Scampston Hall

Scampston Hall is a country house in North Yorkshire, England, with a serpentine park designed by Charles Bridgeman and Capability Brown. It is located on the north side of the A64 Leeds/Scarborough road, 4 miles (6 km) east of Malton, in Scampston village, whose name was variously written in ancient documents, Scamestun, Skameston, Skameston, and Skampston, and which was probably been derived from a personal name.

The hall has been in the same family since the 1690s when the estate was bought by Sir William St Quintin, 3rd Baronet, who was Receiver General for Ireland and Member of Parliament for Hull. The baronetcy expired on the death of another Sir William, without issue in 1795. He was succeeded by his nephew, William Thomas Darby Esq., the son of Vice-Admiral George Darby, who assumed the surname and arms of St Quintin, and was the grandfather of William Herbert St Quintin. The Hall was extensively remodelled in 1801 by the architect Thomas Leverton, in the Regency style, and with fine Regency interiors. Scampston later passed to the Legard family (see Legard Baronets).

The serpentine park of about 1.7 square kilometres was laid out first by Charles Bridgeman and later by Lancelot "Capability" Brown in 1772. It includes an unusual ionic "Bridge Building," concealing the end of a sheet of water and closing the view.

The park contained a large deer herd until World War II. Arthur F. Moody's "Water-Fowl and Game-Birds in Captivity; Some Notes on Habits & Management" (H. F. & G. Witherby, 326 High Holborn, London, W. C.) relates in detail the experience of the bird-keeper for Scampston's grounds in the years of William Herbert St Quintin.

Scampston's refurbished Walled Garden, designed by Piet Oudolf, opened in 2004.

External links

* [http://www.gardenvisit.com/g/scam.htm Scampston Hall Garden - information on garden history]