Just outside Curry Rivel lies an estate with a close connection with one of Britain’s greatest political figures. Burton Pynsent, probably now most famous for its unique monument, once belonged to William Pitt the Elder, who dominated British politics through much of the mid-18th century. How he came to own Burton Pynsent is a strange and fascinating tale.
In 1705, when the estate was known simply as Burton, its owner, Mary Starr, married Sir William Pynsent of Devizes, Wilts. Pynsent, Whig MP for Taunton from 1715 to 1722, was a controversial figure, with an allegedly scandalous private life. When he died on 8 January 1765, it was found that, in his will, he had left the Burton estate to Pitt, whom he had never met.
Why he did this is a mystery. The commonly given reason was that, being a Somerset landowner, he supported Pitt’s opposition to a Government tax on cider. There is no objective evidence of this, and all we have is a remark he is said to have made: “I hope he [Pitt] will like my Burton estate, where I now live, well enough to make it his country seat.”
Parliamentary politics at this time was especially fluid and fractious, with no concept of disciplined parties, and with the Premiership frequently changing hands as politicians and the monarch sought to form stable administrations. Pitt was then out of Government, and had rejected offers of ministerial posts, and it was said that, having learned of the proposed legacy, he prudently stayed out of front-line politics until it vested in him.
Pitt visited his new estate for the first time in July 1765, having written to his wife: “We set out tomorrow to Somersetshire, where I propose to pass the rest of my days if I find the place tolerable.”
He set about putting his own stamp on the property over the next year or so, renaming it Burton Pynsent in honour of his benefactor; building a new wing on to the existing house (which is now the current residence, following major demolition work in the early 19th century); constructing a road linking Fivehead and Curry Rivel, and developing its grounds with the aid of the famous Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown. With Brown, he built the dominating pillar on Troy Hill, also dedicated to Pynsent.
His affection for his Somerset estate was demonstrated in 1766 when, having just been made Prime Minister, he accepted a peerage, becoming the Earl of Chatham, and he included the title of Viscount Pitt of Burton Pynsent.
It was not all plain sailing though. Pynsent’s unhappy relatives, who had each been left only 1,000 guineas, not unnaturally challenged the will, a legal action that dragged on until the family ultimately lost in court in 1771.
He used Burton Pynsent frequently, and enjoyed its opportunities for “farming, hunting and planting”, as he wrote in a 1771 letter. In April 1772, he invited the renowned actor, David Garrick, to visit him there, an invitation composed in verse!
He died in 1778, and when his widow, the Countess of Chatham, died in 1803, the Burton Pynsent estate, now of about 1,100 acres, passed out of the Pitt family.
© JB Seatrobe (Barry K Winetrobe & Janet Seaton) 2018. A version of this article was published originally in the Apr 2016 issue of the Somerset Leveller, #12.