Crewe Hall

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Crewe Hall

Crewe Hall: south face
Crewe Hall (Cheshire)
Crewe Hall
Shown within Cheshire
Building information
Town Crewe Green, Cheshire
Country England
Coordinates 53°04′59″N 2°23′56″W / 53.083, -2.399Coordinates: 53°04′59″N 2°23′56″W / 53.083, -2.399
Architect Alterations by Edward Blore, E. M. Barry & Thomas Bower
Client Sir Randolph Crewe
Construction start date 1615
Completion date 1636
Style Jacobean

Crewe Hall is a Jacobean mansion located at SJ732540 near Crewe Green and Stowford, east of Crewe, in Cheshire, England. Described by Nikolaus Pevsner as one of the two finest Jacobean houses in Cheshire,[1] it is listed at grade I.[2] Built in 1615–36 for Sir Randolph Crewe, the house was extended in the late 18th century and altered by Edward Blore in the early Victorian era. It was extensively restored by E. M. Barry after a fire in 1866, and is considered among his best works.[3] Other craftsmen employed during the restoration include J. Birnie Philip, J. G. Crace, J. Mabey, Henry Weekes, and the firm of Clayton and Bell. The interior is elaborately decorated and contains many fine examples of wood carving, chimneypieces and plasterwork, some of which are Jacobean in date. The stables quadrangle dates from around 1636 and is listed at grade II*.

The park was landscaped in the 18th century by William Emes and Humphry Repton, among others. Formal gardens were designed by W. A. Nesfield in the 19th century. On the estate are cottages designed by Nesfield's son, William Eden Nesfield, which are considered to have introduced features such as tile hanging and pargetting into Cheshire.[4]

The hall remained the seat of the Crewe family until 1936, when the land was sold to the Duchy of Lancaster. It served as the headquarters for the Wellcome Foundation for over twenty-five years. As of 2008, it is used as an hotel and restaurant.

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] Crewe family

Crewe was the seat of the de Crewe family as early as the 13th century.[3] The land passed out of the family until the early 17th century, when Sir Randolph Crewe purchased an estate including the manor of Crewe from Sir Christopher Hatton for over £6000.[5] The present hall was built for him.[2][6] Born at 140–142 Hospital Street in nearby Nantwich, the son of a tanner, Sir Randolph became a member of parliament and a judge, and also served as Lord Chief Justice in 1625–27.[5][7] He later wrote that "it hath pleased God of his abundant goodness to reduce the house and Mannor of the name to the name againe."[5]

In the 18th century, the hall passed to the Offley family by the marriage of Sir Randolph's great-granddaughter, Anne Shuttleworth. Her son John took the name Crewe and was later created the first Baron Crewe.[8][9] John Crewe was a prominent Whig politician; his wife Frances was a famous beauty and political hostess who gave lavish entertainments at Crewe Hall.[9][10]

On the death of Hungerford Crewe, 3rd Baron Crewe in 1894, the hall was inherited by his nephew Robert Crewe-Milnes, 2nd Baron Houghton, the son of Annabella Hungerford Crewe and Richard Monckton Milnes, 1st Baron Houghton.[3][8] The Crewe title was revived as an earldom for Robert Crewe-Milnes in 1895, and he later became the Marquess of Crewe.[8] The hall remained in the Crewe family until the 1930s.

[edit] Jacobean hall and Georgian alterations

Crewe Hall from painting of c.1710
Crewe Hall from painting of c.1710

The Jacobean hall was built between 1615 and 1636 for Sir Randolph Crewe.[2][6] As depicted in a painting of around 1710, the original house was square, with gabled projecting bays and three groups of octagonal chimney stacks. There was a walled forecourt, formal walled gardens and a range of separate service buildings.[3] Although of a relatively conservative design, similar to that of the significantly earlier Longleat, the hall seems to have been considered progressive in provincial Cheshire;[3] Thomas Fuller wrote in 1662 that:

Sir Randal first brought the model of excellent building into these remoter parts; yea, brought London into Cheshire, in the loftiness, sightliness, and pleasantness of their structures.[11]

A service wing to the west was added to the hall for John Crewe in around the 1790s, and the interiors were redecorated in neo-Classical style.[6][8] The park was landscaped at this time by Humphry Repton and John Webb.[8]

[edit] Victorian alterations

The house was altered by Edward Blore in 1837–42, for Hungerford Crewe. Blore replaced local architect, George Latham, who had been commissioned in 1836. He made major changes to the plan of the building, carried out decorative work to the interior in the Jacobethan style and constructed or altered various estate buildings, at a total cost of £30,000.[3][6][8] Lord Palmerston, visiting after Blore's changes, wrote:

But now by taste and judgment plann'd,
Throughout these scenes we find
The work of Art's improving hand,
With ancient splendour join'd.[12]

Little of Blore's work to the main hall remains, however, as a fire gutted the building in 1866.[6] Hungerford Crewe is said to have asked Blore, then retired, to restore the building, but he declined,[3] and the restoration work was instead carried out by E. M. Barry, son of Sir Charles Barry, the architect of the Palace of Westminster.[3][6][8] It was completed in 1870.[6] In a lecture to the Royal Academy, Barry later outlined his strategy for the restoration:

The greatest care has been taken to recover the design of Sir Randolph for such of the work as it has been possible to restore ... although with less roughness of execution and uncouthness of detail, particularly in respect of the human figure. Such peculiarities cannot, I think, be properly repeated in a modern reconstruction ... it is not the part of the nineteenth century restorer to reproduce matters which at best were the weaknesses of his predecessors. He ... should not seek, by a clever imitation of bygone tricks of construction or design, to deceive the spectator as to the age of his own work, and so pass off the latter as something which it is not.[13]

Nikolaus Pevsner describes Barry's reconstruction as "an extremely sumptuous job."[4] His work is considered to be, in general, more elaborate and more regular than the original.[3] Barry's principal innovation was the addition of a tower to the west wing; required for water storage, the tower was intended to unite the east and west wings of the hall. He also reorganised the plan of the ground floor.[3]

The gardens were redesigned after the fire by W. A. Nesfield, and his son William Eden Nesfield also designed various estate buildings.[8] Thomas Bower performed some further alterations for Robert Crewe-Milnes in 1896, including extending the service wing.[6][8]

[edit] 20th century

Crewe Hall was offered as a gift to Cheshire County Council in 1931; after their refusal, the majority of the estate was sold to the Duchy of Lancaster in 1936.[3][14] During the Second World War, Crewe Hall housed Australian and American soldiers, and was also used as a prisoner-of-war camp for German officers.[15] After the war, the hall was leased as offices, serving as the UK headquarters of the Wellcome Foundation for over twenty-five years until the mid-1990s.[3][8][15] The Duchy of Lancaster sold the Crewe Hall buildings in the late 1990s, and the hall became an hotel in around 2000.[16]

[edit] Description

Crewe Hall: west face
Crewe Hall: west face

[edit] Exterior

Constructed in red brick with stone dressings and a lead and slate roof, the hall has two storeys with attics and basements.[2] The eastern half of the present building largely represents the original Jacobean hall. The exterior survived the fire and the majority of the diapered brickwork is original, although some of the stone dressings were renewed by E. M. Barry.[3][6][8] The south (front) face of the eastern wing has seven main bays and features a centrepiece around the arched main entrance which is flanked by fluted Ionic columns and tapering pilasters and surmounted by a large cartouche decorated with strapwork. The two ends of this face have shaped gables with two-storey canted bay windows. A balustraded parapet runs along the top.[2][6][8] A balustraded terrace in front of the south face features lions and a griffin.[2] The east face has four bays with canted bay windows, shaped end gables and a central cartouche.[2][6] In the centre of the northern (garden) face is a large arched and mullioned bow window, originally Jacobean, which illuminates the chapel.[6][8][17] This face otherwise reverses the main façade, with the addition of mezzanine windows.[2][6]

The western half of the building is stepped forward (southwards) by two bays from the original building. Originally the service wing, it is plainer than the eastern building and dates from the Georgian era. Though using Georgian proportions, it was built in an early Jacobean revival style which has been heightened by subsequent alterations, particularly the addition of a central gable.[3][2][6] The south (main) face has seven bays, featuring an oriel window and a single two-storey canted bay window beneath a shaped gable, with a balustraded parapet running along the entire façade.[2] The western wing is dominated by a square tower rising two storeys above the roof, which is capped by an ogee spirelet surrounded by four corner chimneys. Designed by Barry in the High Victorian style, it was added after the fire.[2][6][8] A slender bell tower also rises from the west wing. The western end of the wing is an extension by Thomas Bower dating from 1896.[6] At the rear is a loggia with a vaulted ceiling supported by Tuscan columns.[3][2]

Former stable block: east face
Former stable block: east face

The former stables immediately to the west of the hall are contemporary with the Jacobean mansion, being completed around 1636; they are listed at grade II*.[18] In red brick with a tiled roof, the stables form a quadrangle with the main east face having two storeys with nine bays and four shaped gables. A centrepiece was added by Blore in around 1837; it features an arched opening in stone, above which rises a clock tower topped with a bell chamber and cupola.[18][19] The north and south sides of the quadrangle have large arched carriage openings with horse's heads carved in the keystones.[18] A small octagonal storehouse behind the stable block, called the Apple House, also dates from around 1636, and is grade II listed.[20]

[edit] Interior

The interior of Crewe Hall contains a mixture of original Jacobean work, faithful reproductions of the original Jacobean designs (which in some cases had been recorded), and work in the High Victorian style designed by Barry.[3][6] The entrance hall in the east wing was remodelled by both Edward Blore and Barry. It is panelled in oak and contains a marble chimneypiece with Tuscan columns featuring the Crewe arms.[2] It opens via a columned screen into the central hall, which was an open courtyard in the Jacobean house.[2][6] Roofed by Blore at the first-floor level, Barry converted the space into an atrium featuring cloisters around the walls, with a wooden gallery over them at the mezzanine level and a tunnel-vaulted first-floor gallery above. The floor is paved with a pattern of coloured marbles and the first-floor gallery corridors feature stained glass panels. The atrium has a hammerbeam roof supported by columns at the gallery level.[3][2][6] To the east of the central hall is an accurate reconstruction by Barry of the original staircase, which Nikolaus Pevsner described as "one of the most ingeniously planned and ornately executed in the whole of Jacobean England."[1] Heavily carved, the newels feature heraldic animals, which were originally gilded and painted.[3][2]

To the east of the entrance lies the dining room, which was formerly the Jacobean Great Hall. The room least damaged by the fire, it was restored by Barry to its 17th century appearance, with facsimiles of the original ceiling and carved wooden screen. It contains an overmantel depicting the relief of Plenty, considered to be original, and a large stone chimneypiece, which is believed to be the only surviving work by Blore on the interior.[3][6] The Oak Parlour, in the south west, contains a large wooden Jacobean overmantel, featuring Green Men carving. The Jacobean carving here and in the dining room is noticeably cruder than the Victorian work.[3][2] The Carved Parlour is another reproduction by Barry of the original. Panelled in oak, it has a plaster frieze of the Elements, Graces and Virtues. The alabaster chimneypiece depicts the winged figure of Time rewarding Industry and punishing Sloth, symbolised by two boys, which is surmounted by a carved portrait of Sir Randolph Crewe.[3][2][6]

A small chapel lies to the north of the central hall. Originally rather austere, it was lavishly decorated by Barry in the High Victorian style using craftsmen who had previously worked on the Houses of Parliament.[3] There is much elaborate wood carving, with the altar rail featuring angels and the benches poppyheads. The marble apse has alabaster carved heads of the prophets and evangelists by J. Birnie Philip, and the wall panelling features bronze medallions depicting biblical characters by the same artist. The ornate choir gallery, reached from the central hall's mezzanine gallery, contains the family pew. The stained glass and wall murals are by Clayton and Bell, and the painting and stencilling are by J. G. Crace.[3][2][6]

The suite of state rooms on the first floor of the east wing comprise the Long Gallery, library, drawing room (great chamber), small drawing room and two bedrooms. All date originally from the Jacobean mansion, but are likely to have been significantly altered by John Crewe and then extensively reworked by Blore in neo-Jacobean style. They were restored to Barry's designs, usually with little attempt to reproduce the Jacobean appearance, probably because records of most of the original designs were lacking.[6] Crace performed much of the decoration work in these rooms.[6][8] All the state rooms contain elaborate plasterwork and stone chimneypieces, often flanked with Corinthian columns or pilasters.[2][6]

The Long Gallery, along the north side, has a chimneypiece in coloured marbles with busts by Henry Weekes depicting Sir Randolph Crewe and Nathaniel Crew, 3rd Baron Crew, Bishop of Durham.[3][6] The library, above the Carved Parlour, contains statuettes of book lovers by Philip and a frieze of scenes from literature by J. Mabey.[3][6] The drawing room has a facsimile of the Jacobean ceiling, which had been recorded by architect William Burn. Identical in pattern to one at the Reindeer Inn in Banbury, of which the Victoria and Albert Museum has a plaster cast, it was presumably originally the work of the same craftsman.[3][21] One of the state bedrooms has another survivor of the fire, a Jacobean stone fireplace with a plaster overmantel relief depicting Cain and Abel.[3][6]

[edit] Estate buildings

Weston Lodge
Weston Lodge

The park has two gate lodges. The northern lodge, in Jacobean style, is by Edward Blore and dates from 1847. In red brick with darker-brick diapering, stone dressings and a slate roof, it has a T-shaped plan with a single storey, and features two shaped gables and a hexagonal bay with a pyramidal roof.[19][22] The Elizabethan-style Weston or Golden Gates Lodge to the south of the house dates from before 1865 and is attributed to William Eden Nesfield, although it is not typical of his style. In red brick with blue-brick zig–zag diapering, ashlar dressings and a slate roof, the lodge has two storeys, with a projecting canted bay to the road face.[19][23] Both gate lodges are listed at grade II.[22][23]

Several listed estate cottages near Weston Lodge were also designed by Nesfield between 1860 and 1866, and are among his earliest works.[3][4][19] They include Stowford and Magnolia Cottages (1864–5), which Nikolaus Pevsner describes as "cheerful and just a little Kate Greenaway",[4][24] as well as Smithy Cottage (around 1865),[25] Fir Tree Cottage (1865)[26] and a half-timbered farmhouse on Weston Road.[19] Rather than either the Jacobean mansion or its High Victorian interiors, their style derives from buildings of the Home Counties, with tile hanging, incised pargetting, half-hipped gables and high chimneys.[3][4][19] Pevsner credits Nesfield with introducing these features to Cheshire.[4]

Stowford and Magnolia Cottages
Stowford and Magnolia Cottages

Crewe Hall Farmhouse, the estate's home farm, stands on the edge of the grounds, ¼ mile to the south east of the hall; it dates from around 1702 and is listed at grade II. In brown brick with a slate roof, it has two storeys and five bays to the front.[19][27] Two of the adjacent farm buildings, dating from 1883–4, are also listed.[28][29] As of 2008, the Duchy of Lancaster is developing outbuildings at Crewe Hall Farm, including the two listed buildings, into leasehold offices totalling 27,850 square feet.[30][31]

[edit] Gardens and park

Formal gardens were laid out around the house by W. A. Nesfield in the 19th century; his design included gravelled walks, terraces and parterres with statuary. The grounds were neglected, however, while the house was used as offices, and little has survived except the terraces and statues.[3][8] The entrance gates and wall separating the gardens from the park and farmland date from 1878 and are listed at grade II.[32] The wrought-iron gates are by Cubitt and Co., and were exhibited at the Paris Exhibition of 1878.[3] There are two outer single gates and a double inner gate; the lower sections of lyre-like panels with leaf and spearhead motifs are topped with Jacobean-style arched panels. The gates are supported by four sandstone piers, the inner pair being topped with a griffin and a lion.[32] Other remaining features from the formal gardens include a grade-II-listed sundial dating from the early 19th century, which stands in the gardens to the rear of the house.[33]

The park was landscaped by William Emes, Humphry Repton and John Webb at various times during the 18th century.[3][8][19] Repton's design included a 23 hectare ornamental lake immediately north of the house, which drained away in 1941 when a dam burst.[3][19][34] Engelsea Brook runs through the park, and much of the area is covered with mixed woodland, including Rookery Wood and Temple of Peace Wood.[35] The National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens lists 201 hectares of the gardens and surrounding parkland at grade II.[34][35]

[edit] Modern estate

Brasserie
Brasserie

As of 2008, Crewe Hall is an hotel in the QHotels group, set in 8 acres of parkland, with a restaurant, brasserie and health club. It is close to the M6 motorway and Crewe railway station. There are 117 bedrooms, of which 25 are located in the old building. Several additional buildings were constructed in 2007–8 to extend the accommodation.[16][36] The hotel has four AA stars, and the brasserie and restaurant each have an AA rosette.[37] The hall is licensed for civil wedding ceremonies.[38]

The Duchy of Lancaster retains ownership of a large area of the estate, which is mainly managed as dairy farms and woodland, with some commercial development near Crewe and at Crewe Hall Farm.[14][30]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Pevsner & Hubbard, p. 22.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Images of England: Crewe Hall. English Heritage. Retrieved on 2008-03-11.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag de Figueiredo & Treuherz, pp. 66–71.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Pevsner & Hubbard, p. 40.
  5. ^ a b c Prest W. Crewe , Sir Randolph (bap. 1559, d. 1646), in: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (September 2004; January 2008). Oxford University Press. Retrieved on 2008-03-11.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab Pevsner & Hubbard, pp. 191–194.
  7. ^ Nantwich Town Centre Walk. Borough of Crewe & Nantwich. Retrieved on 2008-03-11.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Robinson, pp. 25–26.
  9. ^ a b Davis RW. Crewe, John, first Baron Crewe (1742–1829), in: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (2004). Oxford University Press. Retrieved on 2008-03-12.
  10. ^ Salmon E. Crewe, Frances Anne, Lady Crewe (bap. 1748, d. 1818), in: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (2004). Oxford University Press. Retrieved on 2008-03-12.
  11. ^ Fuller, p. 273.
  12. ^ Quoted in de Figueiredo & Treuherz, p. 67.
  13. ^ Barry EM. Lectures in Architecture (1881). Quoted in Robinson, p. 25; de Figueiredo & Treuherz, pp. 67–68; Pevsner & Hubbard, p. 193.
  14. ^ a b The Crewe and South Survey. The Duchy of Lancaster. Retrieved on 2008-03-11.
  15. ^ a b Guardian series: Crewe Hall (24 November 2004). Newsquest Media Group. Retrieved on 2008-03-11.
  16. ^ a b Crewe Hall. QHotels Group. Retrieved on 2008-03-11.
  17. ^ Pevsner & Hubbard, p. 23.
  18. ^ a b c Images of England: Former Stables at Crewe Hall. English Heritage. Retrieved on 2008-03-14.
  19. ^ a b c d e f g h i Pevsner & Hubbard, pp. 194–195.
  20. ^ Images of England: The Apple House. English Heritage. Retrieved on 2008-03-14.
  21. ^ Images of England: No.47 (The Reindeer Inn) and No.48 (Ann Elizabeth Health Foods). English Heritage. Retrieved on 2008-03-14.
  22. ^ a b Images of England: North Lodge to Crewe Hall Park. English Heritage. Retrieved on 2008-03-14.
  23. ^ a b Images of England: Golden Gates Lodge and entrance screen. English Heritage. Retrieved on 2008-03-14.
  24. ^ Images of England: Stowford and Magnolia Cottages. English Heritage. Retrieved on 2008-03-14.
  25. ^ Images of England: Smithy and Smithy Cottage. English Heritage. Retrieved on 2008-03-14.
  26. ^ Images of England: Firtree Cottage. English Heritage. Retrieved on 2008-03-14.
  27. ^ Images of England: Crewe Hall Farm House. English Heritage. Retrieved on 2008-03-14.
  28. ^ Images of England: Farm buildings 10 m east of Crewe Hall Farm House. English Heritage. Retrieved on 2008-03-14.
  29. ^ Images of England: Farm buildings 40 m north of Crewe Hall Farm House. English Heritage. Retrieved on 2008-03-14.
  30. ^ a b Crewe Hall Farm: The Development. Maple Grove Developments. Retrieved on 2008-03-15.
  31. ^ Report and accounts of the Duchy of Lancaster for the year ended 31 March 2007. Duchy of Lancaster. Retrieved on 2008-03-15.
  32. ^ a b Images of England: Gates, piers and wall at north end of Crewe Hall Drive. English Heritage. Retrieved on 2008-03-14.
  33. ^ Images of England: Sundial at rear of Crewe Hall. English Heritage. Retrieved on 2008-03-14.
  34. ^ a b U.K. Database of Historic Parks and Gardens: Crewe Hall. University of York. Retrieved on 2008-03-12.
  35. ^ a b Interactive Mapping: Crewe Hall. Cheshire County Council. Retrieved on 2008-03-15.
  36. ^ Crewe Hall. QHotels Group. Retrieved on 2008-03-11.
  37. ^ Crewe Hall. Visit Cheshire. Retrieved on 2008-03-15.
  38. ^ Getting Married....places. Borough of Crewe and Nantwich. Retrieved on 2008-03-14.

[edit] Sources

[edit] External link