Burton Pynsent, Yeovil, England

This site is NOT open to public.

Brief description of site

Burton Pynsent has landscaped pleasure grounds and a park of around 98 hectares. It was laid out mainly around 1765 by Capability Brown with William Pitt, Earl of Chatham.

Brief history of site

Marmaduke Jennings probably began building the house around 1565. The estate was left to the politician William Pitt, who inherited in 1765. He commissioned Lancelot Brown to design a column commemorating Sir William Pynsent's benefaction. The landscape was further improved in the late-18th century. The estate was offered for sale in lots in 1805. The house and park were eventually sold to Col Pinney who demolished all but the mid-18th-century wing of the house. In 1909 it was sold to Mrs Crossley, a relation by marriage of Harold Peto. Peto was commissioned to lay out formal gardens to the east and west of the 18th-century house, which was also provided with a new entrance front to the south-west.

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