Appendix II — The Architects of Coleshill, Berkshire
Further interesting information regarding Sir Roger Pratt’s connection with Coleshill has been supplied by the kindness of Mr. Pratt of Ryston, and the Hon. Mrs. Pleydell Bouverie of Coleshill. It is derived in part from Sir Roger Pratt’s note-books, and in part from a diary of Sir Mark Pleydell (1692–1768), preserved in the muniment room at Coleshill.
The estate of Coleshill was bought from the Pleydells by Sir Henry Pratt, a grandson through a junior branch of William Pratt, who was Lord of the Manor of Ryston in 1628. Sir Roger Pratt was great-grandson of the same William through the senior branch. The estate returned to the family of Pleydell in 1699, by the marriage of a Pleydell with the heiress of the Pratts of Coleshill.
Sir Henry Pratt died on 6th April 1647, and the old house at Coleshill which he had bought was burnt down later in the same year, shortly after the marriage of his son, Sir George. The present house was begun in 1650, according to the tablet still preserved therein. Of this Sir Mark Pleydell says in his diary that Sir Roger Pratt of Ryston in Norfolk, knight, cousin to Sir George, was the architect in friendship to him. He also observes that “Mr. Mildmay apprehended it was built by Inigo Jones, and Lord Barrington says it was built by one Webb, a disciple of the said Inigo.”
In the same diary it is stated that before the existing house was commenced Sir George Pratt began to build a new seat in “the present cucumber garden,” which he raised to one story, when Pratt and Jones arriving, caused it to be pulled down and rebuilt where it now stands. Sir Mark adds that Pratt and Jones were frequently here, and Jones was also consulted about the ceilings. “John Buffin, who often saw them both, frequently declared this to Wm. Pepal, who came to Coleshill in 1700, and carried him to the spot in ye cucumber garden. We found ye remains of ye walls in ye cucumber garden ye 10th February 1746.”
It is interesting to find that Jones, Webb, and Pratt were all concerned in the design, and it is tolerably clear that Pratt had a large hand in the matter, not only from Sir Mark Pleydell’s express intimation, but also from Sir Roger Pratt’s own note-books. It will be remembered that Jones died in 1652, but the house was not finished until some years afterwards, probably in 1664. Roger Pratt has entries in his note-books that in December 1656 he gave Sir George Pratt’s man a tip of two shillings, in April 1659 he gave to six maids and two boys of Sir George two guineas, and in January 1662 he gave a dinner to Sir George and his lady at a cost of £5. 9s. Such hospitality may presumably be attributed partly to the ties of consanguinity, and partly to those of architect and client.
Sir Roger Pratt has notes relating to Coleshill under the year 1664, which, in addition to those concerning the ceilings mentioned in Appendix I. deal with the proportion of the windows. These, he says, seemed somewhat narrow, either because not sufficiently splayed on the sides, or because the wooden frame and the iron one took so much from the glass. The windows were at that time iron casements, not sashes as they are now; and they were all alike in this respect, including the dormers in the garrets and the turret. One remark is rather puzzling in which he speaks of the heads of the windows of the dining-room being 5 ft. below the ceilings, for the vertical distance between the windows of the ground and upper floors is only about 7 ft. from glass to glass.
The testimony that the windows were casements and not sashes is interesting, so too is the detailed description of the casements and of the devices to exclude the weather. The window-bars were ¼ in. thick and ½ in. broad; the casements ¼ in. thick and 2 in. broad. They were hanged upon three strong hooks, the opening-rod being ½ in. thick with five rings to hold it; there was an iron plate with a pin let into the wood to hold the hook of the rod. A little piece of iron was put over the rebate of the casements to keep out the wind, and a little border of lead was nailed close to the casements on the bottom and sides, as well as a strip over the heads outside. Further there was another border inside to prevent the rain, which beat up under the casements, from flowing down upon the baseboard.
Let us hope these precautions were adequate, and that it was not necessary to lay out another £5 on a dinner to placate Sir George and his lady, and to drown the memory of reproaches urged with cousinly freedom.
Footnotes
1 The publication of “Gothic Architecture, Improved by Rules and Proportions,” by B. and T. Langley, in 1742, does not invalidate this statement, for the illustrations are intended to show how a kind of Gothic detail might be applied to a kind of classic “order.” The “Historical Dissertation on Gothic Architecture,” attached by way of introduction, is absolutely negligible in the light of modern knowledge, and could have helped nobody to a comprehension of the subject.
2 Evelyn’s “Account of Architects and Architecture.”
3 See a communication from Mr. Walter L. Spiers to the Journal of the Royal Institute of British Architects, 10th Dec. 1908, where a short pedigree is given.
4 “As appears by his name over the gate.”
5 It was, however, John Smithson’s son, Huntingdon, who died in 1648. John Smithson died in 1634.
6 “A Relation of a Short Survey of 26 Counties observed in a seven weekes Journey begun on August 11, 1634, by a Captain, a Lieutenant, and an Ancient.”
7 “Lives of the British Architects,” by E. Beresford Chancellor.
8 It is true that his spelling, especially that of the notes in his sketch-book, is eccentric, even for those days.
9 “Cal. State Papers, Domestic,” Sept. 2, 1611.
10 John Webb, in his “Vindication of Stone-Heng Restored” (1725), p. 119, says he resided “many years” in Italy, especially at Venice. This refers to his first visit. He was back in England before Twelfth Night, 1605, as he designed the “Masque of Blackness,” which was produced on that day. (See Peter Cunningham’s “Life of Inigo Jones.”)
11 Peter Cunningham’s “Life of Inigo Jones,” p. 6.
12 “Cal. State Papers, Domestic,” April 27, 1613.
13 “A Vindication of Stone-Heng Restored,” p. 27. All this work was destroyed in the great fire. The loss of the portico was considered a national misfortune.
14 “A Vindication,” p. 36. This work has been much altered.
15 Destroyed.
16 “A Vindication,” p. 119.
17 Kennet, in Wood’s “Ath. Ox.,” by Bliss, iii. 806; quoted in Peter Cunningham’s “Inigo Jones.”
18 In the year 1620, King James I., being at Wilton on one of his progresses, sent for Inigo Jones, and instructed him to produce out of his own practice in architecture and experience in antiquities abroad, what he could discover about Stonehenge. The “few undigested notes” which Jones made were amplified by John Webb and published by him as “Stone-Heng Restored” in 1655. They went to show that Stonehenge was a Roman temple. A Dr. Charleton attacked this conclusion in a pamphlet called “Chorea Gigantum,” whereupon Webb retaliated in his “Vindication of Stone-Heng Restored.” From the antiquarian point of view the controversy is of no value, but it is interesting because of the references to Inigo Jones.
19 Webb’s “Vindication,” p. 11. It would seem that Vandyke is here quoted as using the phrase “designing with his pen,” and not (as biographers have freely supposed) as having given Jones a certificate of ability.
20 In the collection at the Royal Institute of British Architects.
21 See Appendix II.
22 See p. 69.
23 “London Past and Present,” by Wheatley and Cunningham.
24 Peter Cunningham’s “Life,” where it is stated that the register of St Bennet’s records his burial on the 26th June.
25 Peter Cunningham’s “Inigo Jones,” p. 39.
26 John Aubrey’s “Brief Lives,” ed. by Andrew Clark. Oxford, 1898, vol. ii. 10.
27 One of this series is illustrated in Fig. 39.
28 Those who desire to pursue the subject more fully are referred to two papers by the author—“The Burlington-Devonshire Drawings,” in the Journal of the Royal Institute of British Architects, Third Series, vol. xviii., No. 10, and “The Original Drawings for the Palace at Whitehall, attributed to Inigo Jones,” Architectural Review, June 1912.
29 “State Papers, Domestic: Charles II.,” vol. v., Nos. 74, 74, i.
30 It is the version published by Kent which is here dealt with, as being the best known.
31 In an article by Mr. W. Grant Keith, published in the Burlington Magazine of January 1913, are given some reproductions of half a dozen drawings by Inigo Jones, which are among the most carefully finished specimens of his handiwork that survive. They include a ceiling for Wilton, 1649, and some decorative work at Oatlands Palace in Surrey.
32 Mostly preserved at Chatsworth; there are also a few at the British Museum.
33 It has not been found possible to illustrate this scene, as was intended, owing to the war having rendered the drawings at Chatsworth inaccessible for the time being.
34 “Cal. State Papers, Domestic,” xcv. 12.
35 Horace Walpole’s “Anecdotes of Painting.”
36 See the article on the Burlington-Devonshire Drawings in the Journal of the Royal Institute of British Architects, Third Series, vol. xviii., No. 10.
37 Vol. vi. p. 129, printed in full in Peter Cunningham’s “Life of Inigo Jones,” p. 48.
38 “The Designs for the First Movable Scenery on the English Public Stage,” by William Grant Keith, in The Burlington Magazine, Nos. cxxxiii. and cxxxiv., April and May 1914, where reproductions of Webb’s drawings are given.
39 “Thorpe Hall,” by A. W. Hakewill, 1852.
40 Neal, in his “Seats,” says it was designed by Webb; and although he quotes no authority he must have had some reason for the statement.
41 Willis and Clarke’s “Architectural History of the University of Cambridge,” ii. 366.
42 “The Old Colleges of Oxford,” by Aymer Vallance, p. 62.
43 Illustrated in “Early Renaissance Architecture in England,” by the present author (Batsford).
44 “Ashburnham House and the Precincts of Westminster Abbey,” by Harry Sirr, Journal of the R.I.B.A., 8th January 1910.
45 “Windsor Castle,” by Sir W. H. St John Hope, p. 329.
46 It was perhaps Pierre le Muet whose work most influenced Wren.
47 “Lives of the British Architects,” by E. Beresford Chancellor, p. 79.
48 Walpole’s “Anecdotes of Painting.”
49 Collins’s “Peerage.”
50 This conjecture is strengthened by a reference of Evelyn’s, who notes that in going from Reading to Marlborough in June 1654 he saw “my Lord Craven’s house at Causam now in ruines, his goodly woods felling by the rebels.”
51 “Vit. Brit.,” i. 43, 44.
52 The curious volume of original drawings by Wynne, which is preserved at the Bodleian Library, and from which the illustrations 109, 110, and 112 are reproduced, also contains drawings for work at Combe Abbey; it would appear, therefore, that Wynne was the architect employed both there and at Hamstead Marshall.
53 Wheatley and Cunningham’s “London, Past and Present.”
54 “Vit. Brit,” i. 44.
55 “Journey through England” (1722), by J. Mackay, quoted in “London, Past and Present.”
56 Bridges’ “History of Northamptonshire,” vol. i. p. 328.
57 The curious can compare the appearance of the old house with what Gibbs put in its place by referring to the plates in Bridges’ “History of Northamptonshire”; whether the newer design was an improvement, either in appearance or convenience, is open to question.
58 But see Appendix I., p. 395.
59 See “The Great House, Leyton,” by Edwin Gunn, published by the Committee for the Survey of the Memorials of Greater London, 1903.
60 Collins’s “Peerage,” 1741 ed., i. 334.
61 An excellent annotated catalogue of the pictures has been prepared by Mr. C. H. Scott and privately printed. The Boughton estates passed to the Dukes of Buccleuch (Montagu-Douglas-Scott) by marriage with an heiress of the Montagus.
62 It was begun in 1687 and finished in 1706.
63 Bridges’ “History of Northamptonshire,” i. 289, repeated by Baker in his history of the same county, ii. 144.
64 Baker, ut supra.
65 Mr. R. Blomfield’s “History of Renaissance Architecture in England,” p. 224.
66 “Court and Society from Elizabeth to Anne,” edited from the papers at Kimbolton, by the Duke of Manchester, London, 1864, p. 56.
67 “Court and Society from Elizabeth to Anne,” 1864, p. 227.
68 Letter to George Montagu, 7th July 1770; also to H. S. Conway, 12th July 1770.
69 “Vitruvius Britannicus,” ii., pl. 81, 82.
70 The first series, in three volumes, is here referred to.
71 “Vitruvius Britannicus,” iii, pl. 27–34.
72 Collins’s “Peerage.”
73 Walpole, “Anecdotes.”
74 “Treatise on Architecture.”
75 Ferguson’s “History of Architecture,” Book IV., 1873 ed., p. 328.
76 “Memoirs of a Royal Chaplain,” by Albert Hartsborne, pp. 318–320.
77 See an article on Holkham by M. Jourdain, “Interiors of English Mansions,” in the Art Journal of July 1911, and Lenygon’s “Decoration in England” and “Furniture in England” (1660–1790), 2 vols. (Batsford).
78 Mr. Percy Fitzgerald, M.A., F.S.A., in his “Robert Adam.”
79 A Latinised version of the Greek word for “Brothers.”
80 “London Past and Present.”
81 From a description by Cole, quoted in Willis and Clark’s “Architectural History of the University of Cambridge.”
82 London in the eighteenth century was even darker than it has been since the lighting has been minimised as a protection against air-raids.
83 See two articles on Huntingdon Shaw by R. Garraway Rice, F.S.A., in the Archæological Journal, June 1895, and the Home Counties Magazine, January 1902, vol. iv., No. 13.
84 See “English Ironwork of the XVIIth and XVIIIth Centuries,” by J. Starkie Gardner. (Batsford.)
85 This work is attributed by Mr. Starkie Gardner to a skilful smith named Robert Davies.
86 See “Tapestry Weaving in England,” by W. G. Thomson. (Batsford.)
87 “Guide to an Exhibition of Tapestries, Carpets, and Furniture, lent by the Earl of Dalkeith to the Victoria and Albert Museum,” by A. F. K., 1914.