Newton Park

Newton Park is an 18th-century Grade I listed country house in Somerset, six and a half kilometres west of Bath. The house stands in a landscaped park designed by Capability Brown, built on land once occupied by a 14th-century castle and medieval farm buildings. Elizabethan structures remain among the gardens and ornamental lakes that surround the manor. The estate once belonged to the Langton family, whose members included a Member of Parliament for Bath in the 17th century. Lady Anna and William Henry Powell Gore-Langton, both connected to the house, played notable roles in public life during the 19th century. The house was constructed between 1762 and 1765 for Joseph Langton, to plans by the architect Stiff Leadbetter. During the First World War it served as a Red Cross hospital for Australian and New Zealand troops. Today it houses the administrative staff of Bath Spa University, while the surrounding park remains part of the Duchy of Cornwall. The park includes remnants of St Loe’s Castle, Elizabethan farm buildings and enclosed gardens laid out in the 18th century. Visitors walk through terraced landscapes shaped by Capability Brown, where Corston Brook forms weirs and two large fish ponds. The brook continues north to feed the River Avon five hundred metres beyond the park’s boundary. The park is bordered by the A39 road on its northern edge and reaches the villages of Newton St Loe and Stanton Prior. Historic gatepiers and quadrant walls mark the entrance, and a Grade II listed public house called The Globe stands nearby.