# Mells Park

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Mells_Park
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Mells_Park.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mells_Park
> Source revision: 1220693112
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

{{Short description|Country estate in Somerset, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
thumb|right|300px|Mells Park entrance
'''Mells Park''' is a country estate of {{convert|140|ha}} near [Mells](/source/Mells%2C_Somerset), Somerset, England. It originated as a 17th-century [deer park](/source/deer_park_(England)), probably created by the Horner family, who had been the owners of [Mells Manor](/source/Mells_Manor) from 1543. The Horners expanded the park and planted extensive woodlands, resulting in a large collection of mature trees, especially 18th-century plantings of oak, lime and beech. The park is Grade II listed in the [National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens](/source/National_Register_of_Historic_Parks_and_Gardens).<ref name=EHMP>{{NHLE |num=1001150 |desc=Mells Park |accessdate=4 November 2014 }}</ref> It contains '''Park House''', also known as '''Mells Park House''', a Grade II* [listed building](/source/listed_building),<ref>{{NHLE |num=1058296|desc=Park House |accessdate=4 November 2014 |fewer-links=x}}</ref> built in 1925 in [neoclassical](/source/neoclassical_architecture) style by the architect [Edwin Lutyens](/source/Edwin_Lutyens), replacing an 18th-century house of the same name. It is c. {{convert|1|mi}} west of Mells Manor House, which does not lie within the park.<ref name=Foyle>Foyle and Pevsner (2011), pp. 556–557.</ref>

During 1987–90, Park House was used for secret negotiations between the [African National Congress](/source/African_National_Congress) and the South African government.

The estate is a venue for [game shooting](/source/Hunting_and_shooting_in_the_United_Kingdom).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.phoinesestates.com/mells_park.php |title=Official website |accessdate=4 November 2014}}</ref>

==Enclosure and first Park House==
The deer park was enclosed between 1604 and 1642, probably by Sir John Horner. In 1724 [Thomas Strangways Horner](/source/Thomas_Strangways_Horner) commissioned [Nathaniel Ireson](/source/Nathaniel_Ireson) to build the first Park House, and the family moved there from [Mells Manor](/source/Mells_Manor) House. His nephew Thomas Horner expanded the park and planted extensive woodlands, a work continued by his son Colonel Thomas Strangways Horner. The house is on high ground towards the northern end of the park, surrounded by river valleys. Further north, to the rear of the house, the park includes a lake fed by the [Mells River](/source/Mells_River). Pleasure grounds around the house and towards the lake were laid out by the landscape designer [William Sawrey Gilpin](/source/William_Sawrey_Gilpin) between 1825 and 1832.<ref name=EHMP/>

Future Prime Minister [H. H. Asquith](/source/H._H._Asquith) and his wife [Margot](/source/Margot_Asquith) spent their honeymoon at Mells Park in 1894, as guests of [Sir John Horner](/source/John_Francis_Fortescue_Horner) and his wife Lady [Frances Horner](/source/Frances_Horner),<ref>Clifford (2002), p. 59.</ref> the daughter of Liberal MP and art patron [William Graham](/source/William_Graham_(Glasgow_MP)).<ref>Clifford (2002), p. 23.</ref> Finding Park House too expensive to inhabit,<ref name=Brown109>Brown (1996), pp. 109-110.</ref> in c. 1900 the Horners let it out and moved back into Mells Manor House. Park House burnt down in 1917, although an [arcade](/source/arcade_(architecture))d service court at the rear of the house survived.<ref name=EHMP/>

18th-century outbuildings which survive as Grade II listed buildings include stables and a [coach house](/source/coach_house) to the north of the house, built c. 1761, probably by the architect [John Wood the Younger](/source/John_Wood_the_Younger),<ref>{{NHLE |num=1345281 |desc=Stables, 10 metres to rear of Park House |accessdate=4 November 2014 |fewer-links=x}}</ref> Lilley Batch Lodge, built c. 1790,<ref>{{NHLE |num=1058295 |desc=Lilley Batch Lodge |accessdate=4 November 2014 |fewer-links=x}}</ref> and a [folly](/source/folly) called the Duckery, also built c. 1790.<ref>{{NHLE |num=1174492 |desc=The Duckery |accessdate=4 November 2014 |fewer-links=x}}</ref>

==Second Park House==
The architect [Edwin Lutyens](/source/Edwin_Lutyens) had known the Horners, and Mells Park, since 1896.<ref name=Brown109/> In 1918 he unsuccessfully tried to persuade the Horners to rebuild Park House.<ref name=Brown218>Brown (1996), pp. 218–219.</ref> However, [Reginald McKenna](/source/Reginald_McKenna), the chairman of [Midland Bank](/source/Midland_Bank), and formerly [Home Secretary](/source/Home_Secretary) and [Chancellor of the Exchequer](/source/Chancellor_of_the_Exchequer) under Asquith, was married to Pamela Jekyll, the niece of Frances Horner.<ref>Ridley (2002), p. 328.</ref> In 1924, the Horners agreed to let Mells Park to them for a nominal rent, on the understanding that the McKennas would rebuild the house.<ref name=Brown218/> The McKennas had commissioned Lutyens before, in 1911, to build their [town house](/source/town_house), [Mulberry House](/source/Mulberry_House), at 36 [Smith Square](/source/Smith_Square), London.<ref>Brown (1996), p. 133.</ref> Lutyens rebuilt Park House in [neoclassical](/source/neoclassical_architecture) style in 1925. He built a two-storey, [hip-roof](/source/hip-roof)ed house in [Bath stone](/source/Bath_stone), on the outline of the previous building,<ref name=Foyle/> and joined it onto the surviving arcaded service court.<ref name=Brown218/> The new main range has seven [bay](/source/bay_(architecture))s along the south and north [elevation](/source/elevation_(view))s and four along each side, with [Doric](/source/Doric_order) pilasters.<ref name=Foyle/>

Around 1926, Lutyens also designed gardens around the house, in collaboration with garden designer [Gertrude Jekyll](/source/Gertrude_Jekyll), who was another aunt of Pamela McKenna.<ref name=Foyle/>

The family sold Mells Park in 1939,<ref name=EHMP/> following the death of Sir John Horner in 1927.<ref>{{cite news |title=Obituary: Sir John Horner |newspaper=[The Times](/source/The_Times) |location=London |date=1 April 1927 |page=16 }}</ref> The McKennas had already left Mells Park, for [Halnaker](/source/Halnaker), Sussex, where they commissioned Lutyens to build another country house.<ref>Brown (1996), p. 226.</ref> This was Halnaker Park, built in 1938.<ref>{{NHLE |num=1026406|desc=Halnaker Park |accessdate=4 November 2014 |fewer-links=x}}</ref>

==South African negotiations==
Mells Park was later owned by the South African mining company [Consolidated Gold Fields](/source/Consolidated_Gold_Fields). In the late 1980s the company provided Park House as the venue for secret negotiations between [Thabo Mbeki](/source/Thabo_Mbeki) of the [African National Congress](/source/African_National_Congress), who was later the [President of South Africa](/source/President_of_South_Africa), and representatives of the then-governing [National Party](/source/National_Party_(South_Africa)). The talks, which lasted from 1987 till the time of [Nelson Mandela](/source/Nelson_Mandela)'s release in 1990, were depicted in the 2009 film ''[Endgame](/source/Endgame_(2009_film))''.<ref>{{cite news |last=Thorpe |first=Vanessa |title=How secret talks killed off apartheid |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/aug/17/southafrica.television |newspaper=[The Observer](/source/The_Observer) |location=London |date=17 August 2008 |accessdate=4 November 2014}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Bishop |first=Sophy |title=Michael Young discusses his role as facilitator in anti-apartheid negotiations |url=https://hls.harvard.edu/today/michael-young-discusses-his-role-as-facilitator-in-anti-apartheid-negotiations-video/ |access-date=2024-04-14 |website=Harvard Law School |language=en-us}}</ref>

==In literature==
Mells Park appears as "Falls Park" in [Thomas Hardy](/source/Thomas_Hardy)'s short story "The First Countess of Wessex", in the 1891 collection ''[A Group of Noble Dames](/source/A_Group_of_Noble_Dames)''.<ref name=EHMP/>

In 1983, Mells Park was used as the filming location for the [ITV](/source/ITV_(TV_channel)) television series [Robin of Sherwood](/source/Robin_of_Sherwood). In the programme, it doubled for Loxley Village, where [Robin](/source/Robin_Hood) originally came from.<ref>{{cite web|title=Robin of Sherwood (1984–1986) Filming Locations|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086791/locations|publisher=IMDB|accessdate=7 March 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Mells Park Estate|url=http://www.trailofrobinofsherwood.co.uk/mells.html|publisher=Trail of Robin of Sherwood|accessdate=7 March 2017}}</ref>

==See also==
*[St Andrew's Church, Mells](/source/St_Andrew's_Church%2C_Mells), contains memorials associated with the Horners and Asquiths, some by Lutyens<ref>{{NHLE |num=1295876 |desc=Church of St Andrew |accessdate=9 February 2016 |fewer-links=x}}</ref>
*[Mells War Memorial](/source/Mells_War_Memorial) (Lutyens, 1921)<ref>{{NHLE |num=1058315 |desc=Mells War Memorial |accessdate=9 February 2016|fewer-links=x}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{reflist|30em}}

==References==
*{{cite book |title=Lutyens and the Edwardians |last=Brown |first=Jane |year=1996 |publisher=Viking |location=London |isbn=0-670-85871-4 }}
*{{cite book |title=The Asquiths |last=Clifford |first=Colin |year=2002 |publisher=John Murray |location=London |isbn=0-7195-5457-8 }}
*{{cite book |title=The Buildings of England: Somerset North and Bristol |last1=Foyle |first1=Andrew |last2=Pevsner |first2=Nikolaus |year=2011 |publisher=Yale University Press |location=New Haven |isbn=978-0-300-12658-7 }}
*{{cite book |title=The Architect and his Wife: A Life of Edwin Lutyens |last=Ridley |first=Jane |year=2002 |publisher=Chatto & Windus |location=London |isbn=0-7011-7201-0 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/architecthiswife0000ridl }}

==External links==
*[https://houseandheritage.org/2017/08/04/mells-park/ Mells Park, House and Heritage]
*[https://www.phoinesestates.co.uk/mells-park-shoot Mells Park Shoot] (commercial site)
<!-- DEAD LINK as of 14 April 2024 *[http://www.phoinesestates.com/mells_park.php Official website]-->

{{coord|51|14|12|N|2|24|44|W|type:landmark_region:GB|display=title}}

Category:Neoclassical architecture in England
Category:Grade II* listed buildings in Mendip District
Category:Grade II* listed houses in Somerset
Category:Country houses in Somerset
Category:Houses completed in 1925
Category:Works of Edwin Lutyens in England
Category:Grade II listed parks and gardens in Somerset
Category:Gardens in Somerset
Category:Gardens by Gertrude Jekyll
Category:Mells, Somerset

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Mells Park](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mells_Park) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mells_Park?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.