Knowsley Hall is a magnificent stately home set in 2,500 acres of private land and has been the ancestrial home to the Earl of Derby since 1385 when, with the marriage of Isabel de Lathom to Sir John de Stanley, the lands passed to the Stanley family who still hold it today. Originally Knowsley was a medieval hunting lodge in the estate of Lathom House and in 1495 Thomas Stanley entertained Henry VII there and also at Knowsley, then still a hunting lodge. It was inherited by the 10th Earl in 1702 who developed the lodge into a large house. A dairy now demolished, was designed by Robert Adam in 1776. Around 1820 the house was given Gothic castellations and extended further to designs by John Foster, William Burn, who provided a boathouse and bridges in the park, and other architects. In the early 20th century it was given a 'tidy up' for the 17th Earl by W.H. Romaine-Walker but after the Second World War the buildings were considerably reduced by the architect Claud Phillimore and ceased to be lived in by the family. A New House was then built in 1963 for the 18th Earl and his family, by Phillimore in Neo-Georgian style.
Set in an extensive private park, housing a splendid and historically important collection of fine art, the Hall today is a fascinating structure, boasting a classic Georgian facade and some extremely fine Jacobean, Baroque and Victorian interiors, including the breath-taking 58 foot long State Dining Room with its impressive carved oak panelling and lofty figurative ceiling. The Hall consists of a long wing running north–south dating originally from the 1720s to 1737 (the east wing) and at right angles to the west is the south wing, dating originally from around 1495. At the west end of this wing is a detached structure, the Dynamo Tower. The east wing is Georgian in style, built in red brick with stone dressings. The south wing and Dynamo Tower are built in ashlar red sandstone. The oldest part of the south wing is known as the Royal Lodging. On its north side, facing the courtyard, are two round turrets with conical roofs. This face has nine bays with tall sash windows which are divided into groups of three by the towers. The west side of the east wing, which faces the courtyard, has a total of 19 bays, with seven bays in a central section and six bays on each side. It consists of two storeys over a basement with an attic storey over the middle section. Above the central section is a pediment on the summit of which is a sculpture of the eagle and child (the Stanley emblem). The east face of the east wing is particularly long. At the north end are four bays in two storeys; the centre is of nine bays in 2½ storeys; and at the south end are 16 bays, also in 2½ storeys but one storey lower because the land falls away to the south. At the south end of the east wing is a 'handsome' two-storey, five-bay stone 'portico' or 'loggia' with paired Doric columns on the lower storey and paired fluted Ionic columns above. The east wing then jumps back with six bays facing west until it joins the south wing.
 |
| The Entrance Hall |
The Entrance Hall is panelled in carved oak and is hung with early 18th-century paintings of the house and the park and the Grand Staircase has a collection of oil paintings on leather. Amongst the impressive features within the house are the mantelpiece built to commemorate the loyalty of the 7th Earl, and the chair upon which he knelt for his execution at Bolton in 1651. The morning room is a light family room overlooking the gardens and parkland. The Breakfast Room has pale blue panels with paintings, one of which is a portrait of Charlotte, wife of the 7th Earl. The Walnut Drawing-Room contains a number of portraits, including one of Elizabeth Farren, the second wife of the 12th Earl and the library contains a collection of books on natural history brought together by the 13th Earl. Created in the 18th century, the Stucco Room, decorated in Rococo style, links the Royal Lodging with the rest of the house and is now a ballroom with a sprung floor. The State Dining Room, designed by John Foster to look like a great hall in honour of a visit by King George IV in 1821, measures 53 by 37 feet and 50 feet high and is hung with portraits of family members. With doors 30 feet (9 m) high it contains two Gothic fireplaces and an ormolu chandelier. It was reworked in 1890, adding a bay window, a carved dado and a roof consisting of a large rectangular lantern supported on brackets which is glazed round its sides.
The Parkland consists of an area of approximately 2,500 acres (10 km2) surrounded by a stone wall 9 1/2 miles (15 km) long and has been registered by English Heritage as Grade II.listed. The park was landscaped in the 1770s by 'Capability' Brown who flooded a 62 acres lake to feed the water-gardens around the hall. The southeast section of the park was made into Knowsley Safari Park in 1971 and is now a major attraction. To the east and northeast of the hall is a chain of lakes, White Man's Dam, the Octagon Pond and the Home Pond. The Octagon, designed by Robert Adam, was built as a summer house in 1755. The park contains a number of buildings including the New House, the stables to the north of the hall, designed by William Burn in the 1840s, the boathouse of 1837, also by William Burn, the Nest, Home Farm, and a number of lodges.
see also :- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2022/06/historic-liverpool-dwellings-tue-brook.html
No comments:
Post a Comment