Cassiobury House was a country house in Cassiobury Park, Watford, England. It was the ancestral seat of the Earls of Essex. Originally a Tudor building, dating from 1546 for Sir Richard Morrison, it was substantially remodelled in the 17th and 19th centuries and ultimately demolished in 1927. The surrounding Cassiobury Park was turned into the main public open space for Watford.
History
Beginnings
St Albans Abbey claimed rights to the manor of Cashio (then called "Albanestou"), which included Watford, dating from a grant by King Offa of Mercia in AD 793. When King Henry VIII of England dissolved the monasteries in 1539, Watford was divided from Cashio, and the King made himself lord of the manor of Cassiobury. In 1546, he granted the manor to Sir Richard Morrison, who started to build Cassiobury House in the extensive gardens, but had not made much progress by 1553, when he went into exile abroad. The estate grounds were much larger than they are today, reaching as far as North Watford and southwards almost to Moor Park. After the death of his father in 1556, Sir Charles Morrison (1549–1599) continued building and completed the mansion, which had 56 rooms, a long gallery, stables, a dairy, and a brewhouse. Sir Charles was succeeded by his son, Sir Charles Morrison, 1st Baronet (1587–1628); the younger Charles had a daughter, Elizabeth Morrison (1610–1660).
17th century
In 1627 Sir Charles Morrison's daughter, Elizabeth (the heir to Cassiobury), married Arthur Capell, 1st Baron Capell of Hadham (1610–1649) and the estate passed into the Capel family. The Capels were settled at Little Hadham in Hertfordshire, but after the marriage they became closely associated with Cassiobury. Arthur Capel was a politician and a supporter of the Royalist cause in the English Civil War; during Cromwell's rise to power, Capel was tried and condemned to death by the Parliamentarians, and beheaded in May 1649. Cassiobury had been sequestrated by Parliament. Arthur Capell's widow Lady Elizabeth Capell successfully petitioned Parliament for Cassiobury (and the other lands she had inherited from her father Charles Morrison) to be returned to her on (7–8 May 1649).
After Capell's execution, his son Arthur Capell, 1st Earl of Essex, inherited his estates. Following the Restoration of the Monarchy, the younger Arthur Capell rose to become Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in the reign of Charles II. He moved the Capell family seat from Hadham to Cassiobury, commissioning a lavish reconstruction of his father's Tudor mansion from the architect Hugh May. The new house was built c.1677–80 and laid out on an "H" ground-plan, popular during that period, incorporating the original north-west wing. As he had already done at Windsor Castle, May teamed up with the wood carver of the day, Grinling Gibbons, and the painter Antonio Verrio to create a sumptuous interior. Capell was an ambitious courtier, and by fitting out his mansion with richly decorated state rooms in the style of Windsor, he hoped to attract a visit from the King to Cassiobury — he was not successful.
The diarist John Evelyn visited Cassiobury on 16 April 1680 "On the earnest invitation of the Earl of Essex," and dedicated an insightful passage to the merits and disadvantages of the house and grounds, describing some of the interior fittings and decorations.
Among the internal decorations was the ornately carved main staircase, a work attributed to Gibbons (although more recently attributed to Edward Pearce) which featured flower and fruit formations, oak leaves and acorns, acanthus flowers and foliation, bursting seed pods and pine-cones on the bannister finials. The staircase was built of oak wood, with the balustrade and decorations and executed in pine and ash.
The park and gardens were laid out by Moses Cook who devised woodland walks and avenues, and provided "an excellent collection of the choicest fruits". Later, the gardeners George London and Charles Bridgeman also worked at Cassiobury. Between 1672 and 1720 an avenue of 296 lime trees was planted, linking the gardens to Whippendell Wood. Remnants of this can still be seen today.
The building of Little Cassiobury (the dower house) also dates from this period and still exists in Hempstead Road, Watford.
Late 18th and 19th centuries
The Grand Union Canal dates from the late eighteenth century. The 4th Earl was one of the noblemen on the board of the canal company; at his insistence the canal was widened and landscaped where it passed through his property.