TQ6045 : Somerhill House
taken 4 years ago, near to Tudeley, Kent, England
Grade I listed buildings and structures are of exceptional, even international importance. There are over 6,000 in the country. Only 2.5% of listed buildings are Grade I listed.
In Scotland the classification is Category A
Index: Link
Somerhill Park is a late 18th- to early 19th-century park of 75 hectares with 19th-century formal gardens of 6 hectares. The park is now in divided use and ownership.
Somerhill house (Grade I listed Link ) was built in 1611, and the manor was sold off piecemeal throughout the 17th century. Somerhill was sold in 1816 to James Alexander who altered the house, laid out the terrace gardens, and remodelled the park. After 1866, the house was restored, a north wing added and the formal gardens were developed. In 1988 the house and gardens and about 61 hectares of parkland were bought by Yardley Court School. The House is now occupied by Schools at Somerhill (Yardley Court, Derwent Lodge and Somerhill Pre-Prep).