Sezincote House

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Building Information
Sezincote
Name	Sezincote
Location Town	Gloucestershire
Location Country	United Kingdom
Architect	Samuel Pepys Cockerell
Client	Charles Cockerell
Completion Date	1805
Style	Neo-Mughal

Sezincote is a British estate, located in Gloucestershire, United Kingdom. It was designed by Samuel Pepys Cockerell in 1805, and is a notable example of Neo-Mughal architecture, a 16th century and 17th century revival of Mughal architecture from the Mughal Empire.[1]

Sezincote is dominated by its red sandstone color, typical in Mughal Architecture, but features a Copper-plated minaret instead of the typical White marble. The fenestration is composed of a sequence of extra-large windows with an arch-shape at the top. The arch, however, is not a simple or typical design, but instead a [shell-like fan] that is evidence of the Mughal influence.

The interior design is more typical European style.

The landscape was designed by Humphry Repton. It is essentially a renaissance style garden with elements of hindu style, as seen in the crescent bridge with columns.

1 Site and Brief
2 Architecture
3 Construction
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Site and Brief

The site is located in the country 1.5 miles from Moreton-in-Marsh, "set on high ground in the shelter of the Cotswolds."[2] Col. John Cockerell purchased the estate in 1795 upon his return from Bengal. After his death in 1798, his youngest brother, Charles Cockerell, inherited the property who then "employed another brother, Samuel Pepys Cockerell, to build him a house in the Indian manner."[3]

Samuel Pepys Cockerell worked as surveyor for the British East India Company and as an apprentice to Sir Robert Taylor, where John Nash was also apprenticed. During his tenure with the East India Company, Cockerell travelled to the India, where he encountered Mughal Architecture, a building style that flourished in India in the 16th Century. The style is characterized by a striking revival of Islamic architecture in Northern India, where Persian, Indian, and various provincial styles were fused to produce works of great refinement. Favored materials included white marble and red sandstone. The Taj Mahal, completed in 1648 by the Emperor Shah Jahan.

[edit] Architecture

The architectural character of the estate can be described as a British, Georgian era re-interpretation of classic Mughal forms. Emperor Akbar, who ruled the empire from 1556 to 1605, "deliberately mixed Islamic and Hindu elements in architecture in an effort to culturally integrate" his kingdom.[[4]]. Typical forms that are utilized by Cockerell are:

Mughal Design Terms

a chattri, or Hindu term for a domed kiosk, usually onion shaped, open-sided, and supported by 4 columns
a Minaret, a slender tower with balconies from where prayers are called; also copper platted

However, instead of the traditionally white marble, Cockerell uses copper.

[edit] Construction

The house is made of stone, taken from a near-by quary and may have been artificially stained.[5]. Traditional Mughal construction materials would include red sand stone and white marble. Sezincote utilizes copper, however, on the chattri and minaret.