Description:Cliveden in Buckinghamshire was owned by the second Duke of Sutherland, George Granville Sutherland-Leveson-Gower (1786-1861) and his wife Harriet, Duchess of Sutherland (1806-1868) for almost twenty years, between 1849 and 1868.
In November 1849 a fire destroyed a large part of the house at Cliveden and the family employed the architect Sir Charles Barry (1795-1860) to design a new house in its place. Barry had already been employed as architect at Trentham Hall in the early 1830s and the house he designed for the family at Cliveden in the early 1850s was influenced by the same Italianate style.
A dispute with Barry in 1855 caused him to be replaced by architects George Devey and Henry Clutton. Clutton designed a water tower at Cliveden based on the clock tower which Barry had built at Trentham Hall. Devey was responsible for building cottages on the Cliveden estate.
The influential nineteenth century gardener John Fleming designed the gardens at Cliveden, creating flamboyant colourful displays of flowers and woodland areas around the house.
The house was decorated with artistic features including bronze statues and painted murals. Statesmen and Royalty visited Cliveden between 1849 and 1868, including William Gladstone (1809-1898) and Queen Victoria (1819-1901).
When Duchess Harriet died in 1868 the house was purchased by her son in law Earl Grosvenor who had married Harriet’s daughter Constance.
The Sutherland Papers contain a variety of documents relating to Cliveden between 1849 and 1868, including plans of statues and correspondence concerning building repairs. Click on the images on the left to learn more about Cliveden in the Sutherland Papers.
The image above shows a document taken from the sales papers relating to the purchase of the Manor of Cliveden in 1849.
Contextual Information taken from James Crathorne Cliveden: The Place and the People (Collins & Brown, 1995)