Danson House is a Palladian mansion and a Grade I listed building at the centre of Danson Park, in Welling in the London Borough of Bexley, south-east London. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore]]

John Styleman had died in 1734, his will stipulating that half the proceeds from the lease should go to his widow, Mary Styleman, and the other half to charities providing almhouses for 12 poor families in Bexley. By 1759 Boyd had taken over the lease and bought out the rest of the land added to the estates by Selwyn. – over 200 acres (0.8km<sup>2</sup>) of which today form Danson Park, the second largest public park in the London Borough of Bexley. Internal furnishings and decorations, including ornate chimney-pieces, were designed by William Chambers, a friend of Boyd's, A small house with a spire, named Chapel House, was constructed to the south of Danson House, which has now been separated from the rest of the park by a motorway, but can still be seen today near the roundabout at Blendon. and chairman of Bexley Local Board, and envisaged transforming the 582-acre (2.4km<sup>2</sup>) estate into a residential suburb. Outlying areas were sold off for residential development according to Bean's will, The park was opened to the public in 1925 by Princess Mary, It was painstakingly restored in a ten-year £4.5m project by Purcell Miller Tritton architects. Bexley Heritage Trust, a local heritage charity, was involved in partnership with English Heritage from 2000 and completed the interior furnishing and fitting-out of the house prior to its reopening by Queen Elizabeth II in Spring 2005. The estate's stable block is now a public house, the Danson Stables.

Bibliography

References

  • Welling Website