Knightshayes Court

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Knightshayes Court is a large Victorian country house in Tiverton, Devon, England, designed by William Burges for the Heathcoat-Amory family.

The house was commissioned by the lace millionaire, Sir John Heathcoat-Amory in 1867 and the foundation stone laid in 1869. By 1874, the building was complete, although not to Burges' original designs, and work had begun on the interior. However, unlike Burges' partnership with John Crichton-Stuart, 3rd Marquess of Bute, the relationship between architect and client was not successful, Sir John objecting to Burges' designs both on grounds of cost and of style. This disagreement led to Burges' sacking in 1874 and his replacement by J.D.Crace.

Neverthless, Knightshayes is interesting as the only example built of a medium-sized Burges country house, to the "standard" Victorian arrangement. The plan with Hall, Drawing, Morning and Smoking Rooms, Library and Billiard Room is conventional and the exterior is, by Burges' usual standards, restrained. The interior, by contrast, was to have been a riot of Burgesian excess but very little was, in fact, completed. Those parts of Burges' design that were executed were, in large part, subsequently dismantled or covered over by Sir John and his successors.

It has been in the ownership of the National Trust since 1973 and is open to the public. The Trust has made enormous efforts to restore the house to the designs of Burges and Crace; schemes of decoration have been re-instated in many rooms and important pieces of furniture, none original but from other Burges sites, such as Worcester College, Oxford, have been introduced.

The estate includes a rare stické court. Another feature is the garden with its topiary, specimen trees and rare shrubs.

[edit] References

Crook, J. Mordaunt William Burges and the High Victorian Dream (1981) John Murray
Mellor, Hugh Knightshayes Court: Official Guide (1990) National Trust