Piers Court
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| Piers Court | |
|---|---|
  Location of Piers Court in Gloucestershire | |
| Type | Country house |
| Location | Stinchcombe, Gloucestershire |
| Coordinates | 51°41′12″N 2°23′14″W / 51.68675°N 2.3872°W |
| Built | late 18th century with earlier work |
| Architectural style(s) | Palladian |
| Owner | Private |
Listed Building – Grade II* | |
| Official name | Piers Court |
| Designated | 2 June 1952 |
| Reference no. | 1305626 |
Listed Building – Grade II | |
| Official name | Stable block southwest of Piers Court |
| Designated | 23 June 1952 |
| Reference no. | 1090881 |
Piers Court is a country house in Stinchcombe near Dursley in the Costwolds in Gloucestershire, England. A Grade II* listed building, in the mid-20th century the court was home to the novelist Evelyn Waugh.[1]
History
The present house was built by a John Wallington at the very end of the 18th century. It incorporates elements of an older building.[2]
Evelyn Waugh lived at Piers Court from 1937 to 1956, and wrote many of his best known works there, including Scoop, Brideshead Revisited, Men at Arms and Officers and Gentlemen.[1][a] In 1955 Waugh was enraged when two journalists from the Daily Express, Nancy Spain and Noel Buxton arrived at Piers Court, having previously been declined an interview. An acrimonious and public correspondence saw Waugh successfully sue Spain for libel. But his enjoyment of the house was marred and he sold it the following year.[4][b]
Waugh’s library was dismantled by a subsequent owner of the court and the fixtures and fittings, including the prominent bookcases, were sent to the US with the intention of reconstructing it in a museum.[5] The court is for sale, as at December 2022. The sales arrangements are unusual; the presence of a sitting tenant precludes potential purchasers from viewing the property.[6][7][8]
Architecture and description
The house is built of local stone with the main block consisting of sevens bays and two storeys.[2] Historic England's listing record notes that this central block, designed in a Palladian style and dating from the late 18th century, abuts a lower wing with earlier origins, probably of the 16th century.[9] The pediment below the roof is surmounted by an "elaborate" coat of arms.[2] David Verey and Alan Brooks, in their 2000 revised edition of Gloucestershire 1: The Cotswolds, in the Pevsner Buildings of England series, describe Piers Court as a "dignified and elegant house."[2] It was designated a Grade II* listed building in 1952.[9] The adjacent stable block is listed at Grade II.[10]
Notes
- ^ Although many sources indicate that Waugh wrote Brideshead Revisited at Piers Court, the Evelyn Waugh Society notes that the book was written in 1944, while the house was let. The society suggests that the book was written while Waugh was staying at Chagford in Devon, and revised while he was on active service in Yugoslavia.[3]
- ^ Having viewed a range of alternatives, Waugh moved to Combe Florey in Somerset where he died in 1966.
References
- ^ a b Neate, Rupert (11 December 2022). "Evelyn Waugh's once-beloved Cotswold mansion up for auction at £2.5m". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
- ^ a b c d Verey & Brooks 2000, p. 634.
- ^ Manley, Jeffrey (11 December 2022). "Piers Court auction". Evelyn Waugh Society. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
- ^ Page 1997, pp. 143–145.
- ^ "Piers Court". Di Camillo. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
- ^ "Piers Court, Stinchcombe". Knight Frank. December 2022. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
- ^ "Freehold Grade II* listed Georgian manor house". Allsop Auctions. December 2022. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
- ^ Keel, Toby (12 December 2022). "Evelyn Waugh's former house is going under the hammer". Country Life. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
- ^ a b Historic England. "Piers Court, Wooton Road (Grade II*) (1305626)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
- ^ Historic England. "Stable block southwest of Piers Court (Grade II) (1090881)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
Sources
- Mitford, Nancy; Waugh, Evelyn (1996). Charlotte Mosley (ed.). The Letters of Nancy Mitford and Evelyn Waugh. London: Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 978-0-340-63804-0.
- Page, Norman (1997). An Evelyn Waugh Chronology. New York: Springer Publishing. ISBN 978-0-230-37254-2.
- Verey, David; Brooks, Alan (2000) [1970]. Gloucestershire 1: The Cotswolds. The Buildings of England. London: Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-071098-1.