 An English merchant named Gerard de Visme rented the farm in 1789 and built a neo-Gothic house over the ruins of the chapel.In 1793-1794 the estate was subleased by William Thomas Beckford who started to design a landscaped garden.Though the property was still in ruins when Lord Byron visited in 1809, its magnificent appearance inspired the poet, who mentioned of the beauty of Monserrate in "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage".