I spent a lovely if overcast autumn day with my Instagram friend Helen visiting Basildon Park a National Trust House near Reading, Berkshire. We had such a lovely day visiting this beauty house, the odd cup of tea and plenty of nattering.
Basildon Park is 18th-century Bath-stone house was inspired by Italian Palladian architecture. It's set in 400-acre of parkland. It was designed by John Carr in the Palladian style.
The house was built between 1776 and 1783 for Sir Francis Sykes made his money after joined the British East India Company.
In the 19th Century Basildon's interiors were now finally completed and the estate had a seventy-year period of security. The new owner was James Morrison, a Hampshire born, self-made millionaire. From humble beginnings as an employee of a London haberdasher. By 1820, Morrison was possessed of a fortune he was investing wisely to become one of Victorian England's wealthiest men. Morrison died at Basildon in October 1857.
Basildon Park was occupied by James Morrison's unmarried daughter, Ellen, until her death in 1910. Her demise marked the beginning of a downward turn in Basildon's history. Then in 1914, it was requisitioned by the British Government as an Army Convalescent Hospital.
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