Osterley Park House

History of Osterley Park:
Sir Thomas Gresham, commercial agent and financial adviser to Elizabeth I, bought the manor of Osterley in 1562 and by 1576 replaced the existing farmhouse with 'a faire and stateley brick house'.

For a man of the city, Osterley not only represented somewhere green and tranquil, but also a source of income. Described as 'a most fertyle place for wheate' the estate had ample water. Gresham established one of the first paper mills in England here.

Nicholas Barbon acquired Osterley in 1683. An opportunist, he used Osterley as security to raise a large sum of money. He died in debt and in 1713 Osterley went to Sir Francis Child in payment of his loan.

Apprenticed to a London goldsmith at the age of fourteen, by a judicious marriage Sir Francis found himself the partner and then sole owner of the firm. By 1698 he was Lord Mayor of London and had expanded his business into banking with the creation of Child's Bank.

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The flowering of Osterley
Over the next two generations, the family's wealth and position grew. In 1761 Robert Adam, the most fashionable architect of the day, was commissioned by Sir Francis's grandson, another Francis, to modernise the house. He transformed it into what you see today, remodelling the outside and designing the interiors and a great deal of the furnishings. His vast portico makes a particularly grand statement of classical refinement.

The unity of design was carried through into the park by Francis and, on his death in 1763, by his brother Robert Child. They redirected rivers to form a chain of sinuous lakes through the Park, and created a drive which brought people in a tantalising loop before finally arriving at the House.

Not active as an MP or in running the bank, Robert Child spent a great deal of time at, and money on, Osterley. His wife was equally involved and she lived on at Osterley for 10 years after his death.

By the beginning of the 19th century, Osterley was no longer a main residence and, apart from a few brief periods of occupation, would not be so again. In 1923, the 9th Earl of Jersey inherited Osterley at the age of 13. He opened the house to the public in 1939 because he said, 'he did not live in it and many others wished to see it'. In July 1939, the Georgian Group held a great ball at Osterley.

During the War, the house was occupied by Glyn, Mills Bank to whom Child & Co had been sold in 1924.

In 1949, Lord Jersey achieved his aim of ensuring that Osterley 'will be maintained and shown off in the way I consider it deserves to be'. He gave the house and the central core of its landscaped park to the National Trust. The house remains, in essence and detail, much as it was in the middle of the 18th century.

Lyrics to Winter's song

bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum
bum bum bum bum bum bum
bum bum bum bum bum bum

This is my winter song to you.
The storm is coming soon,
it rolls in from the sea

My voice; a beacon in the night.
My words will be your light,
to carry you to me.

Is love alive?
Is love alive?
Is love

They say that things just cannot grow
beneath the winter snow,
or so I have been told.

They say were buried far,
just like a distant star
I simply cannot hold.

Is love alive?
Is love alive?
Is love alive?

This is my winter song.
December never felt so wrong,
cause youre not where you belong;
inside my arms.

bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum
bum bum bum bum bum bum
bum bum bum bum bum bum

I still believe in summer days.
The seasons always change
and life will find a way.

Ill be your harvester of light
and send it out tonight
so we can start again.

Is love alive?
Is love alive?
Is love alive?

This is my winter song.
December never felt so wrong,
cause youre not where you belong;
inside my arms.

This is my winter song to you.
The storm is coming soon
it rolls in from the sea.

My love a beacon in the night.
My words will be your light
to carry you to me.

Is love alive?
Is love alive?
Is love alive?
Is love alive?
Is love alive?
Is love alive?
Is love alive?
Is love alive?
Is love alive?
Is love alive?
Is love alive?
Is love alive?
Is love alive?
Is love alive?

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[johnnyx91911]

COOL!!