Description

EDGCOTE
SP54NW
5/118 Edgcote House
11/09/53

GV I

Country House, built 1748-54 for Richard Chauncy by William Jones. Important
fittings by London craftsmen, joinery by Abraham Swan, decorative plasterwork by
John Whitehead. Ironstone ashlar with limestone dressings, old tile roof, stone
stacks. Hall and Saloon on central axis with former State Bedroom to left and
library to right of hall. Dining Room and Drawing Room flanking the Saloon. Main
and secondary stairs on either side of Hall and Saloon in centre of house.
Service rooms in basement. Entrance to west. 2 storeys, basement and attic. 9
bays. 3 centre bays project under a pediment. Basement windows have moulded
stone frames and 6-pane sashes. Central doorway approached by double flight of
stone steps with balustrade, has moulded architrave with triple keystone,
pediment on brackets and C20 glazed door. Sash windows on either side with
triple keystones. 3-bay side parts have pediment over middle window flanked by
windows with keystones. 9-pane sash windows on first floor with moulded
architraves and keystones. Modillion cornice, hipped roof. Garden front similar.
Side elevations each have 2 storey canted bay in centre. Interior: Hall has
stone fireplace framed by scrolls, frieze with blank tablet framed by
cornucopiae and open scroll pediment. Panelled ceiling, the ribs with guilloche
mouldings. Frieze has tripglyphs alternating with rosettes and rococo
cartouches. Entrance to Saloon flanked by arched niches. Doorways have enriched
architraves with friezes of bay leaves and 6-panel doors. Saloon has stone
fireplace with scroll brackets and a relief of cherubs, birds and dogs. Wood
overmantel with fluted Corinthian half-columns and open scroll pediment.
Panelled walls and carved doorcases. Ceiling has rococo plasterwork with oval
centrepiece of leaf scrolls, flowers and exotic birds and beasts. Portrait
medallions in corners. Dining Room has carved wooden fireplace with overmantel
similar to that in Saloon, panelled walls and plaster frieze of leaf scrolls and
heads. Drawing Room has marble fireplace framed by columns of composite order,
the capitals carved with squirrels, the frieze with cherubs. Wooden overmantel
with broken pediment and pendants of fruit and flowers. Morning Room (former
study) has marble fireplace with carved wooden overmantel, Roved from Family
Parlour (now kitchen). Library (now Billiard Room) and former State Bedroom were
altered in the C19. Open-well mahogany staircase, has balusters carved with wave
mouldings and a carved string instead of tread ends. Coved ceiling and square
cupola with elaborate plaster work decoration. Said to be re-used C17 panelling
from old house in attic rooms. Park laid out in C18, has lake fed from the River
Cherwell and an irrigation system with dams and a lock to supply the kitchen
garden (q.v.) and power for the Hill (q.v.). Work on the park began in the 1740s
before the house was rebuilt. The old house faced south towards the church. It
is shown on an estate map dated 1713 at Edgcote House. In 1543 it was purchased
by William Chauncy and in 1742 passed to Richard Chauncy, a London merchant. His
account books for the re-building and furnishing of Edgcote preserved at the
house, record the names of masons and craftsmen, William Smith of Warwick
designed the stables (q.v.) shortly before he died in 1747 and may have made
designs for the house. However, William Jones was paid for drawing plans and
surveying. There is no evidence that his plans were based on designs by Smith.
Abraham Swan was well known for the publication of several pattern books notably
"A Collection of Designs in Architecture", 1757, the joinery at Edgcote is
important as realisation of his own designs.(H. Colvin, Biographical
Dictionary of British Architects, 1970, p.799,764,76; H. A Tipping, Edgcote
House; Country Life, 10th January 1920; Robert Taylor, R.C.H.M. per. comm.).

Listing NGR: SP5053248008

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q3047545

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Wiltshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  London 1: The City of London: City of London v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Harrow on the Hill: A photographic portrayal of listed buildings and structures (Historic Buildings Picture Guides)
• 
  Suffolk: East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Huddersfield in 50 Buildings
• 
  [(Shropshire)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1958)