St Giles House, Wimborne St Giles

St Giles House
Home of the Earls of Shaftesbury since 1651
Former names	Ashley House
General information
Type	Residence
Architectural style	Renaissance
Address	The Estate Office Wimborne, Dorset BH21 5NA
Town or city	Wimborne St Giles
Country	England
Current tenants	Estate offices Ashley-Cooper family
Construction started	1651
Owner	Nicholas Ashley-Cooper, 12th Earl of Shaftesbury
Design and construction
Architect	style influenced by Inigo Jones
Other designers	Henry Flitcroft (interiors)
Website
Official website

St Giles House is located at Wimborne St Giles in East Dorset in England, just south of Cranborne Chase. It is the ancestral seat of the Ashley-Coopers, Earls of Shaftesbury. The estate covers over 5,500 acres (22 km²).

Built in 1651, the Grade I listed house stands in a vast park through which the River Allen flows, feeding a seven-acre lake as it winds its way towards the small parish village of Wimborne St Giles. The 16th-century house is a low, quadrangular building. Although the name of the architect is not known, the influence of Inigo Jones is obvious in the Renaissance north and east fronts with their Classical façades. The original plan of the house called for a square courtyard, to which was added two large ground floor rooms, with additional rooms on the second and third floors. The house was once completely crenellated along the edge of the parapet (or shorter walls), however most of these fortifications were removed in the 19th century. The east front, with its seven bays, remains much the same today.

The surrounding estate park of 400 acres features a serpentine lake, a 1000-yard avenue of beech, garden ornaments, and a notable grotto. It is Grade II* listed in the National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.

The Ashley family were originally from Wiltshire, where they had owned the manor of Ashley since the 11th century. The first ancestor to reside in Wimborne St Giles was Robert Ashley (born c. 1415); he was the fifth great grandfather of Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury.

Robert Ashley acquired a large family manor in Wimborne St Giles through his marriage to Egidia Hamelyn, daughter of Sir John Hamelyn. Ashley and his two immediate successors, Edmund Ashley (born c. 1440), and Hugh Ashley (born c. 1465) flourished under King Henry IV. When Hugh Ashley died 29 April 1493, his estates transferred to his eldest son, Sir Henry Ashley I.

Anthony Ashley, born in 1551, was the son of Sir Anthony Ashley of Damerham and Dorothy Lyte of Lytes Cary in Somerset. His younger brother was Sir Francis Ashley of Dorchester, born in 1569. Their mother was the sister of Henry Lyte, the botanist, and the sixth great aunt of Henry Francis Lyte, curate at Brixham and writer of numerous hymns including "Abide with Me".