Old Warden
This picturesque village lies just to the west of Shuttleworth,
and is a representation of a "rustic" village in the Swiss style popular in the Victorian age, when it was built in the 1830's. It was the creation of Robert, the third Lord Ongley, who
had inherited Old Warden Park. Amongst his other achievements was the building of the "Swiss Garden", reputed to beĀ dedicated to a former mistress. The estate had been founded on
riches largely acquired through investment in the famous "South Sea Company", where Sir Samuel Ongley, was astute enough to sell out before the "bubble" burst. The family was later
elevated to the peerage.
Robert's building works had brought the family into severe
financial difficulties, and in 1872, the estate was sold to Joseph Shuttleworth, a partner in a Lincolnshire iron foundry. The present Mansion, was built in 1876, in a neo-Jacobean style. The estate was
kept going by Dorothy C Shuttleworth, and today houses Shuttleworth College and the Shuttleworth Collection.
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