Great Fulford

Great Fulford was the medieval home of the Fulford family, who have held the manor since the 12th century or earlier. It is a substantial courtyard mansion, re-modelled around 1800. The landscaped grounds include a beech avenue and a lake.

Polwhele wrote in 1793 that ‘The house stands on a rising ground near a sheet of water ... it is well accommodated with gardens, fishponds and a park.' White (1850) wrote ‘a large square mansion, of the Elizabethan age, in a finely wooded park of about 400 acres, stocked with deer, and having a small lake.'

Stockdale described it as 'built on a gentle eminence and surrounded by extensive plantations of 400 acres presenting a variety of the most picturesque scenes imaginable.' The 1905 and 1906 Ordnance Surveys show a formal avenue from Tower Lodge to the south, a series of plantations (Langleypark, Coleshill, Berryhead, Poad, Westernwalk, Round and Camsland). To the south and east of the house is Great Fulford Park, bisected by a small copse containing Canal Walk. There is a large lake with a boat house south of the house.

Type

Park

Purpose

Ornamental

Principal Building

Domestic / Residential

Period

18th Century (1701 to 1800)

Survival

Part: standing remains

Open to the public

Yes

Civil Parish

Dunsford