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"High Street, Tring" The entrance gates to Tring Mansion from the High Street. Erected by the Rothschilds.
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"Tring Park (Looking North) Seat of Lord Rothschild [Same image on card with no border and no publisher information] For a useful online potted history of the Rothschild family in Tring see the Heritage section of the RCMA web site |
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In 1680 Charles II granted the reversion of
Tring Manor after the death of the queen consort to Henry Guy, groom of the
bedchamber and secretary of the treasury, and his heirs, and at the same time
the queen and her trustees conveyed to him their interest. In the same year a
grant was made to him of a weekly market on Fridays, which is held at the
present day. [still going in 2001]. Henry Guy was a great favourite with
Charles II, and was employed by him and James II on various secret services. He
built an elegant house at Tring from the designs of Sir Christopher Wren, at
which William III dines with him in June 1690, 'and adorned it with gardens of
unusual form and beauty,' the cost of which, according to popular rumour, was
borne by his pickings from the treasury.
He conveyed the manor in 1705 to William Gore and remained in the family until Charles Orlando Gore sold the manor to Drummond Smith in 1786. Sir Drummond Smith died without issue, and the manor was sold by his trustees in 1823 to William Kay [See William KAY, Tring Park, 1823-1838]. It remained in the Kay family until 1872, but was let to Joseph Grout and later the Rev, James Williams. In 1872 the house and manor were sold to Baron Lionel Nathan de Rothschild for £230,000. He was succeeded in 1879 by Mr Nathan Mayer de Rothschild, who was created Lord Rothschild of Tring in 1885.
Nathan Rothschild's son Walter was probably one of the richest private zoologists the world has known. The house is now occupied by the Arts Educational School and their web site includes pages on the history of the school and the mansion.
Obituary of Lord Rothschild (1840-1915)
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Tring Park Mansion
G. T. DeFraine & Co. Tring |
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Museum from the Private Grounds See Tring Gardens: Then and Now for details of the gardens. |
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Tring Agricultural Show in
Lord Rothschild's Park
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The original park has been divided in two by the Tring bypass and the portion to the south of the road includes chalk pasture, woodland on the Chiltern escarpment, and the obelisk shown on this postcard. The area is owned by the Dacorum Borough Council and leased to the Woodland Trust. Details of the park land and its conservation (and a little history) is given on the Tring Park page of their web site. See also the book A Surprising Walk in Tring Park. The Pinnacle, Tring Park à
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Tring Park was just one of a number of large houses in the Vale of Aylesbury that were owned by members of the Rothschild or their close relatives. The others are at:
There is a vast amount of published information on the Rothschild family. The most relevant to Tring is Walter Rothschild's biography, Dear Lord Rothschild, by Miriam Rothschild, but other more general books include The Rothschilds, a Family of Fortune, by Virginia Cowles and The Rothschilds, A Family Portrait, by Frederic Morton. |
The following text comes from Young Crawley's Guide to Hertfordshire which describes the mansion as it was in 1880. There was a major restoration and rebuilding shortly after this was written.
Closely contiguous to the Town is TRING PARK, the residence of N. M. Rothschild, Esq., who has recently purchased and repaired it. It was built in the reign of Charles II. by Henry Guy, Esq.; but there are no external marks of antiquity about it now. The adjacent offices form a handsome elevation, surmounted by a turret. It stands on a hill, overlooking the Town and neighbourhood. In Salmon's "History of Herts.," the gardens here are spoken of as of unusual form and beauty, a character which they still retain. The Park contains about 400 acres, and is charmingly diversified with hill and dale, and stocked with fine timber, particularly beech trees. The House has some splendid apartments, several of which command extensive views over the adjacent country; it also contains some very valuable pictures by the Old Masters, and one of Queen Elizabeth, which has been much spoken of; it is thought to be a copy from the celebrated picture by Zucchero, (which Horace Walpole speaks of) at Hampton Court. The Queen is represented with her hand on the head of a stag; and in the corner, some fanciful poetry is written, which it is presumed was thought to be suitable to her peculiar taste; her dress is of a quaint kind, embellished with buds and flowers.
There is another pleasant Residence not far from Tring, called TRING GROVE, situate in a small but delightful park. The House has been recently repaired; is well placed, and of good elevation. It is in the occupation of - Broadwood, Esq.
Page updated July 2008
