Orangery at Ingestre Hall

Details

DESCRIPTION Orangery, probably c.1770. Attributed to Samuel and Joseph Wyatt, for the Hon. Catherine Talbot, adapting a design by James Stuart. Built of brick, the front or south-east elevation, and the return elevations being clad in limestone ashlar; the rear elevation is bare brick. The building has pitched glazed roofs, and metal-framed windows; both features are thought to date from the C19.

EXTERIOR The long rectangular structure is of a single storey, with a central section of nine bays flanked by tripartite pavilions, the whole raised on three steps. The nine central bays are defined by Tuscan pilasters; these bays are glazed. The three bays of the pedimented pavilions are also defined by pilasters; at the centre of each pavilion is a replacement door, contained within a moulded doorframe with console brackets rising from acanthus leaves, and supporting a flat hood. To either side of the door is a round-headed niche; a watercolour of 1823 shows that these once held urns. Above the doors and niches are plain friezes; above these, rectangular panels. A narrow dentilled eaves cornice runs along the front elevation, continuing around each return elevation and the ends of the rear elevation; the ashlar-clad return elevations are defined by clasping pilasters, with 2 additional pilasters in between. The red-brick elevation has applied porticos to each end, echoing the front pavilions, each pair of single pilasters framing a doorway with plain stone lintel. The long central section has a moulded stone cornice, beneath which is a series of cast iron grilles; the central projecting chimney stack is a later addition.

INTERIOR The floor is paved with stone flags, with areas demarcated by bull-nosed stone edging, and with iron grilles covering C19 heating pipes. The long central section of the orangery is separated from the pavilions by arched openings. The glass roof of the main section is supported on a complex late-C19 timber structure of braces forming Gothic arches.

HISTORY The orangery stands to the north-east of Ingestre Hall, a substantial country house built in the C17, altered in the early-C19, and largely rebuilt after a fire in 1882. Originally home to the Chetwynd family, the house passed to the Talbots in 1767. The estate received the attention of a number of distinguished architects and designers: the church is attributed to Christopher Wren, the early-C19 alterations to the house were undertaken by John Nash, and in the 1750s the grounds were laid out by Lancelot 'Capability' Brown. The orangery, attributed to Samuel and James Wyatt, was built for Catherine, daughter of the 2nd Viscount Chetwynd and widow of the Hon. John Talbot, who owned the house from 1767 until her death in 1785. The orangery is very similar to one built at the neighbouring estate of Blithfield circa 1769 by Samuel - and possibly James - Wyatt, to the design of James Stuart, known as 'Athenian' Stuart for his scholarly promotion of the Greek style in architecture and design. Substantial works were undertaken to the orangery in the C19, when it is thought that the current roofs and windows were inserted.

SOURCES Pevsner, N, Buildings of England, Staffordshire (1974), 156 T. Mowl, The Historic Gardens of England: Staffordshire (2009) S. Weber Soros, James 'Athenian' Stuart: The rediscovery of antiquity (2006), 329-330 'Ingestre Hall, Staffordshire', Country Life, 122, 24 October 1957

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION * Date: as a relatively well-preserved example of an orangery of the later C18 * Architectural: the striking design is based on that of the orangery at nearby Blithfield Hall, built c.1769 by Samuel Wyatt to a design by James Stuart * Group Value: with Ingestre Hall, listed at Grade II*, its pavilion and stables, both listed at Grade II, and the church, listed at Grade I

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

443940

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Country Life in Country Life, (1957), 875

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