Priory Fertile land and a plentiful water supply attracted the first settlers. The site's name comes from a spring ("
font") that is still producing water in the grounds. It was the font around which the local community held its
moots or meetings. An
Augustinian priory was founded here in 1201 by
William Briwere, a businessman, administrator and courtier to four
Plantagenet kings who chose to make a public demonstration of his wealth and piety. The canons welcomed
pilgrims en route to
Winchester, who came to worship Mottisfont's
relic, said to be the finger of St
John the Baptist. Struck by the
Black Death, the initially prosperous priory suffered from the mid-14th century onwards. Its landholdings included the church at
Berwick St James, Wiltshire.
House During the
Dissolution of the Monasteries under
Henry VIII, the priory was dissolved and in 1536 the King gave Mottisfont to a favoured statesman, Sir
William Sandys (died 1540), Under Sir
John Barker-Mill, in the early 19th century, the estate became a centre for hunting, shooting and fishing, and a new
stable block was built.
20th century The arrival of
Maud and
Gilbert Russell in 1934 made Mottisfont the centre of a fashionable artistic and political circle. Maud was a wealthy patron of the arts, and she created a substantial country house where she entertained artists and writers including
Ben Nicholson and
Ian Fleming. She commissioned some of her artist and designer friends to embellish Mottisfont, always with an eye on its history, which fascinated her.
Rex Whistler created the illusion of
Gothic architecture in her
salon (now known as the Whistler Room), a piece of
trompe-l'œil painting that recalls the medieval architecture of the priory.
Boris Anrep contributed mosaics both inside and outside the house, including one of an angel featuring Maud's face – the couple had a long love affair. During
World War II, Mottisfont was commandeered as a hospital with 80 beds. One of the artists who had visited regularly was
Derek Hill, a society portrait painter who had a private passion for
landscape painting, and who collected work by his contemporaries. He donated a substantial collection of early 20th-century art to the National Trust to be shown at Mottisfont, in memory of his long friendship with Maud Russell. Today, these works are joined by a changing programme of temporary exhibitions of 20th-century and contemporary art. ==Burials==