Dutch Tea House, Eaton Hall
Encyclopedia
The Dutch Tea House is in the grounds of Eaton Hall, Cheshire
, England. It has been designated by English Heritage
as a Grade II listed building.
The building was designed by the Chester
architect John Douglas
for the 2nd Earl Grosvenor
(later the 1st Duke of Westminster) in 1872. It stands at the north end of the Dutch Garden which was designed by C. E. Mallows
.
The tea house has a cruciform
plan. It is a timber-framed
building on a red sandstone
plinth
with a red tiled roof that rises with a concave profile to a point. On the apex is a large lead finial
with a small weather vane
. At the front is a verandah
, the tearoom is in the centre and to the left, and the kitchen is on the right. The wooden posts supporting the verandah are carved, and above these is a pargetted
frieze
. A flight of six steps leads down to the Dutch Garden.
Cheshire
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...
, England. It has been designated by English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
as a Grade II listed building.
The building was designed by the Chester
Chester
Chester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...
architect John Douglas
John Douglas (architect)
John Douglas was an English architect who designed about 500 buildings in Cheshire, North Wales, and northwest England, in particular in the estate of Eaton Hall. He was trained in Lancaster and practised throughout his career from an office in Chester, Cheshire...
for the 2nd Earl Grosvenor
Hugh Grosvenor, 1st Duke of Westminster
Hugh Lupus Grosvenor, 1st Duke of Westminster KG, PC, JP , styled Viscount Belgrave between 1831 and 1845 and Earl Grosvenor between 1845 and 1869 and known as the 3rd Marquess of Westminster between 1869 and 1874, was an English landowner, politician and racehorse owner.He inherited the estate of...
(later the 1st Duke of Westminster) in 1872. It stands at the north end of the Dutch Garden which was designed by C. E. Mallows
Charles Edward Mallows
Charles Edward Mallows , often known as C. E. Mallows, was an English landscape architect. He was born in Chelsea, London and spent his childhood at Flatford Mill, East Bergholt, Suffolk where his uncle ran the mill. He studied in Bedford and London...
.
The tea house has a cruciform
Cruciform
Cruciform means having the shape of a cross or Christian cross.- Cruciform architectural plan :This is a common description of Christian churches. In Early Christian, Byzantine and other Eastern Orthodox forms of church architecture this is more likely to mean a tetraconch plan, a Greek cross,...
plan. It is a timber-framed
Timber framing
Timber framing , or half-timbering, also called in North America "post-and-beam" construction, is the method of creating structures using heavy squared off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden pegs . It is commonplace in large barns...
building on a red sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
plinth
Plinth
In architecture, a plinth is the base or platform upon which a column, pedestal, statue, monument or structure rests. Gottfried Semper's The Four Elements of Architecture posited that the plinth, the hearth, the roof, and the wall make up all of architectural theory. The plinth usually rests...
with a red tiled roof that rises with a concave profile to a point. On the apex is a large lead finial
Finial
The finial is an architectural device, typically carved in stone and employed decoratively to emphasize the apex of a gable or any of various distinctive ornaments at the top, end, or corner of a building or structure. Smaller finials can be used as a decorative ornament on the ends of curtain rods...
with a small weather vane
Weather vane
A weather vane is an instrument for showing the direction of the wind. They are typically used as an architectural ornament to the highest point of a building....
. At the front is a verandah
Verandah
A veranda or verandah is a roofed opened gallery or porch. It is also described as an open pillared gallery, generally roofed, built around a central structure...
, the tearoom is in the centre and to the left, and the kitchen is on the right. The wooden posts supporting the verandah are carved, and above these is a pargetted
Pargeting
Pargeting is a decorative plastering applied to building walls.Pargeting derives from the word 'parget', a Middle English term that is probably derived from the Old French 'pargeter' / 'parjeter', to throw about, or 'porgeter', to roughcast a wall...
frieze
Frieze
thumb|267px|Frieze of the [[Tower of the Winds]], AthensIn architecture the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Even when neither columns nor pilasters are expressed, on an astylar wall it lies upon...
. A flight of six steps leads down to the Dutch Garden.