Images Dated 26th November 2008

Witley Court, Worcestershire, home of the Earl of Dudley, c1880

Witley Court, Worcestershire, home of the Earl of Dudley, c1880. Formerly known as Whitley Court, the house was built in 1655 by Thomas Foley, a prosperous Midlands ironmaster. John Nash carried out a major reconstruction in the 1800s. Since 1937 the house has fallen into ruin. A print from A Series of Picturesque Views of Seats of the Noblemen and Gentlemen of Great Britain and Ireland, edited by Reverend FO Morris, Volume I, William Mackenzie, London, c1880. Wood-engraved plates after paintings by Benjamin Fawcett and Alexander Francis Lydon

© The Print Collector / Heritage-Images

Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, home of the Duke of Marlborough, c1880

Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, home of the Duke of Marlborough, c1880. One of Britain's greatest stately homes, Blenheim was intended to be a gift from a grateful nation to John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, after his victories over the French during the War of the Spanish Succession. The palace was designed in English Baroque style by Sir John Vanbrugh. The original gardens by Henry Wise, Queen Anne's gardener, were designed in the formal style of the Palace of Versailles, but from 1764 they were extensively modified in a more pastoral, naturalistic style by Capability Brown. A print from A Series of Picturesque Views of Seats of the Noblemen and Gentlemen of Great Britain and Ireland, edited by Reverend FO Morris, Volume I, William Mackenzie, London, c1880. Wood-engraved plates after paintings by Benjamin Fawcett and Alexander Francis Lydon

© The Print Collector / Heritage-Images

Burton Constable, Yorkshire, home of Baronet Constable, c1880

Burton Constable, Yorkshire, home of Baronet Constable, c1880. Burton Constable is an Elizabethan manor house with 18th and 19th century interiors, set in grounds laid out by Capability Brown. A print from A Series of Picturesque Views of Seats of the Noblemen and Gentlemen of Great Britain and Ireland, edited by Reverend FO Morris, Volume I, William Mackenzie, London, c1880. Wood-engraved plates after paintings by Benjamin Fawcett and Alexander Francis Lydon

© The Print Collector / Heritage-Images