Archives and local studies

Cobham Park, including Cobham Hall, was the property of the Earls of Darnley from 1733, when Edward Bligh, the 2nd Earl of Darnley assumed the full title, until 1955, when it was broken up. It is now under several principal ownerships. In its heyday, the Darnley Estate covered 4,000 hectares. The park is now on the English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Historic Interest and lies within the Cobham Ashenbank Management Scheme (CAMS), which was set up to carry out management projects as additional compensation for the effects of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link on the Park and adjacent areas. CAMS produced a Conservation Plan in 2003 as a basis for restoration and management. The Hall became Cobham Hall School for girls (www.cobhamhall.com) in 1962.

The original manor house has been developed down the centuries and is now an imposing Elizabethan structure. The brick north and south wings were built in the 16th and early 17th centuries and further storeys were added later.

In the late 18th century, Humphrey Repton, the landscape designer, undertook a commission by the 4th Earl of Darnley to improve and remodel the gardens and park. At the same time, James Wyatt was employed to alter and enlarge the Hall and to provide new garden buildings and lodges, including the Mausoleum. The gilded plaster ceiling in the wonderful Gilt Hall had been completed in 1672 and Wyatt lined the lower half with white veined marble columns in 1791-3. There is a fine staircase, also by Wyatt and Elizabethan fireplaces in the Long Gallery.

These images are from the Darnley Archive and Local Studies collections. To see the originals contact Medway Archives and Local Studies Centre

Select an image for a larger version

A tinted postcard photograph of Cobham Hall, showing the south lawn and shrubbery. Couchman Collection c1908 [DE402_23_02L].

Left: The dining room at Cobham Hall, with the table laid for large group. 20th century [U565_H088]. Right. The Gilt Hall at Cobham Hall, from a glass plate negative. Probably late 19th century. [Transferred from the Guildhall Museum].

The Mausoleum on William's Hill, Cobham Park. Built in the 1780s by John, 4th Earl of Darnley, on the instructions of his father. He employed the architect James Wyatt. The Mausoleum, which was never consecrated and had fallen into neglect, was nominated in the BBC Restoration programme and subsequently was awarded Heritage Lottery Funding in 2004. CAMS is now working on its restoration. c1930 Couchman Collection [DE402_23_13].

Left. Nurses outside Cobham Hall during the First World War, when it was used as a Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) hospital. 1914-1918 [U565_H081]. Right. Stone tablet at Cobham Hall commemorating its use as a VAD hospital. [U565_H079].

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