John WilmotSEX, scandal and debauchery the steamy history of a member of the Lydiard Mansion family will be laid bare in a film starring heartthrob Johnny Depp.

In The Libertine, Depp plays the notorious 17th century erotic poet John Wilmot, the second Earl of Rochester and a member of the St John family who owned Lydiard House for 500 years.

Wilmot was born in 1647 to Anne, daughter of Sir John St John of Lydiard, and Henry Wilmot, a Royalist General.

He was a leading figure in the court of Charles II before dying of alcohol and syphilis at the age of 33 in 1680.

He lived his life from one scandal to the next and gained notoriety as a womaniser and as the author of sexually explicit poetry much of which was banned at the time.

Maria Bastin, museum assistant at Lydiard Mansion, described his life.

"The second Earl of Rochester was a highly skilled poet who produced work of a rather explicit nature. It was erotic and x-rated stuff even in this day and age.

"Much of it was unpublished as it was considered too sexually bold and outrageous.

"He was well known for his reckless behaviour and was a hardened drinker and often involved in fights and brawls. He was also a great advisor on sexuality and he used to advise Nell Gywnne on how to please King Charles II."

The Earl was born and brought up in Oxford but visited his family at Lydiard Mansion throughout his life.

His uncle was Edward St John, who fought in the Battle of Newbury and who is commemorated in the Golden Cavalier. There is a statue of him in the Church of St Mary in Lydiard Park. Despite his wild ways, Wilmot married the heiress Elizabeth Malet with whom he had four children.

Mrs Bastin believes that Depp, who starred in Pirates of the Caribbean and Finding Neverland, is perfect to play the Earl.

"The Earl was very easy in wit and conversation and was known to be handsome and dashing," she said. "And Johnny Depp is drop dead gorgeous so he's perfect for the part. It's fantastic that he has starred in this film."

The Libertine also stars John Malkovich, who plays King Charles II, and Samantha Morton, who plays the aspiring actress Elizabeth Barry who Wilmot fell in love with shortly before he died.

The Laurence Dunmore film will be released this year.

Wilmot work

One of his less rude compositions

John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester

(1647-1680)

To His Mistress

Why dost thou shade thy lovely face?

O why does that eclipsing hand of thine deny

The sunshine of the Sun's enlivening eye?

Without thy light what light remains in me?

Thou art my life; my way, my light's in thee;

I live, I move, and by thy beams I see.

Thou art my life if thou but turn away

My life's a thousand deaths. Thou art my way;

Without thee, Love, I travel not but stray.

My light thou art without thy glorious sight

My eyes are darken'd with eternal night.

My Love, thou art my way, my life, my light.

Thou art my way; I wander if thou fly.

Thou art my light; if hid, how blind am I!

Thou art my life; if thou withdraw'st, I die.

My eyes are dark and blind, I cannot see:

To whom or whither should my darkness flee,

But to that light? and who's that light but thee?

If I have lost my path, dear lover, say,

Shall I still wander in a doubtful way?

Love, shall a lamb of Israel's sheepfold stray?

My path is lost, my wandering steps do stray;

I cannot go, nor can I safely stay;

Whom should I seek but thee, my path, my way?

And yet thou turn'st thy face away and fly'st me!

And yet I sue for grace and thou deny'st me!

Speak, art thou angry, Love, or only try'st me?

Thou art the pilgrim's path, the blind man's eye,

The dead man's life. On thee my hopes rely:

If I but them remove, I surely die.

Dissolve thy sunbeams, close thy wings and stay!

See, see how I am blind, and dead, and stray!

O thou art my life, my light, my way!

Then work thy will! If passion bid me flee,

My reason shall obey, my wings shall be

Stretch'd out no farther than from me to thee!

Diana Milne