Kedleston Hall

Details

SK 34 SW PARISH OF KEDLESTON KEDLESTON PARK 3/41 Kedleston Hall 25.9.51 GV I Large country house, set in large landscape park. 1758-65 by Matthew Brettingham, James Paine and Robert Adam. Interiors complete by the 1780s. Red brick faced in ashlar and render. Hipped Welsh slate roofs. Various brick stacks largely hidden within the roof wells. Main rectangular block with quadrant colonnades and rectangular pavilions following Palladio's Villa Mocenigo. Rusticated basement, piano nobile and attic storeys. Principal north front: Centre block of eleven bays. Hexastyle, giant Corinthian portico over a basement of five round arches. Three statues on the pediment. Double staircase. In the portico, central doorway flanked by niches with statues. Medallions above depicting vintage, pasturage, ploughing, and bear hunting, 1769 by William Collins. Dentilled cornice and blocking course. Three bays on either side of the portico with square sash windows to the basement, glazing bar sashes in pedimented aedicules above and rectangular attic windows with moulded surrounds. Quandrants on either side without an attic storey. The basement continues the round-arched arcade, with windows set in. Glazing bar sashes above, with balustrading below the sills as on the main block. The bays divided by Tuscan pilasters. Tripartite windows to the return walls. Linked to identical pavilions, lower than the main block but still with basement, piano nobile and attic storeys. The upper storeys are cement rendered. Five bays, with four attached Ionic columns supporting a pediment. Similar fenestration to main block but with plain surrounds. South front of 3-3-3 bays. The centre piece derived from the Arch of Constantine. Four detached Corinthian columns standing close to the antae and pilasters against the wall. Each column carrying its own piece of entablature with statues above, in front of an attic with the date 1765 inscribed. Shallow lead dome above. Double staircase with sharply curved flights. Central door- way with pedimented Corinthian aedicule, set within a blind round arch, and flanked by niches with statues and medallions above, as on the north front. Frieze of swags and medallions above. The outer bays are given similar but less grand treatment, to those on the main north front. The east and west elevations of 2-3-2 bays are treated more simply, with the central feature of a Venetian window. That on the west side was at an early date blocked. The south elevations of the pavilions are likewise treated in a plainer manner, the three centre bays advanced beneath a pediment. Interior: The main entrance is into the magnificent Marble Hall, about 67ft by 37ft, and 40ft high (taking in the attic storey). Two rows of giant Corinthian columns of pink Nottinghamshire alabaster. They were fluted in 1775, against the advice of Robert Adam. Frieze and coved ceiling with delicate stucco decoration by Joseph Rose to a design by George Richardson. Hoptonwood stone floor with inlay, designed by Adam. Around the walls are niches with casts of antique sculpture. Above are grisaille panels of Homeric subjects. Chimneypieces with elaborate over- mantles by Rose, incorporating painted roundels. Beyond, in the relationship of 'atrium' and 'Vestibulum', is the saloon, a full-height domed rotunda. Apsed niches in the corners filling the square outer walls. Coffered dome and central skylight. Pedimented doorcases with pilasters of blue scagliola. Frieze of anthemion and palmette. Painted panels of ruins, by Gavin Hamilton, and grisaille panels of scenes of British Worthies by J B Rebecca. In the niches are four cast iron vases on pedestals. Two of them are stoves. The Music Room has Ionic doorcases and delicate plaster ceiling designed by Adam. Marble chimneypiece inlaid with Blue John. The State Drawing Room, lit by a Venetian window to east. Corinthian order for the alabaster window and door surrounds. Chimneypiece with scene of virtue rewarded by honour and riches, by Spang. The Library with severe Roman Doric doorcase. Bookcases designed by Adam. Plaster ceiling divided into octagonal patterns. Triglyph frieze. Beyond the Saloon is the principal Dressing Room (also called the State Boudoir), preceeded by an anteroom, and the two divided by a tripartite screen with pierced segmental arch above the entablature. More delicate plaster ceiling. Chimneypiece brought from elsewhere c1908. Similar decoration in the State Bedroom with fine chimney- piece. Beyond is the Wardrobe (also called the Dressing Room) which communicates with the Dining Room. Apse at the west end, flanked by stucco medallions by William Collins. Ceiling with painted panels by Zucchi (continents), Hamilton (seasons) and Moorland (centre). Chimneypiece with termini caryatids by Spang. The Main Staircase is off the Marble Hall. Cantilvered stone staircase around a rectangular well. Carved tread ends, wrought iron balusters, delicate wreathed and ramped handrial. Stucco panels of 1924. The staircase leads up to the semi-state bedrooms with plain coved ceilings, dentil cornicing and plain marble chimneypieces. Some of the doors may be re-used from the earlier Hall. Three other staircases, of stone, cantilvered with stick balusters. Beneath the Marble Hall a low hall with two rows of stone columns, and two rows of iron columns inserted in 1806. The north west pavilion houses the kitchens and service rooms. The north east pavilion houses the family apartments.

Sources: Christopher Hussey: English Country Houses: Mid-Georgian 1760-1800

Country Life 1956, Second edition 1984. pp72-78

Unpublished information from Mr Leslie Harris, Kedleston Archives

Country Life 24 August 1901; 20 & 27 December 1913; 26 January 1978, pp 194-197, 2 February 1978 pp 262-266; 9 February 1978 pp 322-325

Listing NGR: SK3127140296

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

78880

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Hussey, C, English Country Houses Mid Georgian 1760-1800, (1956)
Country Life in 2 February, (1978), 262-266
Country Life in 20 December, (1913)
Country Life in 24 August, (1901)
Country Life in 26 January, (1978), 194-197
Country Life in 27 December, (1913)
Country Life in 9 February, (1978), 322-325

End of official list entry

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