Kingston Maurward
Encyclopedia
Georgian architecture
Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1720 and 1840. It is eponymous for the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I of Great Britain, George II of Great Britain, George III of the United...
English country house
English country house
The English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a London house. This allowed to them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these people, the term distinguished between town and country...
set in a 750 acre (3 square km) estate in Dorset
Dorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...
situated in the Frome valley
River Frome, Dorset
The River Frome is a river in Dorset in the south of England. At 30 miles long it is the major chalkstream in southwest England. It is navigable upstream from Poole Harbour as far as the town of Wareham.-Geography:...
two miles east of Dorchester. The mansion was built by George Pitt, cousin of William Pitt the Elder, between 1717 and 1720. The mansion was originally in red brick, but after derogatory comments from King George III, Pitt clad the house in Portland limestone. Much of the house is now used by Kingston Maurward College
Kingston Maurward College
Kingston Maurward College is a college for land-based studies situated two miles east of Dorchester, Dorset, England. The college is a member of the Landex group , an association of institutions that provide courses in agriculture and horticulture....
, though some of it is used for private functions.
Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy, OM was an English novelist and poet. While his works typically belong to the Naturalism movement, several poems display elements of the previous Romantic and Enlightenment periods of literature, such as his fascination with the supernatural.While he regarded himself primarily as a...
lived nearby and later referred to Kingston Maurward House as "Knapwater House" in his novel Desperate Remedies
Desperate Remedies
Desperate Remedies is a novel by Thomas Hardy, published anonymously by Tinsley Brothers in 1871.-Plot summary:This brilliant but neglected novel - the first that Hardy ever published - not only rivals the detective fiction of Wilkie Collins but bears the undoubted imprint of the mature Hardy...
.
Grounds and gardens
