Fyne Court was once the grounds of a beautiful Georgian mansion with a grand Arcadian landscape. Today, the traditional garden has largely been lost, as has the house, which was destroyed by fire in the 19th century. However, the stories of its most famous resident, Andrew Crosse, and its links to a literary classic can still reveal the secrets of this once manicured garden.
Andrew Crosse is Fyne Court’s most celebrated occupant. Living here in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, he was a visionary scientist and poet with a deep love of his native Quantock Hills. He was a highly intelligent man whose fascination with electricity ignited when he attended a lecture on the force. He began experimenting by giving electric shocks to unsuspecting friends. When Crosse graduated from Oxford University, he returned to Fyne Court to run the estate and here, his near obsession with electricity intensified.
Crosse became intrigued by its presence in the atmosphere and decided to explore this interest further. He strung up a third of a mile of copper wire in the grounds and connected it to equipment in the music room.
Voltage would build up when there was fog, heavy rain or thunder and lightning. Conducting equipment would begin sparking and flashing, and loud bangs would shake the music room.
Fyne Court's also had connections to Frankenstein.
In an experiment to generate crystals Crosse found that mites began appearing from a piece of volcanic stone he had put in acid and passed an electric current through. Crosse gave a lecture on his findings in London, and it has been claimed that Mary and Percy Bysshe Shelley attended. This has led to the belief that Crosse's lecture inspired Mary Shelley to write Frankenstein. However their presence at the lecture has never been proven. Among the many visitors to Fyne Court, it's reputed that William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge came to see Andrew Crosse.
https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/somerset/fyne-court/history-of-fyne-court
We visited on a very hot day and were glad of the coffee served in the small tearoom. We sat and drank it in the shade and then set off to explore the garden and woodlands. Fyne Court was transformed in the 1750s when Arcadian landscapes were popular. A boathouse, follies, ponds, cascades and a serpentine lake were built, and the house was remodelled.However, later descendants couldn't afford to maintain the gardens. As you walk through the woodlands you'll discover the remains of their former grandeur. The boathouse has been resituated away from the lake and half way up a hill which I found strange. One of the nicest features was the pond next to the walled garden where newts have been reintroduced.
After doing our circular walk, we cooled ourselves off with ice cold drinks from the tearoom, it had been a godsend that day. We drove back through the beautiful Quantock Hills scenery, this had been the first time we had visited this area and we both vowed to return.
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| Overgrown Lake, Fyne Court |
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| Fyne Court |
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| Newt Pond, Fyne Court |
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| Fyne Court |
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| Fyne Court |
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| Fyne Court |
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| Fyne Court Gardens |
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| Newt Pond |
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| Wild Garlic |
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| Newt Pond |
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| Deckchairs |
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| Overgrown Lake, Fyne Court |
