our history
“Yet climbing woodbines spread their blossoms sweet
And verdant eglantines the senses greet:
Wild thorns and hollies overhang the steeps,
And up the rocks the clustering ivy creeps.”
And verdant eglantines the senses greet:
Wild thorns and hollies overhang the steeps,
And up the rocks the clustering ivy creeps.”
Extract from ‘The Landscape’ by Richard Payne Knight (1751-1824) owner of Downton Estate
History of the Estate
It was the Norman baron Ralph de Mortimer, rewarded for his assistance to William the Conqueror during the 1066 conquest, who was granted Downton. Mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, the estate remained largely unnoticed for six centuries, until in 1727 Richard Knight, a successful iron founder, acquired it.
His grandson, Richard Payne Knight, a libertine and freethinker, was one of the founding members of the Picturesque Movement, which aimed to “enhance” the landscape. Inspired by this philosophy, he designed Downton Castle in the neo-classical Gothic style, harmoniously integrated into the wild and irregular scenery of the area, far from the “artificial and tame” gardens fashionable among his contemporaries. He laid new paths, built a Roman bath, an Alpine bridge, and a switchback tunnel, and commissioned the English landscape painter Thomas Hearne to produce twelve watercolours of the dramatic Downton Gorge.
In 1986, the estate was purchased by the current owners, who continue to preserve the historical and aesthetic features so valued by Richard Payne Knight.
His grandson, Richard Payne Knight, a libertine and freethinker, was one of the founding members of the Picturesque Movement, which aimed to “enhance” the landscape. Inspired by this philosophy, he designed Downton Castle in the neo-classical Gothic style, harmoniously integrated into the wild and irregular scenery of the area, far from the “artificial and tame” gardens fashionable among his contemporaries. He laid new paths, built a Roman bath, an Alpine bridge, and a switchback tunnel, and commissioned the English landscape painter Thomas Hearne to produce twelve watercolours of the dramatic Downton Gorge.
In 1986, the estate was purchased by the current owners, who continue to preserve the historical and aesthetic features so valued by Richard Payne Knight.
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