Photograph of Hursley Park, Hursley
Taken about 1870
In the mid-seventeenth century Richard, son of Oliver Cromwell, was Lord of the Manor of Merdon, which includes Hursley. His daughters sold the estate to a member of the Derbyshire merchant family of Heathcote who built Hursley Park House, a fine red brick and stone building in Queen Anne style, in the 1720s.
In 1825 the estate was inherited by the 5th Baronet, Sir William Heathcote, who resided at Hursley Park until his death in 1881. The photograph dates from this period and may include members of his family - he was twice married and had a dozen children. The carriage is drawn up outside the vestibule which had been added to the house by the 4th Baronet in about 1821.
The photograph was taken by Winchester photographer William Savage (1817-87) and is found in an album entitled 'Hampshire Views of Churches, Country Houses and Public Buildings'.
