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Ardington House
Ardington House is an early Georgian country house in the Vale of White Horse, some two miles east of Wantage. This area, historically part of Berkshire, was transferred to Oxfordshire in the local government reorganisation of 1974.
Pevsner, who surveyed Berkshire within its old boundaries in 1966, describes Ardington as "a swagger three-storeyed building of vitrified grey and red brick, seven bays with a projecting three-bay centre [carrying] a decorated pediment".
The house was built in 1721 for Edward Clarke and the architect is thought to have been Thomas Strong Junior of Oxford. The house was later bought by Robert Vernon, who had made his fortune breeding and supplying horses to the Royal Mail and to the army in the Napoleonic Wars, and assembled a fine collection of contemporary English paintings, many of which are now in the national collections.
In 1861, the house passed to Lord Wantage (Robert Loyd-Lindsay), a hero of the Crimean War, founder of the British Red Cross, a major benefactor of Reading University (where he is commemorated by Wantage Hall), and one of the first winners of the Victoria Cross. The twin mounted cannonballs flanking the front door are relics of his war service, having been fired by the Russian frigate Vladimir at the Battle of Inkerman on 5th November 1854. Later the estate came into the possession of the ill-fated Baring banking family.
Ardington House is listed Grade II* Link
Ardington House website Link
Pevsner, who surveyed Berkshire within its old boundaries in 1966, describes Ardington as "a swagger three-storeyed building of vitrified grey and red brick, seven bays with a projecting three-bay centre [carrying] a decorated pediment".
The house was built in 1721 for Edward Clarke and the architect is thought to have been Thomas Strong Junior of Oxford. The house was later bought by Robert Vernon, who had made his fortune breeding and supplying horses to the Royal Mail and to the army in the Napoleonic Wars, and assembled a fine collection of contemporary English paintings, many of which are now in the national collections.
In 1861, the house passed to Lord Wantage (Robert Loyd-Lindsay), a hero of the Crimean War, founder of the British Red Cross, a major benefactor of Reading University (where he is commemorated by Wantage Hall), and one of the first winners of the Victoria Cross. The twin mounted cannonballs flanking the front door are relics of his war service, having been fired by the Russian frigate Vladimir at the Battle of Inkerman on 5th November 1854. Later the estate came into the possession of the ill-fated Baring banking family.
Ardington House is listed Grade II* Link
Ardington House website Link
by Tiger
Created: Fri, 26 May 2023, Updated: Wed, 16 Aug 2023
7 images use this description: (all images taken in 2023)
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