Historical Photographs of Rickmansworth in Hertfordshire return to previous page Cassiobury Park 1870 Originally a Tudor building dating from 1546 for Sir Richard Morrison, Cassiobury was substantially rebuilt by Arthur Capell, 1st Earl of Essex in c.1677-80. The architect Hugh May added wings to the house and redesigned some of the interiors, giving the woodcarver Grinling Gibbons his first major commission. John Evelyn's diary describes Gibbons working there in 1680. The 5th Earl of Essex in 1799 commissioned James Wyatt to add a gothic exterior, chapel and an orangery. The house was painted by J.M.W. Turner. The Earls of Essex lived in Cassiobury House for more than 250 years before it was demolished in 1927. The Dower House designed by Elizabeth Wilbraham and the stable block still remain. The staircase by Edward Pearce is now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. The 1610 Cassiobury turret clock is in the British Museum. This photograph taken by Henri Victor Lemenager in 1870 is probably the earliest photograph of Cassiobury. Published by Norman Lucey e-mail: norman@lucey.net © Copyright 2011, Norman Lucey. All rights reserved.