A Drone Flight Over Chillington Hall
The present Georgian house is the third to have been built upon the same site. In the 12th century, there was a stone-built castle, a small corner of which remains in the cellars of the present house. The original house was replaced by Sir John Giffard in the mid-sixteenth century.
Peter Giffard began the 18th century rebuilding by having part of Sir John’s Tudor house demolished and replaced in 1724 by the existing south front to three storeys in red facing bricks with stone dressing. The heads of the lead rainwater pipes bear the initials P G B for Peter Giffard and Barbara Throckmorton, and the date 1724. The architect was Francis Smith of Warwick. Peter Giffard also rebuilt the kitchens, servants’ hall and other domestic offices which now surround the Dairy Courtyard. Here there would have been the dairy and cheese presses, the washhouse and laundry, and many bachelor quarters.
The remaining part of the Tudor structure (including the Gatehouse and Chapel) were replaced by the present-day main portion of the house. It was built between 1786 and 1789 during the ownership of Thomas Giffard the younger, grandson of Peter Giffard.
The original plan was to build an entirely new house designed by Robert Adam, but it was finally decided to employ Sir John Soane who incorporated the 1724 south range with the two new wings of three-storey height and the entrance front with its portico. The latter’s columns are composed of huge drums of Tunstall stone of a creamy colour streaked with dark brown veins and have Ionic capitals designed after those of the Temple of Fortune in Rome.
Today much of the stonework appears to have been blackened, probably by smoke blown on the prevailing wind from the direction of Wolverhampton and the Black Country. Soane intended that the walls of the house should be faced with stucco but the stucco facing was never applied. This will explain why the bricks have a rough surface and the arching is visible above each window.
#drone #dji #gopro
The present Georgian house is the third to have been built upon the same site. In the 12th century, there was a stone-built castle, a small corner of which remains in the cellars of the present house. The original house was replaced by Sir John Giffard in the mid-sixteenth century.
Peter Giffard began the 18th century rebuilding by having part of Sir John’s Tudor house demolished and replaced in 1724 by the existing south front to three storeys in red facing bricks with stone dressing. The heads of the lead rainwater pipes bear the initials P G B for Peter Giffard and Barbara Throckmorton, and the date 1724. The architect was Francis Smith of Warwick. Peter Giffard also rebuilt the kitchens, servants’ hall and other domestic offices which now surround the Dairy Courtyard. Here there would have been the dairy and cheese presses, the washhouse and laundry, and many bachelor quarters.
The remaining part of the Tudor structure (including the Gatehouse and Chapel) were replaced by the present-day main portion of the house. It was built between 1786 and 1789 during the ownership of Thomas Giffard the younger, grandson of Peter Giffard.
The original plan was to build an entirely new house designed by Robert Adam, but it was finally decided to employ Sir John Soane who incorporated the 1724 south range with the two new wings of three-storey height and the entrance front with its portico. The latter’s columns are composed of huge drums of Tunstall stone of a creamy colour streaked with dark brown veins and have Ionic capitals designed after those of the Temple of Fortune in Rome.
Today much of the stonework appears to have been blackened, probably by smoke blown on the prevailing wind from the direction of Wolverhampton and the Black Country. Soane intended that the walls of the house should be faced with stucco but the stucco facing was never applied. This will explain why the bricks have a rough surface and the arching is visible above each window.
#drone #dji #gopro
