Burrington, Herefordshire
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Richard Knight of Downton and Elizabeth Payne
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Thomas Andrew Knight and Frances Felton
Charlotte Knight and William Edward Rouse-Boughton
Andrew Johnes Rouse-Boughton-Knight and Eliza Severne
William Mandeville Peareth Kincaid-Lennox and Eva St Clair
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Wormsley Church, Herefordshire
St Georges Church, Burrington
Map of Downton - Burrington Area
Who Owned Downton Castle?
1727 purchased by Richard Knight of Downton
1772-8 rebuilt by his grandson Richard Payne Knight
1824 Richard Payne Knight dies. Probably passed to his brother Thomas Andrew Knight.
1876 In possession of Andrew Johnes Rouse Boughton Knight, grandson of Thomas Andrew Knight
1927 became seat of William Mandeville Peareth Kincaid-Lennox, Chief of Clan Lennox
Richard Payne Knight (1750-1824) pictured above
Richard Payne Knight was a connoisseur, author and owner/designer of Downton Castle, between 1774 and 1778. Pevsner, in the Art Bulletin for December 1949, traces the origins of the Downton design to Vanburgh Castle and Strawberry Hill. Richard Payne Knight was the grandson of an ironmaster and the son of a clergyman. Pevsner believed he was more interested in sexual symbolism than anything else. This interest is revealed in Knight's book on The Worship of Priapus. Richard Payne Knight wrote a Poem, The Landscape (1794) in which he mocked the 'smooth' style of Lancelot Brown. This led to the 'picturesque controversy' between Knight, Price and Repton. Richard Payne Knight designed a castellated mansion with a picturesque garden at Downton. The architectural style was 'mixed', just as Humphry Repton was later to propose a 'mixed' approach to garden design. He also came to agree with Repton that a house should have a terrace in the foreground to frame the view of the landscape.
Thomas Andrew Knight (1759-1838)
Charlotte Knight (abt1801-1842)
Daughter of Thomas Andrew Knight. Married Sir William Edward Rouse-Boughton (2nd Bart) in 1824
Andrew Johnes Rouse Boughton Knight (1826-1909)
Second son of Sir William Edward Rouse-Boughton and Charlotte Knight (daughter of Thomas Andrew Knight). Inherited Downton Castle from his mother and took extra name of Knight. The Rouse-Boughton family house was Downton Hall, nearby, which was inherited by eldest son Sir Charles Henry Rouse-Boughton (3rd Bart).
Designed & built between 1772-8 by Richard Payne Knight. Assymmetrically composed mansion, decorated in picturesque, irreg Gothic style with towers & battlements. Belonged in the C16 to the Hoptons. In 1727 purchased by Richard Knight (ironmaster); his grandson rebuilt it.
Burrington, Herefordshire, England
Downton Castle Today
William Mandeville Peareth Kincaid-Lennox (1892-1969)
Chief of Lennox and grandson of Andrew Johnes Rouse Boughton Knight.
From the Magazine "Art", 6 July 1962
The Major
When the bidding reached £100,000 ($280,000), the bulky old gentleman in the puce-and-green-striped tie emitted a genteel "whew," and he blinked his eyes incredulously at every £10,000 jump thereafter. The work on sale last week at Sotheby's in London was his: Rembrandt's brooding St. Bartholomew, one of the most important Rembrandts still left in private hands. The final price of $532,000 fell well short of the $2,300,000 paid last fall by Manhattan's Metropolitan Museum of Art for Aristotle Contemplating the Bust of Homer; but still and all, the smaller (34 in. by 30 in.) and less ambitious St. Bartholomew had brought the fourth highest auction price yet for a single painting.
When the painting was knocked down (to Agnew's, another big London art dealer), the old gentleman got up and drove off to his castle in Shropshire. He had spoken to no one during the sale, and no one had spoken to him.
Major William Mandeville Peareth Kincaid Lennox has never bought a work of art in his life; yet he owns one of England's more romantic collections. He inherited more than 90 paintings that hang helter-skelter in ill-lit confusion in the library and the drafty halls of Downton Castle.
Ten years ago, the major wired the castle for electricity, and now a TV set sits smack beneath Rembrandt's Flight into Egypt. A caged budgerigar chirps beneath Rembrandt's The Cradle. In addition, there is a Van Dyck ("A lovely one of a galloping horse," says the major) Rubens' portrait of Grotius ("Actually, they tell me now it may be a Van Dyck"), and a painting by Rembrandt's pupil Dou called Woman Drinking Soup out of a Bowl ("Personally. I think she is drinking wine)."
Major Lennox admits to a certain affection for his paintings, but once, when a Rembrandt fell off the wall, his chief concern was whether it had disturbed the budgerigar. "I'm not an artistic sort of chap," he says forthrightly. "Don't understand pictures at all."
He sold the Rembrandt to keep up his 14,000-acre estate on which he farms, raises sheep, cattle and daffodils. The daffodils are his real passion. He grows 200 varieties, and says with greater pride than when speaking of his art collection: "I don't know where you could find more beautiful daffodils than in our grounds."
Probably acquired by Richard Payne Knight and resident at Downton Castle until the Major sold it (see story opposite)
Littlebury's Directory and Gazetteer of Herefordshire, 1876-7
Burrington is a parish situated near the river Teme, and on a by-road leading from Ludlow, via Aston, to Leintwardine. It is distant 5 miles S.W. of Ludlow, 13 N.W. of Leominster, and 26 N.N.W. of Hereford, in Wigmore hundred, petty sessional division, and polling district, Ludlow union and county court district. The population in 1861 was 231; in 1871, 200; inhabited houses, 39; families or separate occupiers, 42; area of parish, 2,580 acres; annual rateable value, £1,642.
Andrew Johnes Rouse Boughton Knight, Esq., of Downton Castle, is lord of the manor and principal landowner. The parish is well wooded; soil, heavy loam; subsoil, partly rock; produce, wheat, barley, fruit, &c. Burrington is in the diocese of Hereford and archdeaconry and rural deanery of Ludlow; living, a vicarage; value, £240, with residence; patron, the Lord Chancellor; vicar, Rev. George James Corser, M.A., of Brasenose College, Oxford, who was instituted in 1866.
The church, dedicated to St. George, is a handsome stone edifice. It was entirely rebuilt in 1864; the nave by A. J. R. Boughton Knight, Esq., and the chancel by subscription; total cost, £800. It contains several monuments to the Knight family, a fine old font, register (earliest date 1640), and chest. There is a good school for boys and girls, chiefly supported by subscription.
St. George's Church, Burrington
A mostly Victorian rebuilt church of 1864, with a spire. It is in a very pretty setting. At the east end are eight cast iron grave slabs dating from the early 17th century. They are rare examples of early ironwork. They were made during the period when iron was worked at Downton Gorge.
Downton Hall (not to be confused with Downton Castle)
1841 Census
1851 Census
1861 Census
1871 Census
Sir Charles Henry Rouse-Boughton (3rd Bart), landowner with wife and two children
1881 Census
Sir Charles Henry Rouse-Boughton (3rd Bart), landowner with wife and daughter Catherine and nine servants.
1891 Census
1901 Census
Downton
A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 84-8
A township, in the parish of Lacey Stanton, union of Ludlow, hundred of Munslow, S. division of Salop, 3 miles (N.) from Ludlow; containing 90 inhabitants. This place lies on the east side of the river Corve; it comprises 550 acres of rich pastureland, with a small portion of arable, and is well wooded. Good stone is obtained for building purposes. Downton Hall, the seat of Sir William Rouse Boughton, Bart., to whom the whole property belongs, is a handsome mansion, approached by a beautiful avenue two miles in length, on a gradual ascent, from which the scenery is extensive, romantic, and mountainous, embracing the Titterstone and the Clee hills. The wooded grounds are particularly fine around the Hall, and the air of the township is very salubrious.
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Downton Hall
Downton, Shropshire, England
The family seat of the Rouse-Boughton family
On a Winning Streak
Has horseracing in Shropshire ever been in better shape? After years of notable achievements, the county is now emerging as one of the premier locations in which to train horses, with Henry Daly, Heather Dalton, Richard Lee, Steve Brookshaw and Mark Brisbourne firing in regular winners from their respective yards this season.
Whether it be the Brookshaw-trained Lord Gyllene romping to a sparkling Grand National victory or Daly's incredible Cheltenham Festival double last season, Shropshire racing is well and truly on the map. Not only does the county produce some superb trainers, but various breeding operations continue to churn out the lifeblood of the sport.
Don't forget 2001 National winner Red Marauder began life at the Shade Oak Stud at Bagley near Ellesmere - an operation that housed leading National Hunt sire Gunner B until his death recently.
The county could also be responsible for unearthing one of the jockey finds of the season too if Shifnal teenager Ben Swarbrick can continue his current rate of development.
The 18-year-old - now attached to Mark Brisbourne's Nesscliffe yard, near Shrewsbury - has impressed many good racing judges with his style on the all-weather this winter and is sure to gain plenty more opportunities on the Flat this summer.
But it is the jumping game where Shropshire has primarily established itself with the emergence of Heather Dalton at Norton House Stables near Shifnal a factor in the county's growth. Dalton - who learned her trade training point-to-point winners during the 90s - took out a licence four seasons ago and ever since a steady stream of National Hunt winners has left Norton House.
Victory in the Mercedes Benz Chase with Run For Paddy and a terrific four-timer with Lord of the Hill this season have advertised her talents and the affable handler is looking forward to running Irish import Hehasalife at Aintree on Grand National day.
"He's a lovely horse and, although we haven't really got a star at the moment, he could make up into a really nice type," she enthuses.
"I think it's marvellous that so much success has stemmed from Shropshire racing. Mark Brisbourne's achievements on the Flat have been phenomenal in recent seasons and Henry Daly inheriting Downton Hall has been good for the county.
"We are all more than capable of doing the job, the hard part is getting the ammunition to do so. We at Norton House have shown we can train winners - winning four races with Lord of the Hill, a horse rated just 60, is an example of that.
"As a trainer you need that bit of luck with injuries to help you on your way."
That sentiment is echoed by Presteigne trainer Richard Lee who is enjoying a terrific season after a slow start to the campaign because of the unseasonably fast ground.
"Injuries are a nightmare for trainers, but they are part and parcel of the job and you just have to get on with it," he reflects.
"Second places aren't far behind either and we've had 13 of those to go along with 16 winners. You always think back at races and think if that was different we could have put another one in the win column and that was the case at Sedgefield recently with Bunkum.
"We had the race won over the second last when we went 10 lengths clear but then the lad who rode him eased down and we were caught on the line. I wasn't best pleased as you can imagine!"
The Byton handler has enjoyed a fair amount of success in past years at Aintree's National meeting with Macgeorge, Ivor's Guest, Delius and Swardean winners at one of the world's premier meetings.
Mythical King, who provided the highlight of the stable's season when landing a valuable Ascot handicap hurdle earlier in the season, may just follow in the footsteps of his illustrious predecessors - providing the north-west sees plenty of the wet stuff.
"Mythical King must have some cut in the ground and if he does he's pretty decent," Lee continues.
"He's certainly not ready for the field yet as I've known it go bottomless at Aintree and those are his conditions. He gave us a great thrill when winning at Ascot and I think there are races to be won on the Flat with him, too."
Another to give Lee a thrill this term was the ever-green Macgeorge who, five years after winning the Martell Cup Chase, rolled back the years to score at Warwick recently.
"The horse may be 14 but he still thinks he's a three-year-old and is still daft as a brush," adds Lee. "He's won that race at Warwick for the past two years and I reckon he's still capable of completing the hat-trick next term. He's an amazing horse."
Steve Brookshaw is another for whom Liverpool will always be held in affection. The Shrewsbury trainer has endured one or two lean seasons since Lord Gyllene's 1997 National victory, but is fighting his way back thanks to the likes of Talbot Lad and Cassia Heights.
The former has won two handicap chases this season at Ludlow and Newbury since a wind operation and it was the latter performance when showing tremendous resolution to see off Motcombe Jam that advertised his durability.
Brookshaw excels in improving his type and although the Uffington handler hasn't yet worked the oracle with Valleymore - a very decent hurdler last term - over fences, don't rule out the Tom Kelly-owned gelding when he encounters soft ground and a trip later this season.
Smaller handlers such as Bridgnorth-trainer Mark Wellings and Trevor Wall - who operates from his yard at Harton Manor near Church Stretton - have enjoyed success too, with all-weather racing staged throughout the winter offering plenty of opportunities.
Wellings sent out the first winner of his career at Lingfield this winter in the form of Little Richard, while Willie Jenks, based at Glazeley, near Bridgnorth, continues to find the winner's enclosure - Fenney Spring's victory at Warwick prior to the Cheltenham Festival a case in point.
The county's point-to-point handlers shouldn't be forgotten either as they continue to thrive and provide Shropshire with some terrific racing between the flags at great venues such as Weston Park and Eyton-on-Severn.
But it is Henry Daly, housed at the magnificent Downton Hall a stone's throw from Ludlow racecourse, who has truly mixed it with the big boys this season.
Grade One success for Hand Inn Hand at Ascot consolidated another excellent season for Tim Forster's protege although the loss of star chaser and Grand National hope Behrajan at Warwick before Christmas was a dreadful day for all concerned and Shropshire racing fans in general.
The three Ludlow raiders dispatched to the Cheltenham Festival failed to repeat the amazing success of Young Spartacus and Palarshan 12 months before them, but there will be other days and more pots to hunt with the likes of Haut Cercy and Jakari.
A new crop of stars is emerging at Downton Hall with the talented Green Tango sure to take high rank in the seasons to come, injury permitting. Hopefully, a similar story will apply to the Shropshire-owned Azertyuiop who gave the county another big-race triumph when landing the Queen Mother Champion Chase at the Cheltenham Festival.
Racing in the now famous colours of Shropshire businessman John Hales, the French-bred gelding was electric in repeating the success of One Man six years ago.
The Hales family are set on returning to Prestbury Park in 12 months time to defend their crown and all of Shropshire will be behind them, willing yet another headline success for the county.