DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.6911#0178
architectural antiquities.
extructas willoughBjEis relictas :—inchoate, 1580, 1588."* Though the
architect's name is not positively recorded, yet when the general design, in com-
position and detail, be carefully examined and compared with the same in Longleat-
House, there can be no hesitation in attributing the two buildings to the same artist.
Indeed, the uniformity of proportion, in the pilasters, windows, and architectural or-
naments, would induce a supposition that these members of the two houses were
executed from the same working drawings. On comparing the prints of the
" elevation of a compartment," in the exterior of Longleat, with the " view of the
principal front" of Wollaton-Hall, these resemblances will appear, and must induce
us to conclude that both houses were designed by the same artist. The accompanying
ground plan, of this, shews the general form and arrangement of the house, with
the present names, and appropriations, of the different apartments.f By the ex-
terior view of the south front, it will be seen that the wing-towers contain three
principal stories, or floors, above the basement: and each of these is distinguished
by a different order of architecture. The summits are crowned with perforated
and sculptured pediments, pinnacles, &c. Over the great hall is a large ball-room,
or gallery, reaching to the roof, and occupying all the space between the walls.
The stone for this fabric was brought from Ancaster, in Lincolnshire ; and it is
stated that the waggons were loaded with coal, for back carriage. %
Price, in his ingenious " Essays on the Picturesque," vol. 2. p. 250, in speaking
of the comparative effects of a uniform, regular square house, with one consisting
of various " marked divisions," illustrates his principle by referring to that of
* Camden, in his Britannia, speaking of Wollaton, says, " where in our time Sir Francis Willoughby, at great
expense, in a foolish display of his wealth, built a magnificent and most elegant house, with a fine prospect." In
the first edition of the Britannia, our venerable topographer pays the house and builder a compliment.
t This plan is conformable to the recent alterations which have been made and designed by Mr. Jeffry Wyatt,
who has manifested much skill in converting the interior of old, ill-arranged mansions, to the present, and more
comfortable modes of domestic life. At the same time he has judiciously attended to the style and general
character of the original structures. The principal alterations in Wollaton consist of: enlarging the entrance,
No. I. from a narrow passage, to its present size; taking away some divisions of rooms, to form the library, 3:
making direct communications from the entrance, and servants' offices, to all the upper parts of the house. The
great stair-case, on the north side, leads to a spacious dining-room, which extends over the entrance, and armory, 8 ;
whilst the stair-case to the south of the hall, leads to the drawing-room over the saloon. The great-hall has
been altered, and is proposed to be finished according to the annexed view. The ground-floor is 15 feet high in the
clear, and the next story is 17 feet.
{ In a very scarce print—(a mezzotinto portrait of Sir Francis Willoughby, by T. Mann;)—is a view of
Wollaton-Hall. Hollar also engraved a view of it, for Thoroton's History, &c. of Nottinghamshire, 4to. A work
very rare. A geometrical view of the north front was engraved in a very fine style, by M. A. Rooker, from a
drawing by T. Sandby. It is a private plate.
extructas willoughBjEis relictas :—inchoate, 1580, 1588."* Though the
architect's name is not positively recorded, yet when the general design, in com-
position and detail, be carefully examined and compared with the same in Longleat-
House, there can be no hesitation in attributing the two buildings to the same artist.
Indeed, the uniformity of proportion, in the pilasters, windows, and architectural or-
naments, would induce a supposition that these members of the two houses were
executed from the same working drawings. On comparing the prints of the
" elevation of a compartment," in the exterior of Longleat, with the " view of the
principal front" of Wollaton-Hall, these resemblances will appear, and must induce
us to conclude that both houses were designed by the same artist. The accompanying
ground plan, of this, shews the general form and arrangement of the house, with
the present names, and appropriations, of the different apartments.f By the ex-
terior view of the south front, it will be seen that the wing-towers contain three
principal stories, or floors, above the basement: and each of these is distinguished
by a different order of architecture. The summits are crowned with perforated
and sculptured pediments, pinnacles, &c. Over the great hall is a large ball-room,
or gallery, reaching to the roof, and occupying all the space between the walls.
The stone for this fabric was brought from Ancaster, in Lincolnshire ; and it is
stated that the waggons were loaded with coal, for back carriage. %
Price, in his ingenious " Essays on the Picturesque," vol. 2. p. 250, in speaking
of the comparative effects of a uniform, regular square house, with one consisting
of various " marked divisions," illustrates his principle by referring to that of
* Camden, in his Britannia, speaking of Wollaton, says, " where in our time Sir Francis Willoughby, at great
expense, in a foolish display of his wealth, built a magnificent and most elegant house, with a fine prospect." In
the first edition of the Britannia, our venerable topographer pays the house and builder a compliment.
t This plan is conformable to the recent alterations which have been made and designed by Mr. Jeffry Wyatt,
who has manifested much skill in converting the interior of old, ill-arranged mansions, to the present, and more
comfortable modes of domestic life. At the same time he has judiciously attended to the style and general
character of the original structures. The principal alterations in Wollaton consist of: enlarging the entrance,
No. I. from a narrow passage, to its present size; taking away some divisions of rooms, to form the library, 3:
making direct communications from the entrance, and servants' offices, to all the upper parts of the house. The
great stair-case, on the north side, leads to a spacious dining-room, which extends over the entrance, and armory, 8 ;
whilst the stair-case to the south of the hall, leads to the drawing-room over the saloon. The great-hall has
been altered, and is proposed to be finished according to the annexed view. The ground-floor is 15 feet high in the
clear, and the next story is 17 feet.
{ In a very scarce print—(a mezzotinto portrait of Sir Francis Willoughby, by T. Mann;)—is a view of
Wollaton-Hall. Hollar also engraved a view of it, for Thoroton's History, &c. of Nottinghamshire, 4to. A work
very rare. A geometrical view of the north front was engraved in a very fine style, by M. A. Rooker, from a
drawing by T. Sandby. It is a private plate.