Buscot Park

James Darley built the original mansion and park at Buscot for Edward Loveden at a cost of £20,000 between 1779 and 1783.The land had been in Loveden's family for around two centuries.

In 1973, after controling the parliamentary committee aiming to improve the Thames Navigation, Loveden acquired the nickname 'Old Father Thames'. Charging high tolls for the use of Buscot Lock, Loveden therefore had a huge interest in any proposed canals. He devoted a lot of time and energy to the planning and finance of the Thames & Severn and the Wilts & Berks Canals. In 1812, however, when it became obvious his private interests had ceased to be served, Loveden furiously resigned.

Having died in 1822, the Loveden family put the Buscot estate on the market in 1859. It was bought by an Australian tycoon, Robert Tetrius Campbell,who had made his money through gold trading. He managed to turn Buscot into a highly industrial farm. The estate, however, was in debt when Campbell died in 1887.

It was in 1889 that Buscot came into the hands of the Farringdon family, a family with an interest in acquiring fine art. The combined collections of the first two Lord Farringdon's can still be seen at Buscot today.

In 1948, Ernest Cook bought the estate, although only had it a year before he gave the house and 55 surrounding acres to the National Trust. The estate houses the Farringdon Collection of paintings including works by Rembrandt, Reynolds, Murillo and Rossetti, and furniture designed by Thomas Hope and Robert Adam.

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