{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox building | name = Godmersham Park | native_name = | native_name_lang = | logo = | logo_size = | logo_alt = | logo_caption = | image = File:Godmersham Hall - geograph.org.uk - 407850.jpg | image_size = | image_alt = Photograph of Godmersham Park, showing the house in the mid distance. | image_caption = Godmersham Park<!-- or | caption = --> | pushpin_map = | pushpin_map_alt = | map_caption = | pushpin_mapsize = | pushpin_label = | pushpin_mark = | pushpin_relief = | former_names = | alternate_names = Godmersham Hall | etymology = | status = | cancelled = | topped_out = | building_type = House | architectural_style = [[Georgian architecture|Georgian]]<!--Per WP:BLUE--> | classification = Grade I listed<ref name=Listing/> | location = [[Godmersham]], [[Kent]] | address = | location_city = <!-- or | location_town = --> | location_country = United Kingdom | coordinates = {{coord|51|13|14|N|0|57|01|E}}<br />{{gbmappingsmall|TR 0612 5100}} | altitude = | current_tenants = [[Association of British Dispensing Opticians]] | namesake = | groundbreaking_date = | construction_start_date = | construction_stop_date = | est_completion = | topped_out_date = | completion_date = 1732 | opened_date = | inauguration_date = | relocated_date = | renovation_date = 1780, 1852, 1935 | closing_date = | demolished_date = | cost = | ren_cost = | client = | owner = | landlord = | affiliation = | height = | architectural = | tip = | antenna_spire = | roof = Slate | top_floor = | observatory = | diameter = | circumference = | weight = | other_dimensions = | structural_system = | material = Brick | size = | floor_count = Two | floor_area = | elevator_count = | grounds_area = | architect = | architecture_firm = | developer = | engineer = | structural_engineer = | services_engineer = | civil_engineer = | other_designers = | quantity_surveyor = | main_contractor = | awards = | designations = | known_for = Connections to [[Jane Austen]] | ren_architect = | ren_firm = | ren_engineer = | ren_str_engineer = | ren_serv_engineer = | ren_civ_engineer = | ren_oth_designers = | ren_qty_surveyor = | ren_contractor = | ren_awards = | number_of_rooms = | parking = | website = <!-- {{URL|example.com}} --> | embed = | embedded = | references = | footnotes = }}
'''Godmersham Park''' is a [[listed building|Grade I listed]] house in [[Godmersham]] in the [[English county]] of [[Kent]]. The house is on the edge of the [[North Downs]] between [[Ashford, Kent|Ashford]] and [[Canterbury]]. It has associations with the writer [[Jane Austen]], and is depicted on the new [[Bank of England £10 note]] issued in 2017. It is now home to the [[Association of British Dispensing Opticians]].
==Description== Godmersham Park is a two-storey house in the [[Palladian architecture|Palladian style]].<ref name=Newman>{{cite book |title=Kent: North-East and East|series=The Buildings Of England|first=John|last=Newman |author-link=John Newman (architectural historian) |year=2013 |orig-year=1969|publisher=Yale University Press |location=New Haven, US and London |isbn=9780300185065|pages=377–79|oclc=857109148}}</ref> Built of red brick, the main block is of seven bays, the central three being recessed. The north front is of Thomas May's time, while the south facade was constructed by Walter Sarel for the Trittons in the 1930s, in a complementary style. During this reconstruction, Sarel also turned the bricks on the north front, which had been painted in the 19th century, to restore the original 18th century appearance.<ref name=Listing/> The two wings post-date May's frontage, being of the late 18th century. The roof is of slate with a [[parapet]], and the house is of two storeys, with cellars and attics.<ref name=Newman/> The interior contains two rooms which retain the original decorative schemes from May's time, the drawing room and the hall. The rest date from Sarel's remodelling. Both of May's rooms are embellished with ornate [[plasterwork]], the hall also having a chimneypiece by [[John Michael Rysbrack]].<ref name=Newman/>
==History== Godmersham Park was built in 1732 for [[Thomas Knight (MP for Canterbury)|Thomas May]], replacing an earlier Elizabethan house, Ford House, owned by the Brodnax family. In 1742, by which time May had changed his name to Knight, he enclosed a park around the estate, which was then known as Ford Park.<ref name=Hasted>{{cite book |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-kent/vol7/pp319-332 |title=The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent |volume=7 |first=Edward |last=Hasted |author-link=Edward Hasted |year=1798 |publisher=W Bristow |location=Canterbury |pages=319–32}}</ref> The wings were added in 1780.<ref name=Listing/> Knight died in 1781 and the estate was inherited by his son [[Thomas Knight (MP for Kent)|Thomas]]. Following his death in 1794, the house was inherited by [[Edward Austen Knight|Edward Austen]], brother of [[Jane Austen]].<ref name=Hasted/> He was a distant cousin of the Knights and had been adopted by them in the early 1780s.<ref name=Adopted>{{cite web |url=http://famous.adoption.com/famous/knight-edward-austen.html |title=Knight, Edward Austen |publisher=Adoption.com |accessdate=13 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170911115500/http://famous.adoption.com/famous/knight-edward-austen.html |archive-date=2017-09-11 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Following the death of his adoptive mother Catherine in 1812, Austen changed his name to Knight.<ref name=Burke>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U_CvyAF3ko4C&q=%22Edward+Austen%22+%22Thomas+Knight%22&pg=PA444 |title=A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Commoners of Great Britain and Ireland Enjoying Territorial Possessions or High Official Rank; but Uninvested with Heritable Honours |first=John |last=Burke |author-link=John Burke (genealogist) |volume=1 |publisher=Henry Colbourn |location=London |year=1836 |page=444}}</ref><ref name=JAW>{{cite web |url=https://janeaustensworld.wordpress.com/2009/10/07/edward-austen-knight-a-tightwad-or-a-man-with-heavy-responsibilities/ |title=Edward Austen Knight: A tightwad or a man with heavy responsibilities? |author=Vic |date=7 October 2009 |publisher=Jane Austen's World |accessdate=13 August 2017}}</ref>
Jane Austen was a regular visitor between 1798 and 1813.<ref name=PandG>{{cite web |url=http://www.parksandgardens.org/places-and-people/site/1469 |title=Godmersham Park, Canterbury, England |publisher=Parks and Gardens UK |accessdate=13 August 2017 |archive-date=25 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170825232218/http://www.parksandgardens.org/places-and-people/site/1469 |url-status=dead }}</ref> ''[[Mansfield Park]]'' is said to be based on Godmersham Park.<ref name=Times130483/> In 1852, the property passed to Knight's son, [[Edward Knight (cricketer)|Edward Knight]]. He remodelled the south front to designs by [[William Burn]] before selling it to John Cunliffe Lister Kay in 1874,<ref>[[Howard Colvin|Colvin, Howard]], ''A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects'', ''s.v.'' "William Burn".</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Godmersham Park |url=https://abdocollege.org.uk/about/general-information/ |access-date=2023-12-12 |website=ABDO College |language=en-GB}}</ref>(later the Burn additions were swept away in the 1930s by Robert Tritton).<ref name=HE/><ref name=Times060521/> During the [[First World War]], an [[airship]] was stationed at Godmersham Park, which served as a sub-station of [[RNAS Capel]].<ref name=Lee>{{cite book |last= Lee |first= David W. |title= Action Stations Revisited, Volume 3 South East England |year=2010 |publisher= Crecy Publishing Ltd |pages=62–64 |isbn= 978-0-85979-110-6}}</ref>
Godmersham Park passed to [[John Cunliffe Lister, 3rd Baron Masham|John Cunliffe Lister]], 3rd [[Baron Masham]], who sold it in 1921 to [[William Legge, 6th Earl of Dartmouth]].<ref name=HE>{{cite web |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1000290 |title=Godmersham Park |publisher=Historic England |accessdate=13 August 2017}}</ref><ref name=Times060521>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Godmersham Park Sold |date=6 June 1921 |page=8 |issue=42713 |column=D }}</ref> In 1935, Godmersham Park was sold to Mr and Mrs Robert Tritton, who restored the house.<ref name=PandG/> Walter Sarel remodelled the building, much of the interior being replaced using genuine eighteenth-century features recovered from buildings across England.<ref name=Listing>{{cite web |url=http://webapps.kent.gov.uk/KCC.ExploringKentsPast.Web.Sites.Public/SingleResult.aspx?uid=MKE22456 |title=Monument details |publisher=Kent County Council |accessdate=12 August 2017}}</ref> [[Norah Lindsay]] advised on restoration of the walled gardens.<ref name=PandG/> The house became a Grade I [[listed building]] in 1952,<ref name=HE2>{{cite web |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1071232 |title=Godmersham Park |publisher=Historic England |accessdate=15 September 2017}}</ref> and the gardens were separately listed in Grade II* in 1986, with other garden features listed as Grade II.<ref name=HE/>
Robert Tritton died in 1957.<ref name=Times310157>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Obituaries: Mr. Robert Tritton |date=31 January 1957 |page=13 |issue=53753 |column=A }}</ref> Following the death of Elsie Tritton in 1983,<ref name=Times130483>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Jane Austen's "Mansfield Park" for sale |first=Geraldine |last=Norman |date=13 April 1983 |page=12 |issue=61505 |column=C-F }}</ref> the contents of the house were sold by Christie, Manson & Wood and Godmersham Park was sold to [[Bernard Sunley & Sons|John Bernard Sunley]]. The estate management company Sunley Farms Limited, which is 100% owned by Sunciera Holdings Corporation in Panama, is the owner of Godmersham Park.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/dark-money-investigations/revealed-farages-brexit-party-chairman-facing-questions-over-offshore-tax-haven-links/|first=Daniel|last=Beizsley|title=Revealed: Farage's Brexit Party chairman facing questions over offshore tax haven links|date=11 October 2019|publisher=openDemocracy|accessdate=6 July 2020}}</ref>
In 2001, Godmersham Park became the home of the [[Association of British Dispensing Opticians]], in which capacity it is used as a training college.<ref name=ABDO>{{cite web |url=http://abdocollege.org.uk/about/general-information/ |title=Godmersham Park. A brief history of the ABDO college |publisher=Association of British Dispensing Opticians |accessdate=13 August 2017}}</ref> The Godmersham Park Heritage Centre contains information and artifacts relating to the Godmersham Park Estate, as well as the parishes of Godmersham and Crundale.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Godmersham Park Heritage Centre |url=https://www.godmershamheritage.co.uk/ |access-date=2024-03-28 |website=Godmersham Park Heritage Centre |language=en}}</ref> {{-}}
<gallery> File:Godmersham (1779).jpg|1779, in the time of [[Edward Austen Knight|Edward Austen]] File:Neale(1826) p3.062 - Godmersham Park, Kent.jpg|1826 File:Front Facade of Godmersham Park - geograph.org.uk - 1490002.jpg|2009 </gallery>
==In fiction== [[Gill Hornby]]'s 2022 novel ''Godmersham Park'' is based on events at the house while it was occupied by the Austen family.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/jul/03/godmersham-park-by-gill-hornby-review-a-page-turning-austen-romp|title=Godmersham Park by Gill Hornby review – a page-turning Austen romp|date=3 July 2022|author=Alexander Larman|website=The Guardian|access-date=1 January 2024}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist|20em}}
[[Category:Houses completed in 1732]] [[Category:Grade I listed houses in Kent]] [[Category:Austen family]]