire surround retrieved from an old wine shop in Stratford, dating back to Shakespeare's day and the Long Gallery is fitted with old panelling and flooring from other houses.

Throughout the original old house there are objects and furniture from the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, including three beds slept in by illustrious visitors; Queen Margaret of Anjou, wife of Henry VI; Henry Ireton, a Parliamentary General who stayed here before the battle of Edgehill in 1642 and Queen Mary, who visited in 1927.

One of the chief points of interest at Packwood is the garden, some of which dates from the seventeenth century, including one of the gazebos. There is a splendid eighteenth century wrought-iron gate which leads to the Yew Garden. Tradition has it that the arrangement of yews depicts the Sermon on the Mount, from the New Testament and it seems that at least part of this was laid out in John Fetherston's day, including the large trees at the top of the garden.