Edward Russell (created in 1697 Earl of Orford) purchased an estate at Chippenham in Cambridgeshire in 1689, a purchase probably financed out of the profits of his naval career. During 1689 he served in the Channel, enforcing a total blockade of France, and in 1690 was promoted admiral of the fleet. In May 1692, Louis XIV’s French invasion army and James II were gathered at Cape La Hogue in the Cotentin peninsula, ready to embark to invade England. At the Battle of La Hogue, which lasted five days, the combined Dutch and English fleets, led by Russell, defeated and destroyed the French fleet.
Between 1698 and 1712 Russell had his Chippenham house reconstructed by the architect Thomas Archer, and the Chippenham estate remodelled, relocating the village and creating a walled park. The map he commissioned from Heber Lands celebrates the grandeur of his enterprise.
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Map of the Chippenham estate, 1712
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The staircase at Chippenham Hall was embellished with paintings of Russell’s victory at La Hogue. Two lines of lime trees in the park are said to have been planted to represent the positions of the French and Anglo-Dutch fleets at the battle. Similarly, a century later, Nelson and Emma recreated the Battle of the Nile in the configuration of the lake at their house in Merton, Surrey.