Explore Croome's History

Born 1722

George William Coventry, 6th Earl of Coventry

The second son of William, 5th Earl of Coventry, George William was born on 26 April 1722. After the unexpected death of his elder brother, Thomas Henry, George William, at the age of 28, succeeded as Earl of Coventry on the death of his father in 1751.  

The Earl married Maria Gunning, a great 18th-century beauty and socialite and they had one son George William (later to become the 7th Earl) and three daughters.  Maria died in 1760 at only 28 years of age from tuberculosis brought on through her weakened immune system ravaged by the use of the popular white lead-based makeup.  

The Earl went on to marry Barbara St. John, whom he considered his soul mate. Together they had two further sons.  

Trend setter and big spender

The 6th Earl’s aim was for Croome to be at the height of fashion and sought the first, and the best, of everything that he admired. He was widely acknowledged as a leader in the latest fashions and had the finest taste.  

During his time at Croome he carried out extensive works on Croome Court and the surrounding parkland including sweeping away formal gardens, a village and a Church. The Earl spent the equivalent of £35 million transforming Croome.  

The 6th Earl and the Countess spent 40 happy years together. When Lady Coventry died on 25 November 1800 it is said Lord Coventry lost much of his former enthusiasm for life and his interest in Croome faded visibly.  

Brown was hired in 1751

Lancelot 'Capability' Brown

Lancelot 'Capability' Brown (so named for finding the 'capabilities' in his clients estates) is the most famous landscape designer and architect of the 18th century.

His first project

Croome was ‘Capability’ Brown’s first large scale commission and is often described as his 'first and most favourite child'.  His work marked a key development in the English Landscape style and was copied hundreds of times at other country estates across Britain and Europe.

Brown was hired in 1751 by the 6th Earl of Coventry who had inherited Croome at 28 and wanted the estate and house to be at the cutting edge of taste and design.

Firm friends

30 years after he started, Brown was still visiting Croome and had become ‘sincere friends’ with the Earl. In February 1783, however, he died whilst returning home from dining with the Earl at his London home.  Their friendship and shared ideals were immortalised in a monument to Brown erected by the 6th Earl at Croome’s lakeside and still seen today:

To the Memory of Lancelot Brown - Who by the powers of his inimitable and creative genius formed this garden scene out of a morass.

Introduced to Croome 1760

Robert Adam

Robert Adam was born at Gladney House, Kirkcaldy, Fife on 3 July 1728. In 1754 he went to Italy, spending almost five years studying architecture under Charles-Louis Clerisseau and Giovanni Battiste Piranesi.  

The 6th Earl of Coventry brought Robert Adam to Croome in 1760. His first garden buildings were the Temple Greenhouse, built from Painswick Limestone, in 1760-63, and the interior of St Mary Magdalene Church.  

Architect and interior designer

Although initially an architect, Adam was keen to assert his influence on the interior of buildings, and this he did at Croome. The Earl employed him to furnish three of the rooms inside Croome Court. The Long Gallery was possibly his first total room design.  

He designed everything from the plasterwork and chimneypiece to the furniture and floor covering. For the Library he had made a beautiful set of Bookcases, that are now on display at the Victoria & Albert Museum. He also had influence in the design of the magnificent set of Gobelin Tapestries for the Tapestry Room at Croome; these are now on show, together with the rest of that room’s Adam interior, at the Metropolitan Museum in New York. 

Adam’s many contributions to Croome include the Park Seat or Owl’s Nest (1770-72); the London Arch; Dunstall Castle; the Worcester Gates and possibly the Island Pavillion. 

Robert Adam became a close friend of the Earl of Coventry, so much so that the Earl was one of the pall-bearers at Adam’s funeral in Westminster Abbey. Adam died in London on 3 March 1792.  

Employed at Croome 1793

James Wyatt

James Wyatt was commissioned by the 6th Earl of Coventry to build several follies around the parkland.  

Wyatt was born at Blackbrook Farm, Weeford, Staffordshire on 3rd August 1746. He went to Italy in 1762, and spent 6 years studying as an architectural draughtsman and painter under the tutorship of Antonio Visentini.  

On his return to England he was appointed architect of the proposed Pantheon in Oxford Street which, upon completion in 1772, brought him instant success, fame and recognition. His design was exhibited at the Royal Academy and at the age of just 26, he was soon to find himself the most sought after architect in the country. 

Croome

He was employed at Croome between 1793-1805. His work included designing the sham Gothic ruin of Pirton Castle (built by William Stephens in 1797); the Panorama Tower in 1801 (based on a Robert Adam design and built in 1805-12), remodelling of the Dry Arch Bridge (originally designed by 'Capability' Brown); and modification of The Worcester Gates (Punchbowl Gates). 

James Wyatt died in a carriage accident on Marlborough Downs, Wiltshire on 4 September 1813 and is buried in Westminster Abbey. 

Employed at Croome 1796

William Dean

William Dean arrived at Croome in about 1796 and was Head Gardener to the 6th and 7th Earls of Coventry for nearly 40 years until his death in 1831. He is buried in the churchyard behind the Church of St Mary Magdalene on the estate. 

Dean was also the author of the Hortus Croomensis and Observations on the Propagation of Exotics. Published in 1824 this book explains in some detail the history of Croome and the Coventry family; details of Croome Court (including descriptions of many of the rooms) and a detailed description of the garden and grounds. The final two sections comprise an extensive log of all the flowers, plants, shrubs and trees, giving us an invaluable insight into the botanical make-up of Croome in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.  

Born 1838

George William Coventry, 9th Earl of Coventry

George William Coventry was born in 1838, the son of George William, Viscount Deerhurst, and Harriet Cockerell. Both his parents had died by 1842 and in the same year, when he was only four years of age, he inherited the earldom from his grandfather William, 8th Earl of Coventry. 

In 1859, when he reached 21, the 9th Earl took up his inheritance and responsibility for Croome’s extensive 15,000-acre estate. He fulfilled his duties with enthusiasm and treated all his tenants and employees fairly. He ran the estate efficiently and was well respected by all in its close-knit community and beyond Croome. 

He took great pride in farming the estate, breeding a fine herd of prize-winning Hereford cattle who gained over three hundred prizes at the Royal Show. 

In 1865, he married Lady Blanche Craven who became a society hostess, welcoming royalty and politicians alike to enjoy their hospitality at Croome. They had nine children, with their middle daughter Anne Blanche marrying Prince Victor Albert Jay Duleep Singh, son of the Maharaja Duleep Singh, the last ruler of the Sikh empire who as a child had been captured and later exiled to Britain. The marriage of Prince Victor in 1898 was the first between an Indian Prince and a member of the English aristocracy. 

At the end of the First World War, the 9th Earl was concerned that the estate might be sold off and broken up after his death so, in 1921, he placed the estate in the hands of the Croome Estate Trust. This far-sighted action ensured that the 6th Earl's original vision of the house and its landscape survived. 

The 9th Earl died on 13 March 1930 at the age of 92 having held the earldom for 88 years and cared for the Croome estate for 71 years. Within an hour of his death Blanche retired to her bed, not ill, but having no desire to go on living. She passed away three days after her husband at the age of 87. They had a joint funeral service and their coffins were draped with wreaths woven from orchids from the Croome estate.