Day 285 - Basildon Park estate was purchased by Francis Sykes in 1771 but he demolished the original house and employed the architect John Carr to build the Bath stone mansion as it stands today. The style of building is called ‘Palladian architecture’ which was fashionable in the 18th century.
In the Second World War the estate was used by the 101st Airborne Division of the American Army for D-Day training and later as a prisoner of war camp for Germans and Italians but this resulted in a lot of damage to the house and estate.
In 1952 the house was purchased by Lord and Lady Iliffe who went about restoring the house but with the addition of modern day comforts such as central heating, a modern kitchen and bathrooms. They continued to live in the house for the next 25 years until they moved into the South Pavilion and gifted the property to the NT in 1978.
You may recognise some of the rooms from films and TV dramas such as Pride & Prejudice (2005), Downtown Abbey’s Christmas special (2013) and Belgravia (2020) as the NT rent out the house/rooms to generate vital income for conservation work.
