The Stately Homes of England
Burghley House…Lincolnshire The Stately Homes of England, How beautiful they stand, To prove the Upper Classes, Have still the Upper Hand.
Noel Coward
Those comfortably padded lunatic asylums which are known, euphemistically, as the Stately Homes of England
Virginia Woolf The development of the Stately home.
What are the origins of the ‘Stately Home’ ? Who acquired the land to build them? Why build a formidable house? What purpose did they signify? Defining a Stately House or Home
A large and impressive house that is occupied or was formerly occupied by an aristocratic family
Kenwood House Hampstead Heath Upstairs, Downstairs…..A life of privilege and servitude There are over 500 Stages of evolution
Fortified manor houses 11th -----15th C. Renaissance – 16th— early 17thC. Tudor Dynasty Jacobean –17th C. Stuart Dynasty
Palladian –Mid 17th C. Stuart Dynasty Baroque Style—17th—18th C.
Rococo Style or late Baroque --early to late 18thC.
Neoclassical Style –Mid 18th C. Regency—Georgian Dynasty—Early 19th C. Victorian Gothic and Arts and Crafts – 19th—early 20th C.
Modernism—20th C. This is our vision of a Stately Home Armour Weapons Library Robert Adam fireplaces, crystal chandeliers. But…… This is an ordinary terraced house
Why are we fascinated By these mansions ? Is it the history and fabulous wealth??
Is it our voyeuristic tendencies ?
Is it a sense of jealousy ,or a sense of belonging to a culture? Where did it all begin? A basic construction using willow and ash poles C. 450 A.D. A Celtic Chief’s Round House
Wattle and daub walls, reed thatch More elaborate building materials and upper floor. Joe Bloggs home at the time if ‘eee’ were lucky! Motte
Bailey Morphed into a Motte and Bailey castle in 10th and 11th Century Defensive Food storage areas Self contained Strong Clan identity Work force readily available
William , Duke of Normandy changed all that.
Bayeux Tapestry Stonework after the Norman conquest. Arundel Castle in Sussex Windsor was originally a Motte and Bailey Castle built by William I
Windsor castle....the first stately home or country house ? The country houses of England have evolved over the last five hundred years. Before this time, larger houses were usually fortified, reflecting the position of their owners as feudal lords
Defensive gatehouse Stone provided a strong fortification against rebellions A secure feudal unit. and invasions. Rochester Castle Fortified Manor House
Baddesley Clinton Warwickshire…1460. Defensive moat and gatehouse King John the squabbling bully boy and the barons. 12th C. stone Manor house. Upstairs reached by external stair. 14.C windows in centre
Manor house Boothby Pagnell
A need for defensive structures Stokesay castle Shropshire …latter 13th C. Fortified Manor House. Less exclusive militarily, more domestic abode. Sanitation, fireplaces and glass windows, a later addition. Little Wenham Hall, Suffolk 13th C.…a Knights’ mansion Main rooms on upper floors and brick built..first time since the Romans Cothay Manor, Somerset…..1480
Feudal system break up…Great hall retained…defence not a priority, but still has a gate house. Solar…the brightest room in the house
Great Hall where eating, entertainment and servants gathered
Minstrels Gallery
The parlour where people could converse
The kitchens where Parts of a fortified Manor House food was prepared
The Gatehouse was the guarded entrance A peek at the interiors at the time…..
Interior of 15th century house The Hall for dining and entertainment Boudoir…… The height of luxury…..a garderobe Renaissance 15th—early 17th C. The creator of the Stately home with fabulous wealth to spend!
Dissolution of the monasteries Henry’s ‘Enabler’ This is not ‘Trade Me’ master Abbott! Catherine of Aragon
Forde Abbey after Henry’s ‘ modifications!’
Leased to Richard Pollard by Henry Beaulieu Abbey Hampshire Beaulieu Estates and House bought by the Montague family. Beaulieu Abbey grounds-- present day More of a local style craftsmanship…stone and timber frame……Tudor Building 1530 Rufford Hall Kent The next significant change was to do with this lady. Renaissance 15th C. Little Moreton Hall, Cheshire …an Elizabethan wonder originally fortified manor built in 1450 , rebuilt 1559
Exuberant, fanciful, ornate, fairy-tale. Remnants of the Great hall Upstairs Interior…the Long Gallery Glass! E
Breamore House in Hampshire, 1583, Doddington Family
Woollaton Hall , Nottinghamshire……..1580 Elizabethan By Sir Francis Willoughby Brickwork at Hampton Court 1515….Cardinal Wolsey Prince Edward King Henry VIII Jane Seymour
Chim chiminey , chim chiminey, chim chim cheroo…….
Per annum for first course there was chett and manchett 1,240 oxen bread, ale, beer, wine, herring, pottage, organe • 8,200 sheep ling (cod), powdered eales or lamprons [tiny • 2,330 deer young eel], pike, calver salmon, whiting, • 760 calves haddocks, mullets or bass, plaice or gurnard, • 1,870 pigs sea bream or soalles [sole], congers [eels] door • 53 wild boar [dory], porpoise, seale, carp, trout, crabs, lobsters, custard, rascalles or flage [cuts of venison], tart, fritter and fruit; and for the second course they had the options of second pottage, sturgeon, tench [carp], perch or other dish, roast eels with lampreys, chynes [a cut like a loin piece, similar to a salmon fillet today ] of boiled salmon, crayfish, shrimps, tart, fritter, fruit, baked apples, oranges, butter and eggs.’
A typical banquet excluding wine and beer The great Hall …above the salt! Jacobean James I 17th C. The use of columns
Carved interiors known as strapwork
Influenced directly by French and Flemish architects Wooden staircases Flat roofs
Audley End House
The beginnings of Jacobean Architecture Castle Bromwich Hall remodelled from 1537 design Hatfield House, 1611 by Robert Cecil, Earl of Salisbury Spymaster to Elizabeth 1
The Rainbow portrait 1600 Interior Hatfield House The Great Hall..1840 Palladian, 17th C.
Graceful, understated decorative elements, and use of classical designs Inigo Jones, son of a cloth worker. 1573--1652 The beginnings of the ‘celebrity’ architect….Inigo Jones who was commissioned to design……….
James 1 and Queen Anne of Denmark Queens house Greenwich 17th C. 1616--1635 James I and Anne of Denmark
Classical style influenced by Roman and Palladian architecture. No longer based on Medieval concepts but on Italian design. Plans of Queens House showing classical cube shaped rooms. Banqueting House London Wilton House home of the Pembroke family …..and then……… No fun……. Gadzooks Sirrah, a clean cut! Charles in 1649!
Charlie Boy pre 1649! Baroque, 17th C. Charles II The Restoration
Charles II 1630 ..1685 Bold curved shapes
Strong lines Rich colours
Theatrical
Exaggerated proportions Castle Howard Ham House Chettle House --Dorset Chettle House interior Rococo or late Baroque Mixed in with Gothic Revival Heavily ornamented Curvaceous furniture
Complex carvings of shells and leaves
Asian influences Strawberry Hill early Gothic revival/Rococo Sir Horace Walpole
Claydon House
Plasterwork in Claydon House Badminton House Badminton interior Regency Early 19th C. George IV Classical Greek and Roman influences.
Brick, covered in stucco or Goodwood House painted plaster
Fluted Greek columns
Painted and moulded cornices Goodwood House side Eastnor Castle ..Mock Revival Castle…1812--1820 Brighton Pavilion 1815 John Nash Prince Regent Opulent interior
Victorian Gothic and Arts and Crafts 1837---1901 1837 Scarisbrick Hall Lancashire. Victorian indulgence of Gothic revival. Designed by Augustus Pugin. Gothic Interior design at the Palace of Westminster Augustus Pugin Westminster Gothic masterpiece by Charles Barry Barry’s design for Highclere Castle for the Carnarvon Family Minley manor Hampshire 1858 –62 2nd stage of Victorian revivalist movement, Medieval French Chateau influence Louis XI Built for a wealthy banker, Raikes Currie by Henry Clutton Red and blue brick work, limestone dressings and carved and moulded ornament, knapped flint infill. Roofs are slate and lead and have brick and stone chimneystacks. The roof to the servant’s hall is clad in copper. The Deanery , Berkshire 1900 designed by Edwin Lutyens. Tudor style red brick and light and airy inside. Present owner, Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin. Edwin Lutyens ….Stately Homes revivalist and ………..
… designer of the circular nursery!!! Viceroy House and The Cenotaph Castle Drogo, Devon
Modernism Grand Homes 20th C—21st C.
24 bedrooms, 23 bathrooms, heated driveway, 103 rooms, helipad, stables, 8 car garage, 50 seat cinema, 3000 bottles of wine, panic room
5 swimming pools 58 acres …..and believe it or not…….. Full circle……… Time for tiffin…. WOW FACTOR
Some examples of homes, large
and relatively small.
Cragside …Northumberland Cragside built in 1869. Welcome to the very wealthy Industrialist William Armstrong The Worlds first first house lit by electricity using Hydro power. A New Zealand connection Inside Cragside….the gallery The magnificent drawing room with Italian marble fireplace The Boudoir Central heating Mod Con kitchen
Dam and hydraulic pump Hydro electrical generator The library Note the gatehouse. Servants and Lord Armstrong’s children The billiard room
Lanhydrock House in Cornwall 1620—1880 Belonged to the Agar Robartes family 1620Sir Richard Robartes. A rich local merchant, Sir Richard planned to create a large manor house. He began work on Lanhydrock but died soon after. His son John continued the building, which was finally finished in 1651. John Robartes was a Parliamentarian opposed to Charles I. He became Viscount Bodmin Lanhydrock remained in the same family for 300 years.. On 4th April 1881, a devastating fire ripped through the building. Lanhydrock was almost destroyed. Stunning Gatehouse. The long gallery Lanhydrock dogs
Scullery Mary Tommy
Victor Everilda
Violet Gerald
Alexander Constance Cecil
The Robartes Children Nursery
The Morning room
Detail of the front door Coat of arms stonework plaque
It still retains the Medieval house parts It sits on the bank of the River Piddle near Puddletown! First built in 1493 by the Martyn Family It’s near Dorchester, Dorset. Recent additions in 1550 Owned by Sir Robert Long, English Courtier.
Now owned by the Cook family . ‘Toblerone Trees’
Thomas Hardy was a frequent visitor Its gatehouse was demolished in the late 1800’s by Thomas hardy’s father.
The great Hall Bedroom was once the Solar
The library…..All Stately houses had ‘learning centres’.
Copper bath and Dovecot Finally…. It’s one of England's most haunted houses.
The Duke of Marlborough’s present from King James II
Sir John Vanbrugh Cost £280,000 Some facts
Estate of 2100 acres
Landscaped by ‘Capability’ Lancelot Brown
187 rooms 20 metre high Great hall
Library 55 metres long
10,000 books
Childhood home of Winston Churchill
Used by M15 and home guard
Colin Gill’s ceiling painting 1928 Gladys Deacon….. Duchess of Marlborough
Bess of Hardwick Or Elizabeth Talbot Countess of Shrewsbury Mary Queen of Scots Tutbury castle
Rooftop Banquetting Long Gallery The Great Hall
Baddesley Clinton..Medieval Manor 1456
Conclusion The estates were acquired by loyalty and service to the Monarch
Stately homes were a symbol of power ,royal patronage and wealth
The mass of wealth was in the hands of a tiny minority
They are the building time capsules of the past
England's heritage is safely preserved in art, gardens and buildings
Patronage of artisans ,foreign and local, showcased their considerable skill Extra, Extra, Read all about it! More extraordinary houses Sezincote House , Moreton in Marsh 1805 Newstead Abbey, Nottinghamshire 13th C. Canons Ashby, Northampton 16th C. Muncaster Castle, Cumbria 1208 Rousham House, Oxford, 1635 Stratfield Saye House Basingstoke, 1635 Walmer Castle Kent 1539, built by Henry VIII Wimpole House, Cambridge, 1650 Auckland Castle, Durham, 12th C. home to the Bishops of Durham