Dyrham Park

Dyrham Park was built at the end of the 17th century for Sir William Blathwayt.

He rose from modest beginnings in the Civil Service to become Secretary at War and Secretary of State to William III between 1691 and 1720. He found favour with the King for his administrative skills and because he had been a secretary at the embassy in the Hague and spoke Dutch.

Sir William came to Dyrham when he married Mary Wynter whose family had held the estate since Tudor times. It was not until the death of his in-laws and his wife that Sir William began to replace their Tudor family home. The house was constructed in two stages.

The first building of 1692 was designed by an otherwise unknown Huguenot architect called S. Huduroy.

At the turn of the century the second stage was created by William Talman, one of the finest architects of the period. The end result was a splendid but restrained mansion that has been described as looking, for all its parkland, more like a town house.

Dyrham Park has been little altered over the years and the furniture, pottery and paintings were collected by Sir William.