Introduction
Features of Portland House included gates, stone garden walls, diagonal paths and a rose garden.
The remains of a north entrance gateway, flanked by a pair of fine gate piers surmounted by stone vases and a pair of stone gate piers surmounted by eagles in a suburban front garden are all that remain today of Portland House.
Before demolition of the house after the Second World War, an Royal Air Force aerial photograph shows the south garden which was enclosed by a stone wall. From the central bay of the house two diagonal paths radiated from the terrace which overlooked a lawn with mature trees along the southern boundary. To the west were fruit trees and to the east a rose garden enclosed by a privet hedge. The front garden to the north had a Gingko and an acacia tree either side of the diagonal flagged stone drive.
- History
The original structure dated from 1600 and was enlarged later in the 17th century. Francis Stuart married Lord Jerome Weston when she was 15 years old. Three years later he husband became 2nd Earl of Portland and it was he who probably built the house. Weston later received 800 hectares of land around Whittlesey as a gift from King Charles II. Francis died in 1694 and is buried in Westminster Abbey.
- Features & Designations
Features
- Garden Wall
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- Rose Garden
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- Gateway
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- Path
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- House (featured building)
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- Key Information
Type
Garden
Purpose
Ornamental
Principal Building
Domestic / Residential
Survival
Part: standing remains
Civil Parish
Whittlesey
- References
Contributors
Cambridgeshire Gardens Trust