Prior Park
Encyclopedia
Prior Park is a Palladian
house, designed by John Wood, the Elder
in the 1730s and 1740s for Ralph Allen
, on a hill overlooking Bath, Somerset
, England. It has been designated as a Grade I listed building.
The house was built to demonstrate the properties of Bath Stone
as a building material. The design followed work by Andrea Palladio
and was influenced by drawings originally made by Colen Campbell
for Wanstead House in Essex
. The main block had 15 bays and each of the wings 17 bays each. The surrounding parkland had been laid out in 1100 but following the purchase of the land by Allen 11.3 hectares (27.9 acre) were established as a landscape garden
. Features in the garden include a Palladian Bridge which is also Grade I listed. Prior Park Landscape Garden
is now owned by the National Trust
.
Following Allen's death the estate passed down through his family. In 1828 it was purchased by Bishop Baines
for use as a Roman Catholic College. The house was then extended and a chapel and gymnasium built by Henry Goodridge
. The house is now used by Prior Park College
.
, an entrepreneur and philanthropist, was notable for his reforms to the British postal system
. He moved in 1710 to Bath, where he became a post office clerk, and at the age of 19, in 1712, became the Postmaster
of Bath. In 1742 he was elected Mayor of Bath, and was the Member of Parliament for Bath
between 1757 and 1764. The building in Lilliput Alley, now North Parade Passage in Bath, which he used as a post office became his Town House
. He acquired the stone quarries at Combe Down and Bathampton Down Mines
. Hitherto, the quarry masons had always hewn stone roughly providing blocks of varying size. Wood required stone blocks to be cut with crisp clean edges for his distinctive classical façades. The distinctive honey-coloured Bath Stone
, used to build the Georgian
city, made Allen a second fortune. Stone was extracted by the "room and pillar" method, by which chambers were mined, leaving pillars of stone to support the roof. Allen built a railway line from his mine on Combe Down
which carried the stone down the hill, now known as Ralph Allen Drive, which runs beside Prior Park, to a wharf he constructed at Bath Locks
on the Kennet and Avon Canal
to transport stone to London.
Following a failed bid to supply stone to buildings in London Allen wanted a building which would show off the properties of Bath Stone as a building material. Bath Stone is an Oolitic
Limestone
comprising granular fragments of calcium carbonate
laid down during the Jurassic Period (195 to 135 million years ago). An important feature of Bath Stone is that it is a freestone, that is one that can be sawn or 'squared up' in any direction, unlike other rocks such as slate
, which forms distinct layers. It was extensively used in the Roman and Medieval periods on domestic, ecclesiastical and civil engineering projects such as bridges.
John Wood, the Elder
was commissioned to build on the hill overlooking Bath, by Ralph Allen: "To see all Bath, and for all Bath to see" John Wood, the Elder, was born in Bath. He is known for designing many of the streets and buildings of the city, such as The Circus
(1754–68), St John's Hospital
, (1727–28), Queen Square
(1728–36), the North
(1740) and South Parades
(1743–48), The Royal Mineral Water Hospital
(1738–42) and other notable houses, many of which are Grade I listed buildings. Queen Square
was his first speculative development. Wood lived in a house on the square, which was described by Nikolaus Pevsner
as "one of the finest Palladian compositions in England before 1730".
The plan for Prior Park was to construct five buildings along three sides of a dodecagon
matching the sweep of the head of the valley, with the main building being flanked by elongated wings based on designs by Andrea Palladio
. The plans were influenced by drawings originally made by Colen Campbell
for Wanstead House in Essex. The main block had 15 bays and each of the wings 17 bays each. Between each wing and the main block was a Porte-cochère
for coaches to stop under.
Construction work began in 1734 to Woods plan but disagreements between Wood and Allen led to his dismissal and his Clerk of Works, Richard Jones, replaced him and made some changes to the plans particularly for the east wing. Jones also added the Palladian Bridge.
In addition to the stone from the local quarries, material, including the grand staircase and plasterwork, from the demolished Hunstrete House were used in the construction.
, Allen's relative, lived in the house for some time and it was passed down to other family members and then purchased by John Thomas, a Bristol Quaker. After William Beckford
sold Fonthill Abbey
, in 1822, he was looking about for a suitable new seat, Prior Park was his first choice: ""They wanted too much for it," he recalled later; "I should have liked it very much; it possesses such great capability of being made a very beautiful spot."
Peter Augustine Baines
, a Benedictine
, Titular Bishop
of Siga and Vicar Apostolic of the Western District of England, was appointed to Bath in 1817. He purchased the mansion in 1828 for £22,000 and set to work to build two colleges at either end of the "mansion house", which he dedicated to St. Peter and St. Paul respectively, the former being intended as a lay college, the latter as a seminary, but the new college never became prosperous. Renovations were made according to designs by Henry Goodridge
in 1834 including the addition of the staircase in front of the main building. A gymnasium was also built in the 1830s including a courtyard for Fives
, and three barrel vaulted rooms on the first floor and a terrace roof.
The seminary was closed in 1856 after a fire in 1836 that resulted in extensive damage and renovation and brought about financial insolvency. It was bought in 1867 by Bishop Clifford
who founded a Roman Catholic Grammar School in the mansion. The grammar school closed in 1904 and the site was occupied by the army during World War I
and afterwards by a series of tenants until, in 1921, the Christian Brothers
took it over, founding a boys' boarding school in 1924.
The main building (Mansion) has been badly burnt twice. The 1836 fire left visible damage to some stonework. The 1991 fire gutted the interior, except for parts of the basement. Rebuilding took approximately three years. Unusually, the blaze started on the top floor, and spread downwards.
The plan consists of a corps de logis
flanked by two pavilions connected to the corps de logis by segmented single storey arcades. The northern façade (or garden façade) of the corps de logis is of 15 bays, the central 5 bays carry a prostyle
portico of six Corinthian
columns. The southern façade is more sombre in its embelishment, but has at its centre, six ionic
columns surmounted by a pediment. The terminating pavilions have been much altered from their original design by Wood; he originally envisaged two pavilions at each end of the range; an unusual composition which was ignored by Jones who terminated the range with a single pavilion as is the more conventional Palladian concept.
The total length of the principal elevation is between 1200 feet (365.8 m) and 1300 feet (396.2 m) in length. Of that, the corps de logis occupies 150 feet (45.7 m). The two storey building with attics and a basement is topped with a Westmorland
slate roof.
The central flight of steps and urns, in Baroque style, which front the north portico were added by Goodridge in 1836.
style in 1836.
The first park on the site was set out by John of Tours
the Bishop of Bath and Wells
around 1100, as part of a deer park, and subsequently sold to Humphrey Colles and then Matthew Colhurst. It is set in a small steep valley, with views of the city of Bath. Prior Park's 11.3 hectares (27.9 acre) landscape garden
was laid out by the poet
Alexander Pope
between the construction of the house and 1764. During 1737, at least 55,200 trees, mostly elm and Scots pine, were planted, along the sides and top of the valley. No trees were planted on the valley floor. Water was channeled into fish ponds at the bottom of the valley.
Later work, during the 1750s and 1760s, was undertaken by the landscape gardener Capability Brown
. This included extending the gardens to the north and removing the central cascade making the combe into a single sweep. The garden was influential in defining the style of garden known as the English garden
in continental Europe
.
The features in the gardens include a Palladian bridge (one of only 4 left in the world), Gothic temple, gravel cabinet, Mrs Allen's Grotto, ice house, lodge and three pools with curtain walls plus a serpentine lake. The Palladian bridge, which is a copy of the one at Wilton House
, has been designated as a Grade I listed building and Scheduled Ancient Monument
. It was repaired in 1936.
The rusticated stone piers on either side of the main entrance gates are surmounted by entablature
s and large ornamental vases, while those at the drive entrance have ornamental carved finial
s. The porters Lodge was built along with the main house to designs by John Wood the Elder.
In 1993 the park and pleasure grounds were acquired by the National Trust
. In November 2006, the large-scale restoration project began on the cascade, serpentine lake and Gothic temple in the Wilderness area, this is now complete. Extensive planting also took place in 2007.
Palladian architecture
Palladian architecture is a European style of architecture derived from the designs of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio . The term "Palladian" normally refers to buildings in a style inspired by Palladio's own work; that which is recognised as Palladian architecture today is an evolution of...
house, designed by John Wood, the Elder
John Wood, the Elder
John Wood, the Elder, , was an English architect. Born in Twerton England, a village near Bath, now a suburb, he went to school in Bath. He came back to Bath after working in Yorkshire, and it is believed, in London, in his early 20s...
in the 1730s and 1740s for Ralph Allen
Ralph Allen
Ralph Allen was an entrepreneur and philanthropist, and was notable for his reforms to the British postal system. He was baptised at St Columb Major, Cornwall on 24 July 1693. As a teenager he worked at the Post Office. He moved in 1710 to Bath, where he became a post office clerk, and at the age...
, on a hill overlooking Bath, Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
, England. It has been designated as a Grade I listed building.
The house was built to demonstrate the properties of Bath Stone
Bath Stone
Bath Stone is an Oolitic Limestone comprising granular fragments of calcium carbonate. Originally obtained from the Combe Down and Bathampton Down Mines under Combe Down, Somerset, England, its warm, honey colouring gives the World Heritage City of Bath, England its distinctive appearance...
as a building material. The design followed work by Andrea Palladio
Andrea Palladio
Andrea Palladio was an architect active in the Republic of Venice. Palladio, influenced by Roman and Greek architecture, primarily by Vitruvius, is widely considered the most influential individual in the history of Western architecture...
and was influenced by drawings originally made by Colen Campbell
Colen Campbell
Colen Campbell was a pioneering Scottish architect who spent most of his career in England, and is credited as a founder of the Georgian style...
for Wanstead House in Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
. The main block had 15 bays and each of the wings 17 bays each. The surrounding parkland had been laid out in 1100 but following the purchase of the land by Allen 11.3 hectares (27.9 acre) were established as a landscape garden
Landscape garden
The term landscape garden is often used to describe the English garden design style characteristic of the eighteenth century, that swept the Continent replacing the formal Renaissance garden and Garden à la française models. The work of Lancelot 'Capability' Brown is particularly influential.The...
. Features in the garden include a Palladian Bridge which is also Grade I listed. Prior Park Landscape Garden
Prior Park Landscape Garden
Prior Park Landscape Garden is an 18th-century landscape garden, designed by the poet Alexander Pope and the landscape gardener Capability Brown, and now owned by the National Trust. It is south of Bath, Somerset, England by Ralph Allen Drive, and 3/4 mile from the Kennet and Avon canal path...
is now owned by the National Trust
National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty
The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, usually known as the National Trust, is a conservation organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland...
.
Following Allen's death the estate passed down through his family. In 1828 it was purchased by Bishop Baines
Peter Augustine Baines
Peter Augustine Baines was an English Benedictine, Titular Bishop of Siga and Vicar Apostolic of the Western District of England.-Life:...
for use as a Roman Catholic College. The house was then extended and a chapel and gymnasium built by Henry Goodridge
Henry Goodridge
Henry Edmund Goodridge was an architect whose work started in the 1820s.-Works:Goodridge's neoclassical buildings in Bath include:* Cleveland Bridge;* one of the earliest shopping arcades...
. The house is now used by Prior Park College
Prior Park College
Prior Park College is a Roman Catholic co-educational independent school for both day and boarding pupils.It is situated on a hill overlooking the city of Bath, in Somerset, in south-west England...
.
Construction
Ralph AllenRalph Allen
Ralph Allen was an entrepreneur and philanthropist, and was notable for his reforms to the British postal system. He was baptised at St Columb Major, Cornwall on 24 July 1693. As a teenager he worked at the Post Office. He moved in 1710 to Bath, where he became a post office clerk, and at the age...
, an entrepreneur and philanthropist, was notable for his reforms to the British postal system
Mail
Mail, or post, is a system for transporting letters and other tangible objects: written documents, typically enclosed in envelopes, and also small packages are delivered to destinations around the world. Anything sent through the postal system is called mail or post.In principle, a postal service...
. He moved in 1710 to Bath, where he became a post office clerk, and at the age of 19, in 1712, became the Postmaster
Postmaster
A postmaster is the head of an individual post office. Postmistress is not used anymore in the United States, as the "master" component of the word refers to a person of authority and has no gender quality...
of Bath. In 1742 he was elected Mayor of Bath, and was the Member of Parliament for Bath
Bath (UK Parliament constituency)
Bath is a constituency in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, previously of the House of Commons of England. It is an ancient constituency which has been constantly represented in Parliament since boroughs were first summoned to send members in the 13th century...
between 1757 and 1764. The building in Lilliput Alley, now North Parade Passage in Bath, which he used as a post office became his Town House
Ralph Allen's Town House, Bath
Ralph Allen's Town House is a grade I listed townhouse in Bath, Somerset, England.Ralph Allen, commenced building it in or shortly afer 1727, although it is unlikely he ever lived there...
. He acquired the stone quarries at Combe Down and Bathampton Down Mines
Combe Down and Bathampton Down Mines
Combe Down and Bathampton Down Mines is a 6.22 hectare Site of Special Scientific Interest in Bath and North East Somerset, notified in 1991 because of the Greater and Lesser Horseshoe bat population....
. Hitherto, the quarry masons had always hewn stone roughly providing blocks of varying size. Wood required stone blocks to be cut with crisp clean edges for his distinctive classical façades. The distinctive honey-coloured Bath Stone
Bath Stone
Bath Stone is an Oolitic Limestone comprising granular fragments of calcium carbonate. Originally obtained from the Combe Down and Bathampton Down Mines under Combe Down, Somerset, England, its warm, honey colouring gives the World Heritage City of Bath, England its distinctive appearance...
, used to build the Georgian
Georgian era
The Georgian era is a period of British history which takes its name from, and is normally defined as spanning the reigns of, the first four Hanoverian kings of Great Britain : George I, George II, George III and George IV...
city, made Allen a second fortune. Stone was extracted by the "room and pillar" method, by which chambers were mined, leaving pillars of stone to support the roof. Allen built a railway line from his mine on Combe Down
Combe Down
Combe Down is a village suburb of Bath, England in the Bath and North East Somerset unitary authority within the ceremonial county of Somerset. Combe Down sits on a ridge above and about 1.5 miles to the south of Bath city centre. "Combe" or "coombe" is a West Country word meaning a steep-sided...
which carried the stone down the hill, now known as Ralph Allen Drive, which runs beside Prior Park, to a wharf he constructed at Bath Locks
Bath Locks
Bath Locks are a series of locks situated on the Kennet and Avon Canal, at Bath, England.Bath Bottom Lock, which is numbered as No 7 on the canal is the meeting with the River Avon just south of Pulteney Bridge...
on the Kennet and Avon Canal
Kennet and Avon Canal
The Kennet and Avon Canal is a waterway in southern England with an overall length of , made up of two lengths of navigable river linked by a canal. The name is commonly used to refer to the entire length of the navigation rather than solely to the central canal section...
to transport stone to London.
Following a failed bid to supply stone to buildings in London Allen wanted a building which would show off the properties of Bath Stone as a building material. Bath Stone is an Oolitic
Oolite
Oolite is a sedimentary rock formed from ooids, spherical grains composed of concentric layers. The name derives from the Hellenic word òoion for egg. Strictly, oolites consist of ooids of diameter 0.25–2 mm; rocks composed of ooids larger than 2 mm are called pisolites...
Limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
comprising granular fragments of calcium carbonate
Calcium carbonate
Calcium carbonate is a chemical compound with the formula CaCO3. It is a common substance found in rocks in all parts of the world, and is the main component of shells of marine organisms, snails, coal balls, pearls, and eggshells. Calcium carbonate is the active ingredient in agricultural lime,...
laid down during the Jurassic Period (195 to 135 million years ago). An important feature of Bath Stone is that it is a freestone, that is one that can be sawn or 'squared up' in any direction, unlike other rocks such as slate
Slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. The result is a foliated rock in which the foliation may not correspond to the original sedimentary layering...
, which forms distinct layers. It was extensively used in the Roman and Medieval periods on domestic, ecclesiastical and civil engineering projects such as bridges.
John Wood, the Elder
John Wood, the Elder
John Wood, the Elder, , was an English architect. Born in Twerton England, a village near Bath, now a suburb, he went to school in Bath. He came back to Bath after working in Yorkshire, and it is believed, in London, in his early 20s...
was commissioned to build on the hill overlooking Bath, by Ralph Allen: "To see all Bath, and for all Bath to see" John Wood, the Elder, was born in Bath. He is known for designing many of the streets and buildings of the city, such as The Circus
The Circus (Bath)
The Circus is an example of Georgian architecture in the city of Bath, Somerset, England, begun in 1754 and completed in 1768. The name comes from the Latin 'circus', which means a ring, oval or circle. It has been designated as a Grade I listed building....
(1754–68), St John's Hospital
St John's Hospital, Bath
St John's Hospital in Bath, Somerset, England, was founded around 1180, by Bishop Reginald Fitz Jocelin and is among the oldest almshouses in England...
, (1727–28), Queen Square
Queen Square (Bath)
Queen Square is a square of Georgian houses in the city of Bath, England.Queen Square was the first speculative development by the architect John Wood, the Elder. Wood lived in a house on the square. Numbers 21-27 make up the north side...
(1728–36), the North
North Parade, Bath
North Parade in Bath, Somerset, England is a historic terrace built around 1741 by John Wood, the Elder. Several of the houses have been designated as Grade I listed buildings....
(1740) and South Parades
South Parade, Bath
South Parade in Bath, Somerset, England is a historic terrace built around 1743 by John Wood, the Elder. All of the houses have been designated as Grade I listed buildings....
(1743–48), The Royal Mineral Water Hospital
Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases
The Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases NHS Foundation Trust is an NHS hospital trust of the National Health Service in England. It is a small, specialist Trust in the centre of Bath....
(1738–42) and other notable houses, many of which are Grade I listed buildings. Queen Square
Queen Square (Bath)
Queen Square is a square of Georgian houses in the city of Bath, England.Queen Square was the first speculative development by the architect John Wood, the Elder. Wood lived in a house on the square. Numbers 21-27 make up the north side...
was his first speculative development. Wood lived in a house on the square, which was described by Nikolaus Pevsner
Nikolaus Pevsner
Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner, CBE, FBA was a German-born British scholar of history of art and, especially, of history of architecture...
as "one of the finest Palladian compositions in England before 1730".
The plan for Prior Park was to construct five buildings along three sides of a dodecagon
Dodecagon
In geometry, a dodecagon is any polygon with twelve sides and twelve angles.- Regular dodecagon :It usually refers to a regular dodecagon, having all sides of equal length and all angles equal to 150°...
matching the sweep of the head of the valley, with the main building being flanked by elongated wings based on designs by Andrea Palladio
Andrea Palladio
Andrea Palladio was an architect active in the Republic of Venice. Palladio, influenced by Roman and Greek architecture, primarily by Vitruvius, is widely considered the most influential individual in the history of Western architecture...
. The plans were influenced by drawings originally made by Colen Campbell
Colen Campbell
Colen Campbell was a pioneering Scottish architect who spent most of his career in England, and is credited as a founder of the Georgian style...
for Wanstead House in Essex. The main block had 15 bays and each of the wings 17 bays each. Between each wing and the main block was a Porte-cochère
Porte-cochere
A porte-cochère is the architectural term for a porch- or portico-like structure at a main or secondary entrance to a building through which a horse and carriage can pass in order for the occupants to alight under cover, protected from the weather.The porte-cochère was a feature of many late 18th...
for coaches to stop under.
Construction work began in 1734 to Woods plan but disagreements between Wood and Allen led to his dismissal and his Clerk of Works, Richard Jones, replaced him and made some changes to the plans particularly for the east wing. Jones also added the Palladian Bridge.
In addition to the stone from the local quarries, material, including the grand staircase and plasterwork, from the demolished Hunstrete House were used in the construction.
Later use
After Allen's death in 1764 William WarburtonWilliam Warburton
William Warburton was an English critic and churchman, Bishop of Gloucester from 1759.-Life:He was born at Newark, where his father, who belonged to an old Cheshire family, was town clerk. William was educated at Oakham and Newark grammar schools, and in 1714 he was articled to Mr Kirke, an...
, Allen's relative, lived in the house for some time and it was passed down to other family members and then purchased by John Thomas, a Bristol Quaker. After William Beckford
William Thomas Beckford
William Thomas Beckford , usually known as William Beckford, was an English novelist, a profligate and consummately knowledgeable art collector and patron of works of decorative art, a critic, travel writer and sometime politician, reputed to be the richest commoner in England...
sold Fonthill Abbey
Fonthill Abbey
Fonthill Abbey — also known as Beckford's Folly — was a large Gothic revival country house built around the turn of the 19th century at Fonthill Gifford in Wiltshire, England, at the direction of William Thomas Beckford and architect James Wyatt...
, in 1822, he was looking about for a suitable new seat, Prior Park was his first choice: ""They wanted too much for it," he recalled later; "I should have liked it very much; it possesses such great capability of being made a very beautiful spot."
Peter Augustine Baines
Peter Augustine Baines
Peter Augustine Baines was an English Benedictine, Titular Bishop of Siga and Vicar Apostolic of the Western District of England.-Life:...
, a Benedictine
Benedictine
Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...
, Titular Bishop
Titular bishop
A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese.By definition a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop the tradition of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches is that he be ordained for a specific place...
of Siga and Vicar Apostolic of the Western District of England, was appointed to Bath in 1817. He purchased the mansion in 1828 for £22,000 and set to work to build two colleges at either end of the "mansion house", which he dedicated to St. Peter and St. Paul respectively, the former being intended as a lay college, the latter as a seminary, but the new college never became prosperous. Renovations were made according to designs by Henry Goodridge
Henry Goodridge
Henry Edmund Goodridge was an architect whose work started in the 1820s.-Works:Goodridge's neoclassical buildings in Bath include:* Cleveland Bridge;* one of the earliest shopping arcades...
in 1834 including the addition of the staircase in front of the main building. A gymnasium was also built in the 1830s including a courtyard for Fives
Fives
Fives is a British sport believed to derive from the same origins as many racquet sports. In fives, a ball is propelled against the walls of a special court using gloved or bare hands as though they were a racquet.-Background:...
, and three barrel vaulted rooms on the first floor and a terrace roof.
The seminary was closed in 1856 after a fire in 1836 that resulted in extensive damage and renovation and brought about financial insolvency. It was bought in 1867 by Bishop Clifford
William Hugh Joseph Clifford
William Hugh Joseph Clifford was an English prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Clifton from 1857 to 1893....
who founded a Roman Catholic Grammar School in the mansion. The grammar school closed in 1904 and the site was occupied by the army during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and afterwards by a series of tenants until, in 1921, the Christian Brothers
Congregation of Christian Brothers
The Congregation of Christian Brothers is a worldwide religious community within the Catholic Church, founded by Blessed Edmund Rice. The Christian Brothers, as they are commonly known, chiefly work for the evangelisation and education of youth, but are involved in many ministries, especially with...
took it over, founding a boys' boarding school in 1924.
The main building (Mansion) has been badly burnt twice. The 1836 fire left visible damage to some stonework. The 1991 fire gutted the interior, except for parts of the basement. Rebuilding took approximately three years. Unusually, the blaze started on the top floor, and spread downwards.
Architecture
The house described by Pevsner as “the most ambitious and most complete re-creation of Palladio's villas on English soil” was designed by John Wood the Elder, however, Wood and his patron, Allen, quarrelled and completion of the project was overseen by Richard Jones, the clerk-of-works.The plan consists of a corps de logis
Corps de logis
Corps de logis is the architectural term which refers to the principal block of a large, usually classical, mansion or palace. It contains the principal rooms, state apartments and an entry. The grandest and finest rooms are often on the first floor above the ground level: this floor is the...
flanked by two pavilions connected to the corps de logis by segmented single storey arcades. The northern façade (or garden façade) of the corps de logis is of 15 bays, the central 5 bays carry a prostyle
Prostyle
Prostyle is an architectural term defining free standing columns across the front of a building, as often in a portico. The term is often used as an adjective when referring to the portico of a classical building which projects from the main structure...
portico of six Corinthian
Corinthian order
The Corinthian order is one of the three principal classical orders of ancient Greek and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric and Ionic. When classical architecture was revived during the Renaissance, two more orders were added to the canon, the Tuscan order and the Composite order...
columns. The southern façade is more sombre in its embelishment, but has at its centre, six ionic
Ionic order
The Ionic order forms one of the three orders or organizational systems of classical architecture, the other two canonic orders being the Doric and the Corinthian...
columns surmounted by a pediment. The terminating pavilions have been much altered from their original design by Wood; he originally envisaged two pavilions at each end of the range; an unusual composition which was ignored by Jones who terminated the range with a single pavilion as is the more conventional Palladian concept.
The total length of the principal elevation is between 1200 feet (365.8 m) and 1300 feet (396.2 m) in length. Of that, the corps de logis occupies 150 feet (45.7 m). The two storey building with attics and a basement is topped with a Westmorland
Westmorland
Westmorland is an area of North West England and one of the 39 historic counties of England. It formed an administrative county from 1889 to 1974, after which the entirety of the county was absorbed into the new county of Cumbria.-Early history:...
slate roof.
The central flight of steps and urns, in Baroque style, which front the north portico were added by Goodridge in 1836.
Church
In the 1830s Goodridge put forward plans for a large cathedral to be built in the grounds, however this was never built and a small chapel was built in one of the wings of the mansion. The Church of St Paul, which was built in 1844 by Joseph John Scoles, is grade I listed. It is situated in one of the wings which were built by John Pinch around 1830 and Goodridge in a Greek RevivalGreek Revival architecture
The Greek Revival was an architectural movement of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in Northern Europe and the United States. A product of Hellenism, it may be looked upon as the last phase in the development of Neoclassical architecture...
style in 1836.
Gardens
John of Tours
John of Tours was a medieval Bishop of Wells in England who moved the diocese seat to Bath. He was a native of Tours and was King William I of England's doctor before becoming a bishop...
the Bishop of Bath and Wells
Bishop of Bath and Wells
The Bishop of Bath and Wells heads the Church of England Diocese of Bath and Wells in the Province of Canterbury in England.The present diocese covers the vast majority of the county of Somerset and a small area of Dorset. The Episcopal seat is located in the Cathedral Church of Saint Andrew in...
around 1100, as part of a deer park, and subsequently sold to Humphrey Colles and then Matthew Colhurst. It is set in a small steep valley, with views of the city of Bath. Prior Park's 11.3 hectares (27.9 acre) landscape garden
Landscape garden
The term landscape garden is often used to describe the English garden design style characteristic of the eighteenth century, that swept the Continent replacing the formal Renaissance garden and Garden à la française models. The work of Lancelot 'Capability' Brown is particularly influential.The...
was laid out by the poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
Alexander Pope
Alexander Pope
Alexander Pope was an 18th-century English poet, best known for his satirical verse and for his translation of Homer. He is the third-most frequently quoted writer in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, after Shakespeare and Tennyson...
between the construction of the house and 1764. During 1737, at least 55,200 trees, mostly elm and Scots pine, were planted, along the sides and top of the valley. No trees were planted on the valley floor. Water was channeled into fish ponds at the bottom of the valley.
Later work, during the 1750s and 1760s, was undertaken by the landscape gardener Capability Brown
Capability Brown
Lancelot Brown , more commonly known as Capability Brown, was an English landscape architect. He is remembered as "the last of the great English eighteenth-century artists to be accorded his due", and "England's greatest gardener". He designed over 170 parks, many of which still endure...
. This included extending the gardens to the north and removing the central cascade making the combe into a single sweep. The garden was influential in defining the style of garden known as the English garden
English garden
The English garden, also called English landscape park , is a style of Landscape garden which emerged in England in the early 18th century, and spread across Europe, replacing the more formal, symmetrical Garden à la française of the 17th century as the principal gardening style of Europe. The...
in continental Europe
Continental Europe
Continental Europe, also referred to as mainland Europe or simply the Continent, is the continent of Europe, explicitly excluding European islands....
.
The features in the gardens include a Palladian bridge (one of only 4 left in the world), Gothic temple, gravel cabinet, Mrs Allen's Grotto, ice house, lodge and three pools with curtain walls plus a serpentine lake. The Palladian bridge, which is a copy of the one at Wilton House
Wilton House
Wilton House is an English country house situated at Wilton near Salisbury in Wiltshire. It has been the country seat of the Earls of Pembroke for over 400 years....
, has been designated as a Grade I listed building and Scheduled Ancient Monument
Scheduled Ancient Monument
In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a 'nationally important' archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorized change. The various pieces of legislation used for legally protecting heritage assets from damage and destruction are grouped under the term...
. It was repaired in 1936.
The rusticated stone piers on either side of the main entrance gates are surmounted by entablature
Entablature
An entablature refers to the superstructure of moldings and bands which lie horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and are commonly divided into the architrave , the frieze ,...
s and large ornamental vases, while those at the drive entrance have ornamental carved 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...
s. The porters Lodge was built along with the main house to designs by John Wood the Elder.
In 1993 the park and pleasure grounds were acquired by the National Trust
National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty
The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, usually known as the National Trust, is a conservation organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland...
. In November 2006, the large-scale restoration project began on the cascade, serpentine lake and Gothic temple in the Wilderness area, this is now complete. Extensive planting also took place in 2007.