Bramham Park

Details

BRAMHAM CUM OGLETHORPE BRAMHAM PARK SE4041 LS23 7/25 Bramham Park 2.9.52

GV I

Country house. 1700-1710, probably by Robert Benson, 1st Lord Bingley, for himself; damaged by fire 1828; restored 1906-1914 by Detmar Blow for George Lane Fox. Magnesian limestone ashlar, stone slate roofs. Linear composition with main range linked by colonnades to flanking pavilions. Classical style. The main range is of double-pile form and U-plan with the projected wings disguised by the treatment of the facade. This is 3 storeys and 13 bays (1:2:7:2:1) with the appearance of 2 storeys given by ramped approaches and a raised forecourt to the piano nobile, thereby mostly concealing the basement or rustic; the impression of linear continuity in the facade is retained by confining the projected part of the wings to piano nobile level (under flat roofs) and allowing the 2nd storey to break forwards only slightly in these bays, by the bays at the extreme ends (which are set back and only single-depth), by an emphatic moulded cornice and balustraded parapet carried round the whole; and by the entablatures of the colonnades, which run out at the same level as the projected parts of the wings. The piano nobile is defined by bands above and below; the entrance, approached by steps protected by curved balustrades, is by double doors in an architrave with triple keystone and a cornice in the band supported by consoles; the piano nobile has very tall 32-pane sashed windows (except those in the re-entrants of the wings, which are blind), the rustic and the 2nd storey have square 16-pane sashes; and all these windows have large keystones. Tall 3-bay Tuscan colonnades with entablatures join the pavilions at eaves level, these being of 2 storeys with hipped roofs, with features matching those of the main range, both of 3 bays, the outer slightly set-back, that on the left with a single-storey addition to the front of the outer bay and that on the right with a rusticated and pedimented doorway to the 2nd bay; that on the left was formerly the kitchen, that on the right formerly the chapel. Rear: 11-window facade without the projections of the front, but otherwise matching it, except for the doorway, by Blow (1907), which has Corinthian columns and a segmental pediment, and is approached by a curved double staircase. Interior: stone-faced cubic entrance hall with giant Corinthian pilasters, entablature, and prominent modillioned cornice; otherwise, most original features destroyed by C19 fire, except in Mrs Lane Fox's Sitting Room, where carved panelling and mouldings survive. The item is the principal element of a total ensemble within a park planned and laid out in the French manner of Louis XIV and Le Notre. Reference: Pevsner; D. Linstrum, West Yorkshire Architects and Architecture (1978).

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

342186

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Linstrum, D, West Yorkshire Architects and Architecture, (1978)
Pevsner, N, Radcliffe, E, The Buildings of England: Yorkshire: The West Riding, (1967)

Other
Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England, Part 45 West Yorkshire,

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