AnEnglish country house is a large house ormansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned atown house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these people, the term distinguished between town and country.
However, many were, and often still are, the full-time residence for thelanded gentry who dominated rural England until theReform Act 1832.[1] Frequently, the formal business of thecounties was transacted in these country houses, having functional antecedents inmanor houses.
With large numbers of indoor and outdoor staff, country houses were important as places of employment for many rural communities. In turn, until theagricultural depressions of the 1870s, the estates, of which country houses were the hub, provided their owners with incomes. The late 19th and early 20th centuries were the swansong of the traditional English country house lifestyle. Increased taxation and the effects ofWorld War I led to thedemolition of hundreds of houses; those that remained had to adapt to survive.
While achâteau or aSchloss can be fortified or unfortified, a country house, similar to anAnsitz, is usually unfortified. Some English country houses were given castellated designs, but many buildings with "castle" in their name—such asHighclere Castle—were never fortified; in such cases, the title reflects architectural fashion rather than defence.[2][3]
The termstately home is subject to debate, and avoided by historians and other academics. As a description of a country house, the term was first used in a poem byFelicia Hemans, "The Homes of England", originally published inBlackwood's Magazine in 1827. In the 20th century, the term was later popularised in a song byNoël Coward.[6]
In England, the terms "country house" and "stately home" are sometimes used vaguely and interchangeably; however, many country houses such asAscott in Buckinghamshire were deliberately designed not to be stately, and to harmonise with the landscape, while some of the great houses such asKedleston Hall andHolkham Hall were built as "power houses" to dominate the landscape, and were most certainly intended to be "stately" and impressive.[7]
In his bookHistoric Houses: Conversations in Stately Homes, the author and journalistRobert Harling documents nineteen "stately homes"; these range in size from the vastBlenheim Palace andCastle Howard to the minusculeEbberston Hall, and in architecture from the Jacobean Renaissance ofHatfield House to the eccentricities ofSezincote.
The book's collection of stately homes also includesGeorge IV's Brighton town palace, theRoyal Pavilion.[8]
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The country houses of England have evolved over the last five hundred years. Before this time, larger houses were usually fortified, reflecting the position of their owners asfeudal lords,de facto overlords of theirmanors. TheTudor period of stability in the country saw the building of the first of the unfortified great houses.FollowingHenry VIII’sdissolution of the monasteries (1536–1541), many formerecclesiastical properties were granted to royal favourites, who converted them into private country houses.[9]Woburn Abbey,Forde Abbey and many other mansions withabbey orpriory in their name became private houses during this period. Other terms used in the names of houses includepalace,castle,court,hall,mansion,park,house,manor, andplace.
It was during the second half of the reign ofElizabeth I, and under her successor,James I, that the first architect-designed mansions, thought of today as epitomising the English country house, began to make their appearance.Burghley House,Longleat, andHatfield House are among the best-known examples of the showyprodigy house, often built with the intention of attracting the monarch to visit. By the reign ofCharles I,Inigo Jones and his form ofPalladianism had changed the face of English domestic architecture completely, with the use of turrets and towers as an architectural reference to the earlier castles and fortified houses completely disappearing. The Palladian style, in various forms, interrupted briefly bybaroque, was to predominate until the second half of the 18th century when, influenced by ancient Greek styles, it gradually evolved into theneoclassicism championed by such architects asRobert Adam.
Some of the best known of England's country houses were the work of only one architect/designer, built in a relatively short, particular time:Montacute House,Chatsworth House, andBlenheim Palace are examples. While the latter two areducal palaces, Montacute, although built by aMaster of the Rolls to Queen Elizabeth I, was occupied for the next 400 years by his descendants, who were gentry without a Londontownhouse, rather than aristocracy. They finally ran out of funds in the early 20th century.
However, the vast majority of English country houses, often owned at different times by gentlemen andpeers, are an evolution of one or more styles with facades and wings in different styles in a mixture of high architecture,[11] often as interpreted by a local architect or surveyor, and determined by practicality as much as by the whims of architectural taste. An example of this isBrympton d'Evercy in Somerset, a house of many periods that is unified architecturally by the continuing use of the same mellow, localHam Hill stone.
The fashionableWilliam Kent redesignedRousham House only to have it quickly and drastically altered to provide space for the owner's twelve children.Canons Ashby, home to poetJohn Dryden's family, is another example of architectural evolution: a medieval farmhouse enlarged in theTudor era around a courtyard, given grandiose plaster ceilings in theStuart period, and then havingGeorgian façades added in the 18th century. The whole is a glorious mismatch of styles and fashions that seamlessly blend together. These could be called the true English country house.Wilton House, one of England's grandest houses, is in a remarkably similar vein; although, while the Drydens, mere squires, at Canons Ashby employed a local architect, at Wilton the mightyEarls of Pembroke employed the finest architects of the day: firstHolbein, 150 years later Inigo Jones, and then Wyatt followed by Chambers. Each employed a different style of architecture, seemingly unaware of the design of the wing around the next corner. These varying "improvements", often criticised at the time, today are the qualities that make English country houses unique.
Thegreat houses are the largest of the country houses; in truth palaces, built by the country's most powerful – these were designed to display their owners' power or ambitions to power.[12] Really large unfortified or barely fortified houses began to take over from the traditionalcastles of the crown and magnates during the Tudor period, with vast houses such asHampton Court Palace andBurghley House, and continued until the 18th century with houses such asCastle Howard,Kedleston Hall andHolkham Hall.[13] Such building reached its zenith from the late 17th century until the mid-18th century. These houses were often completely built or rebuilt in their entirety by one eminent architect in the most fashionable architectural style of the day and often have a suite of Baroque state apartments, typically inenfilade, reserved for the most eminent guests, the entertainment of whom was of paramount importance in establishing and maintaining the power of the owner. The common denominator of this category of English country houses is that they were designed to be lived in with a certain degree of ceremony and pomp. It was not unusual for the family to have a small suite of rooms for withdrawing in privacy away from the multitude that lived in the household. These houses were always an alternative residence to a London house.
During the 18th and 19th centuries, for the highest echelons of English society, the country house served as a place for relaxing, hunting and running the country with one's equals at the end of the week, with some houses having their owntheatre where performances were staged.[14]
The country house, however, was not just an oasis of pleasure for its owners; it was also a major centre of employment for local communities. Estate staff often had greater security and accommodation than many agricultural labourers, but their conditions were demanding, with long hours, strict hierarchies, and modest pay.[15][16]
As a result of the aristocratic habit of only marrying within the aristocracy, and whenever possible to a sole heiress, many owners of country houses owned several country mansions,[17] and would visit each according to the season:Grouse shooting in Scotland,pheasant shooting andfox hunting in England. TheEarl of Rosebery, for instance, hadDalmeny House in Scotland,Mentmore Towers in Buckinghamshire, and another house nearEpsom just for the racing season.[18] For many, this way of life, which began a steady decline in 1914, continued well into the 20th century, and for a few continues to this day.
In the second category of England's country houses are those that belonged to the squirearchy orlanded gentry. These tend either to have evolved from medieval hall houses, with rooms added as required, or were purpose-built by relatively unknown local architects. Smaller, and far greater in number than the "power houses", these were still the epicentre of their own estate, but were often the only residence of their owner.
However, whether the owner of a "power house" or a small manor, the inhabitants of the English country house have become collectively referred to as the ruling class, because this is exactly what they did in varying degrees, whether by having high political influence and power in national government, or in the day-to-day running of their own localities or "county" in such offices aslord/deputy lieutenant,magistrates, or occasionally even clergy.[19]
TheCountry house mystery was a popular genre of English detective fiction in the 1920s and 1930s; set in the residence of thegentry and often involving a murder in a country house temporarily isolated by a snowstorm or similar with the suspects all at a weekend house party.
Following theIndustrial Revolution of the 18th century, a third category of country houses was built as newly rich industrialists and bankers were eager to display their wealth and taste. By the 1850s, with the English economy booming, new mansions were built in one of the manyrevivalist architectural styles popular throughout the 19th century.[20] The builders of these new houses were able to take advantage of the political unrest in Europe that gave rise to a large trade in architectural salvage.[20] This new wave of country house building is exemplified by theRothschild properties in the home counties andBletchley Park (rebuilt in several styles, and famous for its code-breaking role in World War II).
The slow decline of the English country house coincided with the rise not just of taxation, but also of modern industry, along with the agricultural depression of the 1870s. By 1880, this had led some owners into financial shortfalls as they tried to balance maintenance of their estates with the income they provided. Some relied on funds from secondary sources such as banking and trade while others, like the severely impoverishedDuke of Marlborough, sought to marry American heiresses to save their country houses and lifestyles.[22]
The ultimate demise began immediately followingWorld War I. The members of the huge staff required to maintain large houses had either left to fight and never returned, departed to work in the munitions factories, or filled the void left by the fighting men in other workplaces. Of those who returned after the war, many left the countryside for better-paid jobs in towns. The final blow for many country houses came followingWorld War II; having been requisitioned during the war, they were returned to the owners in poor repair. Many estate owners, having lost their heirs, if not in the immediately preceding war then in World War I, were now paying far higher rates of tax, and agricultural incomes had dropped. Thus, the solution for many was to holdcontents auctions and then demolish the house and sell its stone,fireplaces, andpanelling. This is what happened to many of Britain's finest houses.
Despite this slow decline, so necessary was the country house for entertaining and prestige that in 1917Viscount Lee of Fareham donated his country houseChequers to the nation for the use of a prime minister who might not possess one of his or her own. Chequers still fulfills that need today as do bothChevening House andDorneywood, donated for sole use of high-ranking ministers of the Crown.
Today, many country houses have become hotels,[23] schools, hospitals and museums, while others have survived as conserved ruins, but from the early 20th century until the early 1970s,hundreds of country houses were demolished. Houses that survived destruction are now mostly Grade I or IIlisted as buildings of historic interest with restrictions on restoration and re-creation work. However such work is usually very expensive. Several houses have been restored, some over many years. For example, atCopped Hall where the restoration started in 1995 continues to this day.
Although the ownership or management of some houses has been transferred to aprivate trust, most notably atChatsworth, other houses have transferred art works and furnishings under theAcceptance in Lieu scheme to ownership by various national or local museums, but retained for display in the building. This enables the former owners to offset tax, the payment of which would otherwise have necessitated the private sale of the art works. For example, tapestries and furniture atHoughton Hall are now owned by theVictoria and Albert Museum. In addition, increasing numbers of country houses hold licences for weddings andcivil ceremonies. Another source of income is to use the house as a venue for parties,[24] afilm location or acorporate entertainment venue. While many country houses are open to the public and derive income through that means, they remain homes, in some cases inhabited by the descendants of their original owners.
The lifestyles of those living and working in a country house in the early 20th century were recreated in aBBC television programme,The Edwardian Country House, filmed atManderston House in Scotland. Another television programme which features life in country houses is theITV seriesDownton Abbey.[25]
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