Daylesford, Gloucestershire

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Daylesford
Population	(2001 Census)
OS grid reference	SP19
Parish	Daylesford
District	Cotswold
Shire county	Gloucestershire
Region	South West
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	CHELTENHAM
Postcode district	GL5
Dialling code	01451
Police	Gloucestershire
Fire	Gloucestershire
Ambulance	Great Western
European Parliament	South West England
UK Parliament	Cotswold
List of places: UK • England • Gloucestershire

Daylesford is a small village and civil parish, situated off the A436 near Stow-on-the-Wold and five miles west of Chipping Norton. It is located in the North Cotswold district of Gloucestershire, in South-West England. The landscape falls within the Cotswold Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, so designated in 1966.

In the medieval period the manor was held by the Hastings family.

[edit] Daylesford House

In 1788 it was acquired by Warren Hastings, Governor-General of India, a descendant of its medieval owners. In the following years, he remodelled the mansion, Daylesford House, to the designs of Samuel Pepys Cockerell, with magnificent classical and Indian decoration (a style later developed successfully at Sezincote House nearby). The gardens were landscaped by John Davenport.

Warren Hastings also rebuilt the Norman Church of St Peter in 1816, where he was buried two years later. The church was again rebuilt to the designs of J.L. Pearson in 1859-63.

In the 20th century, the house and estate has been the property of Viscount Rothermere, who restored the house with the help of the interior decorator John Fowler, and Baron Heinrich Thyssen. It is currently the Gloucestershire home of Sir Anthony and Lady Bamford, major shareholders in the J. C. Bamford excavator company.

The lakeside gardens with wooded walks and unusual trees and shrubs are open to the public in the summer months, and there is a popular organic farm shop on the estate.