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The 17th and early 18th centuries were a period of wild variations in the fortunes of Cobham, often linked to legal issues and interrupted succession. In the 1620’s the 4th Duke of Lennox and Richmond spent large sums of money enlarging the estate, which then was largely abandoned until the Restoration in 1660 when the 6th Duke embarked on a substantial remodelling of Cobham Hall. This included the creation of West Court and the development of a new and major prospect into the western part of the Park; where previously the gardens had been to the north and east of the Hall.
In 1672 the works were curtailed by the death of the Duke, who was heavily in debt; ownership eventually passed through marriage to Sir Joseph Williamson, an outstanding figure of the day, who appears to have made his mark on the landscape rather than on the house: the extensive conduit water system and formal landscaping of the grounds, including the patte d’oie of avenues in West Park, probably dated from his tenure.
In 1702 the bulk of the Cobham estate was inherited by Lady Theodosia Hyde, great niece of the 6th Duke, but the ownership of the Hall and Park was under dispute. The Park fell into neglect and much of the woodland in the eastern part of the Park, around Cobham Wood, was felled for sale as timber.
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