Marston House

 mansion / manor house / villa, Grade II Listed (UK)

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Marston House (early C17, extensive alterations C18 and C19, listed grade 11*) is a former country house, in squared and coursed Doulting stone with a slate roof and balustraded parapet, located on a 180m long terrace (1864) with stone urns, on a low eminence to the north centre of the site.
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The manor of Marston Bigot was held by the Crown after the execution of Charles, Lord Stourton(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Stourton,_8th_Baron_Stour... in 1557 for murdering two men, William Hartgill and his son John Hartgill. It was sold by Elizabeth I in 1596 to William Brown and James Orenge, or Orange, and was sold three more times, and leased to several parties, over the next forty years. When a survey was drawn up by Orenge in c 1600, Marston House did not exist (McGarvie 1987ii). The earliest description of Marston House is contained in a letter from Richard Boyle, Great Earl of Cork, to his steward John Whalley in 1641. Boyle had purchased 'the Manor of Marston Bigott... from Sir John Hippisley, at that time a fair house, with orchards, gardens and pleasant walks about it' (quoted in McGarvie 1987i). Boyle left Marston to his younger son, Lord Broghill, first Earl of Orrery who was deeply involved in Irish affairs and neglected Marston until 1666 when letters and accounts describe tree planting and garden wall repairs. Marston underwent a further long period of neglect after the first Earl's death in 1679. In 1714, Marston became the possession of Charles Boyle, fourth Earl of Orrery, a statesman, soldier, and amateur scientist, he rebuilt the house c 1720, and employed Stephen Switzer (1682-1745) to lay out the grounds.
John Boyle became the fifth Earl in 1732 and embellished the gardens at Marston from 1733,
circumstances forced the fifth Earl to leave Marston in 1754. Edmund, the seventh Earl of Cork and Orrery, improved Marston House and park during the 1770s and 1780s
Edmund, the eighth Earl, succeeded in 1798 and survived until 1856. He added Marston Pond, a boathouse, and three gate lodges.
By the time the eighth Earl died, 'Marston House was in a deplorable state of repair' (McGarvie 1987i). His grandson Richard, the ninth Earl, married Lady Emily de Burgh, and her dowry allowed him to repair and enlarge the house and significantly alter the northern gardens. The ninth Earl died in 1904 and was succeeded by his son, who sold the property.
The house, parkland, walled garden, and gardener's cottage (now Home Farm) were sold to the Bonham-Christie family and, apart from the house and its immediate grounds, remain in private ownership. Marston House and its grounds were used by the US Army during the Second World War.
Finally rescued from dereliction in 1984 and later it became home of Foster Yeoman quarrying.