Belton House
It is considered to be a complete example of a typical English country house; the claim has even been made that Belton's principal façade was the inspiration for the modern British motorway signs which give directions to stately homes.
Despite his great wealth Sir John Brownlow, 3rd Baronet, chose to build a comparatively modest house rather than one of the grand Baroque palaces being built by others at the time.
In August 1914, Belton House and its park were used as the assembly point for the newly-formed 11th (Northern) Division before its deployment in World War I, and in October 1915 it was used as the home depot and training ground of the Machine Gun Corps.
Richard Brownlow, who established the family's wealth, began negotiations to acquire the manor from Sir Henry Pakenham in 1603 and secured its reversion to him six years later.
In 1684 they acquired labourers and materials for the house, hiring brickmakers, bricklayers, and stonemasons, and carefully demolished the old manor, which stood near the present orangery, to recycle its components.
[5] On 29 October 1695, they hosted William III, who was reported to have enjoyed his stay so much that he was too hung over to eat any of the food provided on his visit to Lincoln the following day.
Ownership of Belton House passed to his brother, William, who was content to permit Alice to remain in occupation until her death in 1721, and she spent that time arranging advantageous marriages for her five daughters.
First, from 1770 to 1771, he arranged for repairs to its interiors and then hired architects James Wyatt and John Langworth to modernise the house over the rest of the century.
[12] The Earl also made changes to Belton House and its grounds, employing Jeffry Wyatville, James Wyatt's nephew, from 1809 to 1820 and Anthony Salvin in the 1830s.
A small town was erected on the Belton estate for the soldiers by April 1915 and included such amenities as a YMCA, a cinema and its own railway line.
[25] Female domestic staff had been called up for war service in factories, and now realised there was an easier and better paid existence outside the great country houses.
[33] In this respect Belton was fortunate to survive at all, as in addition to the family's problems, the house deteriorated to such an extent that in 1961 the 6th Baron employed the architect Francis Johnson to oversee a restoration program lasting three years.
However, the financial difficulties were too great and in January 1984 he transferred ownership of the house, garden, and some of the contents to the National Trust, a charitable body experienced in the management of historic properties.
[44][d] Though the house, its contents, and outbuildings were in an adequate state of repair at the time of the gift, they have since become part of an ongoing programme of conservation and restoration.
[52] Nikolaus Pevsner described Belton as "a house of fulfillment rather than innovation"[53] while Nigel Nicolson called it "a summing-up of all that is best in the only truly vernacular [architectural] style in England since the late Tudors.
[54] Following that example, Belton House was constructed with two storeys set over a semi-basement and with service wings, creating an H-shaped building two rooms deep and with pediments above the central façade on both sides.
[57][58] Belton House's exterior was constructed from 1,750,000 bricks,[59] faced with Ancaster stone from a quarry at Heydour in Lincolnshire and a lighter ashlar from Ketton for the quoining.
This concept of keeping staff and domestic matters out of sight (when not required) was relatively new and had first been employed by Pratt in the design of Coleshill House in Berkshire.
The contemporary social commentator Roger North lauded back stairs, of which Belton has two examples (5 and 14 on plan), as one of the most important inventions of his day.
This was headed by the master mason William Stanton who oversaw the project and undertook work independently, for example the service wing.
The wrought-ironworker John Warren worked under Stanton at Denham Place, Buckinghamshire, and the fine wrought iron gates and overthrow at Belton may be his.
The great staircase, designed to be grand and imposing, rose to the east side of the house, and formed part of the guest's state route from the Hall and Saloon on the first floor to the dining room and bedroom on the second.
[75] The main entrance hall, reception and family bedrooms were placed on the ground and first floors above a low semi-basement containing service rooms.
It has a robust plaster-work ceiling incorporating the Brownlow crest by the London plasterer Edward Goudge, "now looked on as ye best master in England in his profession," William Winde reported in 1690.
[g] Bodily and spiritual needs were balanced symmetrically within the mansion: the kitchen (16) and the chapel (7) were both large two-storied halls, rising from the semi-basement to the first floor.
[79] One of the most Carolean features of the house is the balustrade and cupola surmounting the roof, another element introduced to English architecture by Roger Pratt.
By the time of Belton's conception, the great hall was no longer a place for the household to eat, but intended as a grand entrance to the house.
[82] In the early 19th century, this room, and some others, were re-modelled by Jeffry Wyatville, who in addition to graining and painting the panelling to imitate oak installed new doors.
This panelled room was redecorated in 1841 for the visit of Queen Adelaide, widow of William IV, when its former function as a state bedroom was resurrected.
It contains the great canopied Rococo-style bed in which the Queen slept, complete with the royal monogram "AR" (Adelaide Regina) embroidered on the bedhead.
