The history of Upton House and Gardens

Expert curated

Exterior of Upton House, with neatly trimmed hedges standing either side of a wide driveway at Upton House and Gardens, Warwickshire. — The North Front of Upton House | © National Trust Images / Chris Lacey

Throughout its history, Upton House, Warwickshire has been bought and sold many times. Successive owners have left their mark on its character, but none more so than Jewish businessman and philanthropist, Walter Samuel, 2nd Viscount Bearsted. Walter purchased Upton in 1927 as a country retreat for leisure and entertaining. Over 21 years he adapted the house, creating a series of interiors showcase his painting and porcelain collection. Today, Upton House is home to one of the most significant collections of European art assembled in the 20th century.

Early history

Upton, as an area of land, is first mentioned when it was granted to the canons of St. Sepulchre’s at Warwick during the reign of Richard I (1189–99).

In 1483 Sir William Danvers (b. 1428), a judge and Justice of the Peace for Oxfordshire, bought the land. He built a three-storey stone manor house. Remnants of this Tudor building, including a carved stone doorway, can be found in the basement of the current house.

By 1695 William Danvers’ house had been largely demolished by its new owner, Sir Rushout Cullen (1661–1730). Cullen a London merchant of Dutch descent, built a fashionable replacement.

By 1735, another London-based merchant, William Bumstead (d. 1757), owned the estate. The façade he added to the north face of the house, with a curved broken pediment to the roof line, is an example of the late Baroque style in architecture.

The Childs

Next, Upton was sold to Francis Child (c. 1735–63), head of one of the major banking families of the time. Three generations of the family were directors of the East India Company and their wealth increased through associated maritime trade.

Francis added single-storey, bay extensions to either end of the house. His descendants made further additions in the 19th century, including square towers erected on the north front. The house was largely used as a base for hunting with the family’s principal residence being Osterley Park in Middlesex.

In 1898, brewer Andrew Motion (1857–1933) bought Upton. He was great grandfather of the poet laureate of the same name. In 1927 he sold the estate to Walter Samuel, 2nd Viscount Bearsted (1882–1948).

Oil painting on canvas, Upton House from the South by Anthony Devis, circa 1784, depicting a winter's day with the house seen from across the valley; four men are skating on the lake in the foreground and a horseman accompanied by some hounds is riding in the park beyond; fir trees line either side of the lake and a small classical temple is at the far end. — Upton House from the South by Anthony Devis | © National Trust Images/John Hammond

The Samuel family fortune

The Samuels’ fortune was inseparable from 19th-century globalisation and a revolution in transport. Walter’s father, Marcus Samuel, 1st Viscount Bearsted (1853–1927), and uncle, Samuel (1855–1934), seized on growing opportunities for trade with China and Japan. Their international shipping business began with bulk exports, including rice and silk, from East Asia to London. At the same time, they established a merchant bank which provided loans for the development of the Japanese coal trade.

During business travel in Japan, Marcus became acquainted with the petroleum industry. He gained permission to ship oil in tankers via the Suez Canal, enabling him to undercut his competitors. On arrival in Britain, the ships were steam cleaned and sent in the reverse direction with British manufactured goods.

In 1897, Marcus founded the Shell Transport and Trading Company. This later became the multinational company Shell Oil. When Marcus Samuel died in 1927, his estate was valued at £4 million, one of the highest cash values then recorded.

Walter Samuel joined the staff of the Shell Transport and Trading Company in 1904, becoming a director in 1907 and succeeding his father as Chairman of the company in 1921.

The Bearsteds at Upton

Walter Samuel bought the Upton estate shortly after the death of his father in 1927.

He already owned nearby Sunrising House, which he had bought in 1918 as a weekend base for hunting.

When the opportunity arose to acquire Upton, he decided to buy it, uniting the two estates. Upton was easily reached by train from London, where Walter spent the working week. The house was also large enough to accommodate his growing art collection.

Inside the Long Gallery at Upton House, Warwickshire, with its floor-to-ceiling windows and 18th-century English furniture. — The Long Gallery at Upton House, Warwickshire | © National Trust Images / Nadia Mackenzie

Remodelling the house: 1927–29

Walter employed the architect Percy Morley Horder (1870–1944) to modernise and extend the house. He removed and replaced the 19th-century additions. He raised the roofline to full height at either end to create a more symmetrical appearance.

Internally the alterations were comprehensive. Each room was virtually a new creation and many of the spaces were remodelled with Walter’s art collection in mind.

The double-height Picture Room was created to display full-length British portraits he had inherited from his father. Three smaller rooms were combined to create a Long Gallery. Here, cabinets were installed to house his English porcelain collection. A racquet court was built at the west end of the house. This was converted to the Picture Gallery in 1936.

Decorative schemes were kept simple and neutral as an appropriate backdrop to showcase the painting collection. Significantly, the pictures were grouped according to the place of their production, as they would be in a public gallery, so that their place in the history of art could be appreciated.

This approach was perhaps inspired by Walter’s long-term involvement with Britain’s art institutions. He was Chairman of Trustees at the National Gallery and Whitechapel Gallery and a Trustee of the Tate Gallery.

Transforming the Garden

In the 1930s the pioneering English garden design consultant, Kathleen (Kitty) Lloyd Jones (1898–1978), remodelled the gardens in consultation with Dorothea Samuel, Lady Bearsted (1882–1949).

Kitty created a new orchard and converted a former stew pond into a bog garden, with water features fed by a natural spring. She also designed a double border, 60-metres long and filled with herbaceous plants in bold colours. These were reflected in the mirror pond at the bottom of the garden and became one of Kitty’s signature designs.

A double herbaceous border in the full bloom of summer, a grass path skirts the border and a pool can be seen by the path. — The double herbaceous border looking south to the pool at Upton House, Warwickshire | © National Trust Images/Rupert Truman

Upton during the Second World War

At the start of the Second World War, 22 members of staff from the family’s merchant bank were relocated from London to Upton House. The Long Gallery became a typing pool and canteen for the workers. The bank’s primary business activity was the facilitation of international trade, including materials that were essential to the war effort.

Throughout his life, Walter demonstrated a sense of global responsibility and citizenship, profoundly underpinned by his Jewish faith. He made donations – equivalent to over £5 million today – to the Council for German Jewry, a British Jewish organisation established in 1936 to help German Jews leave Nazi Germany. With the council, he worked to facilitate the Kindertransport, a rescue mission that saved the lives of over 10,000 Jewish children between December 1938 and September 1939.

The bequest

After the end of the Second World War, Walter, now in his sixties and in failing health, began preparing to give the house, garden and collections he and Dorothea had created to the National Trust.

The Bearsted Collection contains outstanding examples of 18th-century European porcelain. The collection of paintings, which date from the 14th to the 19th centuries, include internationally important works by artists such as Hieronymus Bosch, Pieter Bruegel the Elder, George Stubbs and William Hogarth.

Following the bequest in 1948, Upton has become a public art gallery of the highest quality, held in the welcoming atmosphere of a country house.

Upton House and the National Trust

Over the last 75 years the National Trust has restored the double-height Picture Room and undertaken major building conservation work including the replacement of the Picture Gallery rooflight. Current projects include plans for an extensive renovation of the first floor to create new galleries and temporary exhibition spaces.

Continuing Walter’s legacy, works from the art collection are regularly lent to museums and galleries around the world, so they can be enjoyed more widely and aid scholarship. A conservation and research programme continues to reveal new insights into the creation and history of the artworks.

In partnership with the University of Oxford, Upton has contributed to the Jewish Country Houses research project. Collaborating with historians and heritage sites across Britain and Europe has increased knowledge of the ways in which Upton and its collections were shaped by the family’s Jewish identity.