Wanstead House

When the 2nd Earl died without male issue in 1784, the estates passed to his elder sister Emma's son Sir James Long, 7th Baronet, who being then in possession of the vast estates of the Longs, the Childs and the Tylneys, assumed the surname Tylney-Long for himself and his descendants, again probably in accordance with a requirement of the inheritance.

[2] In 1812 Catherine took the disastrous step of accepting the marriage proposal from the later-notorious rake, William Wellesley-Pole, nephew of two famous uncles, Richard Wellesley, 2nd Earl of Mornington, eldest brother of his father William, and Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington from 1813, his father's younger brother.

To secure a debt of £250,000, he managed to mortgage this marriage settlement trust, which owned Wanstead House and contents, to his creditors.

[3] In 1825, having found no-one to rent Wanstead House, the trustees demolished it under the same powers and applied the proceeds from the sale of the resultant building materials in a similar fashion.

Between the mansion's demolition and 1840, William retained a life interest in Catherine's remaining lands, to the extent of 1,400 acres (5.7 km2), in surrounding Wanstead and the adjoining parishes of Woodford, Leyton, Little Ilford and Barking.

The grounds were landscaped and planted with formal avenues of trees by George London, one of the leading garden designers of his day.

John Rocque was commissioned by the 1st Earl Tylney in 1735 to carry out further work on the gardens, aimed to turn Wanstead into a mini Versailles.

About 275 yards to the mansion's west was a large octagonal ornamental lake called the "Basin", due south of what is now the golf course club-house, built of brick and weather-boarded timber, a remnant of the 18th-century stable-court.

The extensive fruit and vegetable gardens originally situated to the south-east of the Great House have all gone, these now forming the links of the Golf Course.

Two walnut trees which died in the 1980s, the largest 40 feet (12 m) high and 7 ft 6 in (2.29 m) in girth, probably themselves planted by Sir Josiah Child, stood to the east of the Shoulder of Mutton pond.

Thickets of Rhododendron recall the time when part of the Park was laid out as a shrubbery, traversed by the winding paths shown in Rocque's map.

The Fortifications are situated on the Ornamental Waters about 800 yards east of the site of the mansion, to the south-east of the large Lincoln Island.

The Neo-Palladian Wanstead House, commissioned in 1715 by Sir Richard Child from a design by Colen Campbell , viewed across the Basin from due west standing at the entrance gates. Illustration from Nathaniel Spencer , The Complete English Traveller, London 1771.
The original design for the west front of Wanstead House by Colen Campbell . The upper stories on the wings were omitted in the completed building. The facade extended over 200 ft. (60 m).
The Assembly at Wanstead House by Hogarth painted c. 1728–1732
Giltwood scroll-foot seat, early Georgian, from Wanstead House, sold by Christie's in 2008 for £135,000. It may be of the set of the chair on which Earl Tylney is seated in the Hogarth painting.
William Pole-Tylney-Long-Wellesley, c. 1812
Map of Wanstead House and grounds from John Rocque 's map printed in Environs of London, 1745. Today's Wanstead Park is shown in green. The house stood at 51°34′10.62″N 0°2′1.31″E  /  51.5696167°N 0.0336972°E  / 51.5696167; 0.0336972 .
One of a pair of surviving piers of the entrance gate to Wanstead House, with the monogram of Richard Child
Pastoral scene before Wanstead House and Basin, by William Havell , 1815
The Temple in Wanstead Park , built c. 1760