Cassiobury: The Ancient Seat of the Earls of Essex

One of the remnants of the great lost estates, Cassiobury Park is the largest park in Hertfordshire and of Watford. But this is no ordinary town park. In 1661, Arthur, the 2nd Baron Capel, was made the Earl of Essex and, by 1668/69, he had moved to Cassiobury. By 1707, Cassiobury was a significant estate. In 1800 the 5th Earl of Essex employed James Wyatt to rebuild the house. Humphry Repton was employed at Cassiobury, and the landscape was captured by J. M. W. Turner. By the beginning of the twentieth century, large areas of the park had been sold off for public parkland and by 1927 Cassiobury House was demolished. Much of the remaining land was bought to add further parkland for the expanding Borough of Watford. This lecture tells the significant story of a remarkable estate, family and parkland.