Hartlebury Castle

Details

HARTLEBURY CP HARTLEBURY SO 87 SW 1/75 Hartlebury Castle 29.12.52 GV I

Bishop's palace. C15 with late C17 and mid- to late C18 extensions and 1960s remodelling. C18 work by Henry Keene and James Smith of Shifnal. Sandstone ashlar and brick, hipped slate roof to front, tile roof to rear. U-plan, main block aligned north/south, containing C15 hall to north end and C18 saloon (within C15 walls); to rear (west) of hall a former long gallery (divided up as private rooms in 1960s) with C18 library above; south range has C15 chapel projecting forwards (east) with Bishop's study behind; between this range and saloon is the entrance hall with staircase behind, above entrance hall is the Prince Regent's Bedroom; north range of late C17 was the kitchen wing, now Hereford and Worcester County Museum. East front: symmetrical central block of one storey with crenellated parapet, central porch and six windows: glazing bar sashes under 2-centred heads with Gothick glazing, installed c1760 - 1770; porch: c1680 semi-circular pediment flanked by ball finials, the pediment bearing Bishop Fleetwood's (1675 - 1683) arms; lugged architrave to panelled door; on roof is an octagonal cupola with open sides in Chinoiserie Gothick style, to front of pedestal a wind direction indicator connected to the weather vane. The central block is flanked by two wings which break forward of two storeys with attics lit by three hipped dormers, and four windows in slight breaks forward (the wall is of c1680, the sashes c1760 - 1770): 20-pane sashes to first floor, ground floor windows as central block, but of less height; beyond these two wings there is the chapel projecting to the left, and balancing wing to the right, chapel: diagonal buttresses, three stepped lancets (the central one larger) in a recessed panel with 4-centred head (of c1750); four 2-centred headed windows with Y-tracery face into the courtyard; the balancing wing has two windows, that to left a 20-pane sash, to the right.2-light casements of mid- C20, ground floor: two windows similar to central block. Interior: hall: retains C15 five-bay roof of arch braced collar trusses, with ceiling inserted just above collar; the wall posts rest on corbels; fireplace in centre of west wall has bolection moulded surround and overmantel of late C17; geometrical staircase at north end with cast iron handrail (late C18) leads up to an entrance to kitchen range; the entrance at the south end from the porch is set in a tall recess with 4-centred head and moulded jambs and arch, reflected by a similar feature in west wall over opposed doors. Saloon: decorated c1760 with Rococo style papier-maché to walls and ceiling; ceiling panels represent music scores and wind instruments; to each wall two large panels framing spaces for portraits. Entrance hall: overmantel with landscape by Zuccarelli (originally in Saloon whence it had come from Bishop Hurd's (1781 - 1808) London House). Chapel: by Henry Keene c1750, plaster fan vault, panelling to walls, stalls, reredos and Bishop's pew in Gothick style; east window: late C19 glass, remnants of C18 glazing by J Rowell in heads of windows. Bishop's study: has late C17 bolection moulded panelling. Prince Regent's Bedroom: very plain room with pelmets of c1807 to match the bed hangings, and similar pelmet in adjoining dressing room. Library: 1782 by James Smith of Shifnal, executed by Joseph Bromfield of Shrewsbury, tripartite plan, with bow window to middle of west wall, divisions marked by Ionic columns, outer compartments each have three bays of bookcases; main part has coved ceiling with small central saucer dome, two bookcases flank central fireplace on east wall, each with scrolled pediment; columns marbled and bookcases grained. There is a moat around the house, the east side of which has been filled in, and is still with water to the west. There has been a Bishop's Palace on this site since at least the mid-C13. One of the most significant of the early works of the Gothick Revival (predates Strawberry Hill); partly inspired from Batty Langley's pattern books eg the screen between the Chapel and the ante-Chapel. (VCH 3, p 382-3; BoE pp 190-191; E H Pearce, 1926, Hartlebury Castle, with [some notes on Bishops who lived in it and on others who lived elsewhere, London; CL 7 Feb 1931; CL 16 & 23 Sept 1971; Colvin, 1978, A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects 1600 - 1840, London, pp 142, 483, 509, 758-9; Dr Timothy Mowl: Journal of Garden History Vol III, no 2, pp 134-143 "The Case for the Enville Museum").

Listing NGR: SO8360471246

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

400766

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Pearce, E H, Hartlebury Castle, (1926)
Doubleday, AH, Page, W, The Victoria History of the County of Worcester, (1913), 382-3
Colvin, H M, A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects 1600-1840, (1978), 142, 483
Colvin, H M, A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects 1600-1840, (1978), 509
Colvin, H M, A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects 1600-1840, (1978), 758-9
Pevsner, N, The Buildings of England: Worcestershire, (1968), 190-191
Garden History in Garden History, Vol. 3, (), 134-143
Country Life in 16 September, (1971)
Country Life in 23 September, (1971)
Country Life in 7 February, (1931)

Other
Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England, Part 20 Hereford and Worcester,

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