Country Houses and their Owners
Country houses are shaped by their owners. Many are of ancient origin and incorporate remains of an early house within their walls. Most houses have been so changed by a succession of owners that their original form and appearance can only be traced by careful examination of the building’s fabric. The changes found can be compared with information in documents, such as building accounts and architects’ drawings, and with pictures of the house at various times. The best time to make such an archaeological investigation of a standing building is when alterations are being made to it. Hidden stonework, brick or timbers are exposed then, revealing the stages by which the house was built. When Parham House in Sussex was restored in the 20th century, it was examined closely and recorded, leading to some firm conclusions about how the house developed and much speculation.
Many houses also retain traces of their original setting within a garden and wider park. The early character of park or garden can be reconstructed through pictures and by questioning the meaning of surviving earthworks, watercourses and woodland. Often such work is accompanied by or leads to archaeological investigation, which may uncover man-made features such as walls, terraces, canals and garden buildings. At Hylton Castle in County Durham, a magnificent formal lay-out has been proposed on the basis of what remains. It accompanied a phase of building which has long gone.
Changes to a country house are, of course, driven by their owners. They decide what accommodation is needed, how much they can invest, and what impression they wish their house to convey by the size and style they choose. Their status in society, their links with other families and particular social groups, and their connections with different parts of the country can be expressed in how they build and how they alter their houses. The early 18th-century Sir Cecil Bisshopp of Parham may have been competing with his social superiors, who owned houses such as nearby Petworth and Uppark, when he tried to make his house look baroque and reorganised the interior.
Political, social and economic revolutions have given individuals the opportunity to acquire property and develop it, either by rebuilding or altering what they have bought. The Dissolution of the Monasteries gave many 16th-century families the chance to buy land which had belonged to religious houses. Sometimes it included a significant building, such as the medieval hospital at Burford, Oxfordshire, which the lawyer Sir Lawrence Tanfield transformed into a house (later called Burford Priory). Monkwearmouth Hall in County Durham was converted in the 17th century from the monastic buildings there. In many cases the land had no significant building on it. This may have been the case at the grange (monastic farm) of Parham bought by Sir Thomas Palmer, who found it necessary to build a new house there.
Owners often contributed ideas about the design of their property. Before the development of the architectural profession during the 18th century and its recognition in the 19th, owners’ ideas were particularly important. Owners were more likely to have seen buildings in Britain and abroad which they wished to imitate, to own books with technical information and illustrations, and to have acquaintances with whom to share their knowledge. At Bolsover Castle in Derbyshire, we can see the process of combining sophisticated ideas from the aristocratic culture enjoyed by its Cavendish owners, together with features such as balconies and gateways copied from London buildings by Bolsover’s surveyor-architect, John Smythson, during a visit to the capital. Houses built for members of the gentry, who occupied a slightly lower social position and exercised mainly local power, often conformed to local ways of designing and building. The plain Parham House looks very much like other houses in south-west Sussex, such as Danny Park, and its construction indicates it was built by local men using local materials.
Even in the 19th century some owners designed their own houses, employing a professional architect to realise their schemes. The correspondence between Robert Curzon junior and both his parents and his friend, Walter Sneyd, reveals how he hoped to transform Parham House, and the letters between Robert and his architect, Anthony Salvin, show how projects he had developed over many years came to fruition in the 1870s. The communications also tells us what owner and architect considered were the faults and disappointments with the design. An even more vivid record of the interaction between owner and architect can be seen in the documents associated with the restoration of Parham House, on which Clive Pearson and his architect, Victor Heal, worked co-operatively for 40 years. Sketches, models, and detailed drawings reveal the process of learning about the house, and bringing it up to date technologically while reviving its Elizabethan spirit.
