Photograph of Stratton Park, East Stratton
Taken about 1867
Stratton Park, which lies about eight miles north-east of Winchester, was originally a seat of the Dukes of Bedford. It was purchased by the leading London merchant Sir Francis Baring at the turn of the eighteenth century, and in 1803 he commissioned George Dance to design alterations to the house. These included the addition of a grand Doric entrance portico in Greek Revival style. Further alterations were made to the house by succeeding generations of the wealthy Baring family.
At the time of this photograph the owner was Thomas George Baring, 2nd Baron and later 1st Earl of Northbrook, a prominent politician whose appointments in the 1860s and '70s included those of Under Secretary for War and for the Home Department as well as Viceroy of India.
The lozenge-shaped attachment to the pediment of the portico is probably the hatchment displaying the armorial bearings of the 1st Baron Northbrook who had died in 1866. Hatchments were usually left on the house for a year after death before being transferred to the church.
The photograph was taken by Winchester photographer William Savage (1817-87) and is found in an album of his work.
