Upton House

The building of Upton House at Edgehill in Warwickshire began in 1695, from reddish-brown colour sandstone quarried locally at Hornton. There are two rainwater heads that have the inscription RC1695 marked on them, the initials of Sir Rushout Cullen who had the house built once he had bought the Upton Estate in 1688 and had the original property demolished.

Over the following years, the house had many owners and further additions to the house continued over the centuries through to the 1920's when Lord Bearstead bought the Upton estate with the large fortune he had inherited from his father, a co-founder of the Shell Transport and Trading Company which is today known as Royal Dutch Shell, a multi-billion dollar business and one of the largest companies in the world.

After buying the Upton Estate in 1927, Lord Bearstead employed architect, Percy Morley Horder to completely re-design the interior of Upton House to display the collection of paintings and porcelain that he had amassed over time. The exterior of Upton House was also extensively re-modelled, remaining sympathetic to its 17th century origins.

Lady Bearstead redesigned the terraced gardens under the watchful eye of Kitty Lloyd-Jones, a landscape-garden consultant who was one of the first women to gain a degree in horticulture. The terraces are linked by an Italianate style balustrades stairway leading down to a formal lake. There is a bog garden encircled by woods to the west side of the house. A classical temple designed by Sanderson Miller is above a larger lake. The garden can be spectacular in all seasons with lawns near the house, the terraces full of colourful herbaceous plants, a kitchen garden and the National Collection of Asters colloquially known as Michaelmas daisies create the interest during late summer and early autumn.

The house was bequeathed to the National Trust just before the death of Lord Bearstead in 1948 houses the extensive art and porcelain collection. The art collection provides the principal interest at Upton House. There are examples of British, French, Dutch artwork with

• National Trust shop
• Pavilion Restaurant which is licensed
• baby-changing facilities
• front-carrying baby slings and hip-carrying infant seats for loan
• Picnic area in the car park

Visitor Information