Bacchus back in Painshill Park

2:20pm Wednesday 23rd July 2008

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Bacchus, the god of wine, has returned to Painshill Park more than 200 years after he last stood in the gardens.

Sarah Goad JP, Lord Lieutenant of Surrey, unveiled the statue while onlookers raised a glass in celebration last Tuesday.

The statue’s return, and the rebuilding of the Temple of Bacchus, are part of the ongoing rescue of the garden buildings created between 1738 and 1773 by Charles Hamilton.

“Painshill Park is not only a joy for the people of Surrey it is a national treasure,” said Mrs Goad. “The fact that so much has been achieved by the National Trust makes it even more important that they receive the support necessary to complete this outstanding work of art.”

Hamilton purchased the original statue of Bacchus in Rome while on the Grand Tour of Europe, for £2,000, a colossal sum in those days, and built the Temple of Bacchus to house it.

In 1773, Hamilton was forced to sell Painshill Park and, after buyer Benjamin Bond-Hopkins died in 1794, the contents were put up for sale.

Bacchus was sold at auction in 1797 to an anonymous buyer for 400 guineas. It was later revealed that the buyer was Hamilton’s great nephew William Beckford and it was housed in Wales until being sold again.

For 200 years its whereabouts were a mystery, until it was discovered in 2001 at Anglesey Abbey after the National Trust bequeathed the site.

The statue is too delicate to be housed outside so a cast was taken from the original for Painshill Park.