Summary

A playhouse of 1856 known as Le Petit Trianon.

Description

MATERIALS: built using split logs on a timber frame, raised on a low brick wall with tiled roof and brick stack.

PLAN: built on a linear plan form with a central entrance to front elevation.

EXTERIOR: the Petit Trianon is a single storey small log structure built using split logs on a timber frame. The building, raised on a low brick wall, has a tiled roof, a tall, square plan, gable stack, with a hexagonal shaft and moulded cap. The tripartite building has a central gable entrance with decorative split log work forming geometric patterning both on the door and above. In places this decoration replicates the diamond leaded lights of the casement windows. There are double casement windows in each of the end bays and a single casement each side of the door in the central bay, all of which appear to retain their original window furniture. The rear elevation is plain, compared to the front, with a single off centre entrance and no window openings. The gable ends are simply detailed with decorative split log work and plain carved bargeboards.

INTERIOR: internally there are three rooms which, in 1885 were described as including a kitchen, scullery and sitting room. A workshop - sundial which told the time world wide is also documented although there is no evidence for this either internally or externally. All the walls are lined with a plain tongue and groove panelling and the floors are of tile throughout. A simple fireplace with a brick surround and basket grate survives in the room to the right of the front door and a panelled wall cupboard with L shaped hinges also survives immediately opposite the door.

History

Wrest Park belonged to the Grey family from the Middle Ages until the early C20. In 1833, Thomas Phillip Weddell, later Earl de Grey, inherited Wrest, having already spent much time there as a young man demonstrating his early abilities as an amateur architect in the design of the two lodges at Silsoe in 1826 (both Grade II). Although he had great respect for the gardens this did not extend to the house, which he demolished. The present house was constructed approximately 200m north of the old house in 1834-9 by the Earl with the assistance of James Clephan. The stable buildings to the east (Grade II) and the walled gardens (Grade II) to the west were also added between 1834 and 1839. The site of the former house was laid out to include the present parterres and south lawns. The Earl's appreciation of the existing garden’s qualities meant that little else was done to diminish its former appearance. In 1856 'le Petit Trianon' was built for his children as a playhouse or summerhouse and is consistent with the fashion at that period for the insertion of rustic wooden buildings into garden landscapes. The roof structure and much of the split log work was replaced in the late C20 following the collapse of a tree on to the building. In 1857 an 'American Garden' was laid out north of the bowling green.

Reasons for Listing

Le Petit Trianon, built at Wrest Park in 1856 is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Architectural interest: for the level of detail in both the structure and decorative detailing of what is essentially a subtle building in an elaborate landscape;
* Historic interest: for the contemporary contribution it makes to a retrospective C17 and early C18 garden design;
* Materials: for its unusual use of decorative split log detailing;
* Group Value: for its contribution to the structural and aesthetic composition of a Grade I Registered Park and Garden and its association with many other listed structures.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26675559

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

• 
  Old House Handbook 2 Books Bundle Collection (Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair,Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability)
• 
  Department for Communities Listed Historic Buildings of Northern Ireland: Information Guide for the 2nd Survey of Historic Buildings
• 
  Specifications for Building Conservation: Volume 1: External Structure: Practical Examples v. 2
• 
  For the Record
• 
  Cambridgeshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)