Sutton Park
OS grid reference:- SE 584 646
Sutton Park is a fine eighteenth century Georgian country house. It is situated on the edge of the village of Sutton-on-the-Forest, in the ancient Forest of Galtres and is located around 10 miles to the north of the historic city of York and 4.4 miles (7 km) to the south-east of Easingwold.
The handsome red brick country house, a Grade I listed building was constructed in 1730 to replace an earlier Elizabethan property which occupied the site. It was later altered by Thomas Atkinson for Phillip Harland, who inherited the property in 1750. The design of the charming Palladian house was clearly influenced by the fashionable architect James Paine who had a large country house practice in the north of England.
Striking Ornate plasterwork features throughout the building. Designed by Cortese, this use of plasterwork is particularly prominent in the elegant entrance hall, where the Rococo style predominates, and in the library.
The interiors contain a collection of fine art and furniture from the former Buckingham House in London, which was built in the early eighteenth century by John Sheffield, Duke of Buckingham and occupied the site of the present Buckingham Palace.
The Entrance Hall contains some of the finest plasterwork in the house and displays an early drawing of Buckingham House. Sutton Park also contains porcelain by Meissen, Derby, Worcester, Spode, Minton, Sevres, Bow, and Mason. There are Chippendale chairs and several paintings by Samuel Scott (1710-1772). Some of the finest porcelain is displayed in the Tea Room, and in the Porcelain Room and the Boudoir contain are paintings of eighteenth century London by Samuel Scott, the 'English Canaletto'. There is a Chinese Room which has hand-painted wallpaper which dates from 1750 - 70.
Sutton Park was sold to the Sheffield family in 1963 after which they moved from Normanby Hall in Lincolnshire.The Sheffields brought pieces of art and furniture from Normanby Hall, their historic family seat.
In March 2015, unpublished photographs from the City of Leeds archives revealed that the panelling and mantelpiece in the study of Sutton Park had been brought from the Morning Room of Potternewton Hall, near Leeds. The hall the ancestral estate of Olive Middleton, the great grandmother of Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge.
The colourful gardens, a Silver Award winner in the 2012 Yorkshire in bloom competition, are possibly the work of Mickle, a follower of the famous 'Capability' Brown. They feature attractive terraces and planting, with herbaceous plants and columnar cypresses, there is also a Georgian ice house, a rose garden, herb garden, fernery, kitchen garden , woodland walk which leads to a temple and a wilderness area with water.
Sutton Park, is open to the public for part of the year and is the residence of Sir Reginald Sheffield, 8th Baronet
The former walled garden now houses a falconry display company, for which there is a separate charge for entry.