Goodwood House

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General view from the southwest from the air

Goodwood House is a mansion in the Westhampnett parish in southern England . Most of it dates from the late 18th century and has been the seat of the respective Duke of Richmond ever since it was built in its current appearance . The several square kilometers of land that make up the property include other buildings and facilities, some of them historic, including a hotel, a racecourse, an airfield, a golf course and the Goodwood Circuit , where the Goodwood Revival takes place annually, and a mountain track , which leads in front of Goodwood House, or a rally track in the forest, on which the Goodwood Festival of Speed takes place every year.

The Rolls-Royce Motor Cars plant named after Goodwood House , which Goodwood is planning , has been in the immediate vicinity since 2003 .

location

The house is in a rural location about 3.5 kilometers northeast of the city of Chichester , accessible from Madgwick Lane , Claypit Lane and Kennel Hill in a northbound direction towards the hamlet of Charlton .

History and building history

The principal of the house, Charles Lennox, 3rd Duke of Richmond. Portrait of Sir Joshua Reynolds , worked 1758.

A first building at this point was a smaller building built around 1720, which was built as a hunting seat. The small house was significantly enlarged by Sir William Chambers around 1760. It was not demolished during the subsequent renovation and rebuilding, but incorporated; it is the building behind what is now the west wing. The current three-wing main building in front of it was built from around 1790 to 1800; planning and executing architect was James Wyatt . The original plan was for a much larger building, an irregular octagon around a large courtyard. Of the eight wings required for this, only the current three were built, most likely due to lack of funds. The client and builder was Charles Lennox, 3rd Duke of Richmond . Today's owner is his descendant Charles Gordon-Lennox, 11th Duke of Richmond , a, albeit more distant, relative of Lady Diana Spencer .

Exterior

The front facades of the house, bounded and flanked by round towers, are designed differently. The central projectile protrudes from the facade of the west wing , it is covered by a simple triangular gable . The center panel is made much more complex, the portico with an open column construction also contains lying on the upper floor and a flat ceiling with a balustrade final loggia . In accordance with the classical canon, the lower columns follow the Doric order and the upper floor follow the Ionic order . The east wing is a further simplification of the west wing, the central projecting protrudes, the gable, however, was omitted, it is also closed off vertically by a balustrade. The four round towers are simple, flat-coupled constructions, only the surrounding simple sawtooth frieze gives a little decoration. During the planning phase, Wyatt was in a phase of upheaval between his classicist designs and his later style, neo-Gothic . Possibly because of this or because of the influence of the client, the facades appear a bit boring in an assessment.

Interior

The Long Hall is located in the older part of the building from 1720/1760 ; it is also structured with columns of Ionic order. In this building there is also the so-called Tapestry Room with a ceiling decorated by Wyatt, albeit a little sugary, in the colors pink, green and gold. In the same room there is another figure of two dogs by Anne Seymour Damer .

In the main building, the Entrance Hall also contains a structure of columns and half-columns. The library , one of the most decorated rooms in the building, has a coffered ceiling . The room is considered an unusually bad example of a design by Wyatt, the pictures there do not enjoy a better reputation. The polygonal staircase dates from 1904. The house contains a small collection of Sèvres porcelain and a collection of paintings, including works by George Stubbs , who portrayed the horses of the third Duke, William Hogarth , Thomas Gainsborough , Sir Joshua Reynolds and Anthony van Dyck . A collection of vedas by Canaletto is also on display .

More buildings

The stables, stables , were built by William Chambers between 1757 and 1763. They are considered to be one of his most beautiful works, also because of the care with which every detail has been appropriately designed. The portal in the middle risalit is in the form of a triumphal arch under double columns of the Doric order . One assessment stated that there are very few who could have managed such architecture so well in the 18th century.

Another special feature is Shell House , a grotto in the park of the property. The second Duchess of Richmond put it on around 1740 with her daughters; it took them seven years to complete. The entire space is filled with shells covered, the Duchess and her daughters by British officers from the Caribbean could bring. The floor of the room is partially paved with a pattern of horse teeth, a classic folly of English interior design.

literature

  • Ian Nairn, Nikolaus Pevsner : The Buildings of England - Sussex. Penguin Books, Harmondsworth, Middlesex 1965.
  • Peter Sager: South England. From Kent to Cornwall. Architecture and landscape, literature and history. 5th edition, DuMont, Cologne 1981 ISBN 3-7701-0744-6 . ( DuMont art travel guide ).

See also

Web links

Commons : Goodwood House  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Ian Nairn, Nikolaus Pevsner: The Buildings of England - Sussex. P. 227.
  2. ^ Peter Sager: South England. P. 108.
  3. ^ Ian Nairn, Nikolaus Pevsner: The Buildings of England - Sussex. P. 227.
  4. ^ Peter Sager: South England. P. 109.
  5. ^ Peter Sager: South England. P. 109.
  6. ^ Ian Nairn, Nikolaus Pevsner: The Buildings of England - Sussex. P. 227.
  7. ^ Ian Nairn, Nikolaus Pevsner: The Buildings of England - Sussex. P. 228.
  8. ^ "How limp he could be" in Ian Nairn, Nikolaus Pevsner: The Buildings of England - Sussex. P. 228.
  9. ^ Peter Sager: South England. P. 108.
  10. ^ Ian Nairn, Nikolaus Pevsner: The Buildings of England - Sussex. P. 228.
  11. ^ Ian Nairn, Nikolaus Pevsner: The Buildings of England - Sussex. P. 229.
  12. ^ Peter Sager: South England. P. 108.
  13. ^ Ian Nairn, Nikolaus Pevsner: The Buildings of England - Sussex. P. 229.
  14. ^ Peter Sager: South England. P. 108.

Coordinates: 50 ° 52 ′ 19.9 "  N , 0 ° 44 ′ 21.6"  W.