Mereworth Castle

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Le château en bref

Mereworth Castle, at Mereworth near Maidstone (Kent), is one of the major Palladian villas in England. Its name of "castle" recalls the fortified manor house that previously stood on the site, for which a licence to crenellate was granted in 1332; the present house has nothing military about it apart from the remains of a moat still visible to the north. It was designed by Colen Campbell, leader of the Neo-Palladian movement, for John Fane, later 7th Earl of Westmorland (1736); the main structure was roofed in 1723 and the whole completed around 1725. The plan follows Palladio's Villa Capra, "La Rotonda", near Vicenza almost literally: a square block with four similar fronts, hexastyle Ionic porticoes to the north and south, crowned by an almost hemispherical lead dome. The remarkably intact interiors combine plasterwork by Bagutti with paintings by Francesco Sleter, including the Long Gallery ceiling dated 1732. After the Fanes, the property became the seat of the Barons Oranmore and Browne, was sold in 1930 and served as a prisoner-of-war camp during the Second World War. It then passed to Peter Beatty and later to Michael Lambert Tree, before being acquired in 1976 by Mahdi Al-Tajir. Listed Grade I together with its pavilions and stables, it remains a private residence.