Early Georgian Cobham, 1725-1787 |
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Lady Theodosia Hyde married John Bligh, a wealthy Irish settler, who was elevated to the title of Earl of Darnley in 1725. In the 1730’s the 2nd Earl became the first Darnley to legally occupy Cobham, and began to take the house and estate in hand. John, 3rd Earl of Darnley inherited the estate from his brother in 1747 and married a wealthy Dublin heiress. Works to the house were begun, and in the grounds the 3rd Earl enlarged the formal gardens around the house, while erecting a number of new garden structures, and carried out extensive works to the park.
By the time of his death in 1781, Cobham was once more the principal seat of a powerful aristocratic family. As though to confirm the revived status of the estate, Lord Darnley left a large sum for the construction of a mausoleum within his park, to serve as a burial place for himself and his offspring. This major building, designed by James Wyatt, was erected in the mid-1780s by the earl’s widow and son, but never used for interments on account of a dispute with the Bishop of Rochester. Wyatt was subsequently to be closely involved in further alterations to Cobham Hall and the design of other buildings in the grounds; principally the gothic Dairy.
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