Weston Park

Weston Park is a 17th-century country house in Staffordshire, standing on an estate of more than 1,000 acres landscaped by Capability Brown. The Grade I listed Hall sits 10 miles north-west of Wolverhampton and eight miles east of Telford near the Shropshire border. Other Grade II listed features include the Orangery and the Stable block. The house was built in 1671 for Lady Elizabeth Wilbraham and later altered in the 19th century for Countess Selina and Orlando Bridgeman. The park once formed part of a medieval deer park and forest recorded in the Domesday Book. The house retains a collection of over 30,000 objects and was given to the nation in 1986 by the 7th Earl of Bradford. The art collection includes portraits by John Michael Wright, John Constable and Anthony van Dyck, a George Stubbs painting of horses, and coastal scenes by Claude Joseph Vernet. Furniture by Thomas Chippendale and tapestries from the Gobelins Manufactory made for Weston in the 1760s remain in the house. A rare 1679 silver toilet service and Sir Orlando Bridgeman’s embroidered ceremonial purse are also displayed. Visitors find the estate church of St Andrew beside the house, a restored 1767 Granary, and the Grade I listed Roman Bridge crossing Temple Pool. The Temple of Diana, originally an orangery, has painted panels depicting the life of the goddess. Gardens, a lake and a miniature railway stretch across the parkland. The annual Midland Game Fair in September draws up to 50,000 visitors for country pursuits, while the grounds have hosted events such as the G8 Summit Retreat and Camp Bestival Shropshire.