William Kent
Encyclopedia
William Kent born in Bridlington
, Yorkshire
, was an eminent English
architect
, landscape architect
and furniture
designer of the early 18th century.
He was baptised (on 1 January 1686) as William Cant.
, he set sail on the 22nd July 1709 from Deal, Kent
, arriving at Livorno
on the 15th October. By the 18th November he was in Florence
staying there until April 1710. Finally setting off for Rome. In 1713 he was awarded the second medal in the second class for painting in the annual competition run by the Accademia di San Luca
for his painting of A Miracle of S. Andrea Avellino. He also met several important figures Thomas Coke, later 1st Earl of Leicester
, with whom he toured Northern Italy in the summer of 1714 (a tour that led Kent to an appreciation of the architectural style of Andrea Palladio
's palaces in Vicenza
). Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni in Rome, for whom he apparently painted some pictures, though no records survive. During his stay in Rome, he painted the ceiling of the church of San Giuliano dei Fiamminghi (Church of St. Julian of the Flemings) with the Apotheosis of St. Julian. The most significant meeting was between Kent and Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington
. Kent left Rome for the last time in the autumn of 1719, he met Lord Burlington briefly at Genoa
, Kent journeying onto Paris
where Lord Burlington later joined him for the final journey back to England
before the end of the year. As a painter, he displaced Sir James Thornhill
in decorating the new state rooms at Kensington Palace
, London; for Burlington, he decorated Chiswick House
and Burlington House
.
... with some additional designs in the Palladian/Jonesian taste by Burlington and Kent, which appeared in 1727. As he rose through the royal architectural establishment, the Board of Works, Kent applied this style to several public buildings in London
, for which Burlington's patronage secured him the commissions: the Royal Mews
at Charing Cross
(1731–33, demolished in 1830), the Treasury buildings in Whitehall
(1733–37), the Horse Guards building
in Whitehall, (designed shortly before his death and built 1750–1759). These neo-antique buildings were inspired as much by the architecture of Raphael and Giulio Romano
as by Palladio.
In country house building, major commissions for Kent were designing the interiors of Houghton Hall
(c.1725–35), recently built by Colen Campbell
for Sir Robert Walpole
, but at Holkham Hall
the most complete embodiment of Palladian ideals is still to be found; there Kent collaborated with Thomas Coke, the other "architect earl", and had for an assistant Matthew Brettingham
, whose own architecture would carry Palladian ideals into the next generation. A theatrically Baroque staircase and parade rooms in London, at 44 Berkeley Square
, are also notable. Kent's domed pavilions were erected at Badminton House
and at Euston Hall
.
Kent could provide sympathetic Gothic
designs, free of serious antiquarian tendencies, when the context called; he worked on the Gothic screens in Westminster Hall and Gloucester Cathedral
.
, Stowe, Buckinghamshire
, from about 1730 onwards, designs for Alexander Pope
's villa garden at Twickenham
, for Queen Caroline
at Richmond and notably at Rousham House
, Oxfordshire, where he created a sequence of Arcadian set-pieces punctuated with temples, cascades, grottoes, Palladian bridges and exedra
, opening the field for the larger scale achievements of Capability Brown
in the following generation. Smaller Kent works can be found at Shotover House, Oxfordshire, including a faux Gothic eyecatcher and a domed pavilion. His all-but-lost gardens at Claremont
, Surrey
, have recently been restored. It is often said that he was not above planting dead trees to create the mood he required.
Kent's only real downfall was said to be his lack of horticultural knowledge and technical skill (which people like Charles Bridgeman
possessed - whose impact on Kent is often underestimated), but his naturalistic style of design was his major contribution to the history of landscape design. Claremont, Stowe, and Rousham are places where their joint efforts can be viewed. Stowe and Rousham are Kent's most famous works. At the latter, Kent elaborated on Bridgeman's 1720s design for the property, adding walls and arches to catch the viewer's eye. At Stowe, Kent used his Italian experience, particularly with the Palladian Bridge. At both sites Kent incorporated his naturalistic approach.
(1732), Lord Burlington's Chiswick House
(1729), London, Thomas Coke's Holkham Hall
, Norfolk, Robert Walpole's pile at Houghton
, for Devonshire House
in London, and at Rousham. The royal barge he designed for Frederick, Prince of Wales
can still be seen at the National Maritime Museum
, Greenwich.
In his own age, Kent's fame and popularity were so great that he was employed to give designs for all things, even for ladies' birthday dresses, of which he could know nothing and which he decorated with the five classical order
s of architecture. These and other absurdities drew upon him the satire of William Hogarth
who, in October 1725, produced a Burlesque on Kent's Altarpiece at St. Clement Danes.
Bridlington
Bridlington is a seaside resort, minor sea fishing port and civil parish on the Holderness Coast of the North Sea, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It has a static population of over 33,000, which rises considerably during the tourist season...
, Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
, was an eminent English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
, landscape architect
Landscape architect
A landscape architect is a person involved in the planning, design and sometimes direction of a landscape, garden, or distinct space. The professional practice is known as landscape architecture....
and furniture
Furniture
Furniture is the mass noun for the movable objects intended to support various human activities such as seating and sleeping in beds, to hold objects at a convenient height for work using horizontal surfaces above the ground, or to store things...
designer of the early 18th century.
He was baptised (on 1 January 1686) as William Cant.
Education
Kent's career began as a sign and coach painter who was encouraged to study art, design and architecture by his employer. A group of Yorkshire gentlemen sent Kent for a period of study in RomeRome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, he set sail on the 22nd July 1709 from Deal, Kent
Deal, Kent
Deal is a town in Kent England. It lies on the English Channel eight miles north-east of Dover and eight miles south of Ramsgate. It is a former fishing, mining and garrison town...
, arriving at Livorno
Livorno
Livorno , traditionally Leghorn , is a port city on the Tyrrhenian Sea on the western edge of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of approximately 160,000 residents in 2009.- History :...
on the 15th October. By the 18th November he was in Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
staying there until April 1710. Finally setting off for Rome. In 1713 he was awarded the second medal in the second class for painting in the annual competition run by the Accademia di San Luca
Accademia di San Luca
The Accademia di San Luca, was founded in 1577 as an association of artists in Rome, under the directorship of Federico Zuccari, with the purpose of elevating the work of "artists", which included painters, sculptors and architects, above that of mere craftsmen. Other founders included Girolamo...
for his painting of A Miracle of S. Andrea Avellino. He also met several important figures Thomas Coke, later 1st Earl of Leicester
Thomas Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester (fifth creation)
Thomas Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester, KB was a wealthy English land-owner and patron of the arts. He is particularly noted for commissioning the design and construction of Holkham Hall in north Norfolk. Between 1722 and 1728, he was Member of Parliament for Norfolk.He was the son of Edward Coke ...
, with whom he toured Northern Italy in the summer of 1714 (a tour that led Kent to an appreciation of the architectural style of 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...
's palaces in Vicenza
Vicenza
Vicenza , a city in north-eastern Italy, is the capital of the eponymous province in the Veneto region, at the northern base of the Monte Berico, straddling the Bacchiglione...
). Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni in Rome, for whom he apparently painted some pictures, though no records survive. During his stay in Rome, he painted the ceiling of the church of San Giuliano dei Fiamminghi (Church of St. Julian of the Flemings) with the Apotheosis of St. Julian. The most significant meeting was between Kent and Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington
Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington
Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington and 4th Earl of Cork PC , born in Yorkshire, England, was the son of Charles Boyle, 2nd Earl of Burlington and 3rd Earl of Cork...
. Kent left Rome for the last time in the autumn of 1719, he met Lord Burlington briefly at Genoa
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
, Kent journeying onto Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
where Lord Burlington later joined him for the final journey back to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
before the end of the year. As a painter, he displaced Sir James Thornhill
James Thornhill
Sir James Thornhill was an English painter of historical subjects, in the Italian baroque tradition.-Life:...
in decorating the new state rooms at Kensington Palace
Kensington Palace
Kensington Palace is a royal residence set in Kensington Gardens in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. It has been a residence of the British Royal Family since the 17th century and is the official London residence of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, the Duke and...
, London; for Burlington, he decorated Chiswick House
Chiswick House
Chiswick House is a Palladian villa in Burlington Lane, Chiswick, in the London Borough of Hounslow in England. Set in , the house was completed in 1729 during the reign of George II and designed by Lord Burlington. William Kent , who took a leading role in designing the gardens, created one of the...
and Burlington House
Burlington House
Burlington House is a building on Piccadilly in London. It was originally a private Palladian mansion, and was expanded in the mid 19th century after being purchased by the British government...
.
Architectural works
Kent started practising as an architect relatively late, in the 1730's. He is better remembered as an architect of the revived Palladian style in England. Burlington gave him the task of editing The Designs of Inigo JonesInigo Jones
Inigo Jones is the first significant British architect of the modern period, and the first to bring Italianate Renaissance architecture to England...
... with some additional designs in the Palladian/Jonesian taste by Burlington and Kent, which appeared in 1727. As he rose through the royal architectural establishment, the Board of Works, Kent applied this style to several public buildings in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, for which Burlington's patronage secured him the commissions: the Royal Mews
Royal Mews
A Royal Mews is a mews of the British Royal Family. In London the Royal Mews has occupied two main sites, formerly at Charing Cross, and since the 1820s at Buckingham Palace....
at Charing Cross
Charing Cross
Charing Cross denotes the junction of Strand, Whitehall and Cockspur Street, just south of Trafalgar Square in central London, England. It is named after the now demolished Eleanor cross that stood there, in what was once the hamlet of Charing. The site of the cross is now occupied by an equestrian...
(1731–33, demolished in 1830), the Treasury buildings in Whitehall
Whitehall
Whitehall is a road in Westminster, in London, England. It is the main artery running north from Parliament Square, towards Charing Cross at the southern end of Trafalgar Square...
(1733–37), the Horse Guards building
Horse Guards (building)
Horse Guards is a large grade I listed building in the Palladian style between Whitehall and Horse Guards Parade in London, England. It was built between 1751 and 1753 by John Vardy to a design by William Kent. The building was constructed on the site of the Guard House of the old Whitehall Palace,...
in Whitehall, (designed shortly before his death and built 1750–1759). These neo-antique buildings were inspired as much by the architecture of Raphael and Giulio Romano
Giulio Romano
Giulio Romano was an Italian painter and architect. A pupil of Raphael, his stylistic deviations from high Renaissance classicism help define the 16th-century style known as Mannerism...
as by Palladio.
In country house building, major commissions for Kent were designing the interiors of Houghton Hall
Houghton Hall
Houghton Hall is a country house in Norfolk, England. It was built for the de facto first British Prime Minister, Sir Robert Walpole, and it is a key building in the history of Palladian architecture in England...
(c.1725–35), recently built 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 Sir Robert Walpole
Robert Walpole
Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford, KG, KB, PC , known before 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole, was a British statesman who is generally regarded as having been the first Prime Minister of Great Britain....
, but at Holkham Hall
Holkham Hall
Holkham Hall is an eighteenth-century country house located adjacent to the village of Holkham, on the north coast of the English county of Norfolk...
the most complete embodiment of Palladian ideals is still to be found; there Kent collaborated with Thomas Coke, the other "architect earl", and had for an assistant Matthew Brettingham
Matthew Brettingham
Matthew Brettingham , sometimes called Matthew Brettingham the Elder, was an 18th-century Englishman who rose from humble origins to supervise the construction of Holkham Hall, and eventually became one of the country's better-known architects of his generation...
, whose own architecture would carry Palladian ideals into the next generation. A theatrically Baroque staircase and parade rooms in London, at 44 Berkeley Square
Berkeley Square
Berkeley Square is a town square in the West End of London, England, in the City of Westminster. It was originally laid out in the mid 18th century by architect William Kent...
, are also notable. Kent's domed pavilions were erected at Badminton House
Badminton House
Badminton House is a large country house in Gloucestershire, England, and has been the principal seat of the Dukes of Beaufort since the late 17th century, when the family moved from Raglan Castle, which had been ruined in the English Civil War...
and at Euston Hall
Euston Hall
Euston Hall is a country house, with park by William Kent and Capability Brown located in Euston, small village located just south of Thetford in Suffolk, England. It is the family home of the Dukes of Grafton....
.
Kent could provide sympathetic Gothic
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
designs, free of serious antiquarian tendencies, when the context called; he worked on the Gothic screens in Westminster Hall and Gloucester Cathedral
Gloucester Cathedral
Gloucester Cathedral, or the Cathedral Church of St Peter and the Holy and Indivisible Trinity, in Gloucester, England, stands in the north of the city near the river. It originated in 678 or 679 with the foundation of an abbey dedicated to Saint Peter .-Foundations:The foundations of the present...
.
Landscape architect
As a landscape designer, Kent was one of the originators of the English landscape garden, a style of 'natural' gardening that revolutionised the laying out of gardens and estates. His projects included Chiswick HouseChiswick House
Chiswick House is a Palladian villa in Burlington Lane, Chiswick, in the London Borough of Hounslow in England. Set in , the house was completed in 1729 during the reign of George II and designed by Lord Burlington. William Kent , who took a leading role in designing the gardens, created one of the...
, Stowe, Buckinghamshire
Stowe House
Stowe House is a Grade I listed country house located in Stowe, Buckinghamshire, England. It is the home of Stowe School, an independent school. The gardens , a significant example of the English Landscape Garden style, along with part of the Park, passed into the ownership of The National Trust...
, from about 1730 onwards, designs for 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...
's villa garden at Twickenham
Twickenham
Twickenham is a large suburban town southwest of central London. It is the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames and one of the locally important district centres identified in the London Plan...
, for Queen Caroline
Caroline of Ansbach
Caroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach was the queen consort of King George II of Great Britain.Her father, John Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach, was the ruler of a small German state...
at Richmond and notably at Rousham House
Rousham House
Rousham House is a Jacobean country house at Rousham in Oxfordshire, England. The house has been in the ownership of one family since it was built.-History:...
, Oxfordshire, where he created a sequence of Arcadian set-pieces punctuated with temples, cascades, grottoes, Palladian bridges and exedra
Exedra
In architecture, an exedra is a semicircular recess or plinth, often crowned by a semi-dome, which is sometimes set into a building's facade. The original Greek sense was applied to a room that opened onto a stoa, ringed with curved high-backed stone benches, a suitable place for a philosophical...
, opening the field for the larger scale achievements of 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...
in the following generation. Smaller Kent works can be found at Shotover House, Oxfordshire, including a faux Gothic eyecatcher and a domed pavilion. His all-but-lost gardens at Claremont
Claremont Landscape Garden
Claremont Landscape Garden, just outside Esher, Surrey, England, is one of the earliest surviving gardens of its kind of landscape design, the English Landscape Garden — still featuring its original 18th century layout...
, Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
, have recently been restored. It is often said that he was not above planting dead trees to create the mood he required.
Kent's only real downfall was said to be his lack of horticultural knowledge and technical skill (which people like Charles Bridgeman
Charles Bridgeman
Charles Bridgeman was an English garden designer in the onset of the naturalistic landscape style. Although he was a key figure in the transition of English garden design from the Anglo-Dutch formality of patterned parterres and avenues to a freer style that incorporated formal, structural and...
possessed - whose impact on Kent is often underestimated), but his naturalistic style of design was his major contribution to the history of landscape design. Claremont, Stowe, and Rousham are places where their joint efforts can be viewed. Stowe and Rousham are Kent's most famous works. At the latter, Kent elaborated on Bridgeman's 1720s design for the property, adding walls and arches to catch the viewer's eye. At Stowe, Kent used his Italian experience, particularly with the Palladian Bridge. At both sites Kent incorporated his naturalistic approach.
Furniture designer
His stately furniture designs complemented his interiors: he designed furnishings for Hampton Court PalaceHampton Court Palace
Hampton Court Palace is a royal palace in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, Greater London; it has not been inhabited by the British royal family since the 18th century. The palace is located south west of Charing Cross and upstream of Central London on the River Thames...
(1732), Lord Burlington's Chiswick House
Chiswick House
Chiswick House is a Palladian villa in Burlington Lane, Chiswick, in the London Borough of Hounslow in England. Set in , the house was completed in 1729 during the reign of George II and designed by Lord Burlington. William Kent , who took a leading role in designing the gardens, created one of the...
(1729), London, Thomas Coke's Holkham Hall
Holkham Hall
Holkham Hall is an eighteenth-century country house located adjacent to the village of Holkham, on the north coast of the English county of Norfolk...
, Norfolk, Robert Walpole's pile at Houghton
Houghton
-Buildings:* Houghton Hall, a country house in Norfolk, England * Houghton Hall, East Riding of Yorkshire, a stately home in Yorkshire, England* Houghton House, a ruined house in Bedfordshire, England-Australia:...
, for Devonshire House
Devonshire House
Devonshire House in Piccadilly was the London residence of the Dukes of Devonshire in the 18th and 19th centuries. It was built for William Cavendish, 3rd Duke of Devonshire in the Palladian style, to designs by William Kent...
in London, and at Rousham. The royal barge he designed for Frederick, Prince of Wales
Frederick, Prince of Wales
Frederick, Prince of Wales was a member of the House of Hanover and therefore of the Hanoverian and later British Royal Family, the eldest son of George II and father of George III, as well as the great-grandfather of Queen Victoria...
can still be seen at the National Maritime Museum
National Maritime Museum
The National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, England is the leading maritime museum of the United Kingdom and may be the largest museum of its kind in the world. The historic buildings forming part of the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site, it also incorporates the Royal Observatory, Greenwich,...
, Greenwich.
In his own age, Kent's fame and popularity were so great that he was employed to give designs for all things, even for ladies' birthday dresses, of which he could know nothing and which he decorated with the five classical order
Classical order
A classical order is one of the ancient styles of classical architecture, each distinguished by its proportions and characteristic profiles and details, and most readily recognizable by the type of column employed. Three ancient orders of architecture—the Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian—originated in...
s of architecture. These and other absurdities drew upon him the satire of William Hogarth
William Hogarth
William Hogarth was an English painter, printmaker, pictorial satirist, social critic and editorial cartoonist who has been credited with pioneering western sequential art. His work ranged from realistic portraiture to comic strip-like series of pictures called "modern moral subjects"...
who, in October 1725, produced a Burlesque on Kent's Altarpiece at St. Clement Danes.
Walpole tribute
According to Horace Walpole, Kent "was a painter, an architect, and the father of modern gardening. In the first character he was below mediocrity; in the second, he was a restorer of the science; in the last, an original, and the inventor of an art that realizes painting and improves nature. Mahomet imagined an elysium, Kent created many."Domestic work
- Wanstead HouseWanstead ParkWanstead Park is the name of a grade II listed municipal park covering an area of about 140 acres , located in Wanstead, in the London Borough of Redbridge, historically within the county of Essex...
, (designed by Colen CampbellColen CampbellColen Campbell was a pioneering Scottish architect who spent most of his career in England, and is credited as a founder of the Georgian style...
) interior decoration (1721–24) - Burlington HouseBurlington HouseBurlington House is a building on Piccadilly in London. It was originally a private Palladian mansion, and was expanded in the mid 19th century after being purchased by the British government...
, London interior decoration (c.1727) - Chiswick HouseChiswick HouseChiswick House is a Palladian villa in Burlington Lane, Chiswick, in the London Borough of Hounslow in England. Set in , the house was completed in 1729 during the reign of George II and designed by Lord Burlington. William Kent , who took a leading role in designing the gardens, created one of the...
, London, interiors and furniture (c.1726-29) - Houghton HallHoughton HallHoughton Hall is a country house in Norfolk, England. It was built for the de facto first British Prime Minister, Sir Robert Walpole, and it is a key building in the history of Palladian architecture in England...
, interiors and furniture (c.1726-31) & stables (c.1733-5) - DitchleyDitchleyDitchley is a country house and estate about northeast of Charlbury in Oxfordshire.-Archaeology:There are remains of a Roman villa on the Ditchley Park estate at Watts Wells, less than southeast of the house...
, Oxfordshire, (designed by James GibbsJames GibbsJames Gibbs was one of Britain's most influential architects. Born in Scotland, he trained as an architect in Rome, and practised mainly in England...
) interiors (c.1726) - Sherborne House, GloucestershireSherborne House, GloucestershireSherborne House is a large house in the village of Sherborne, Gloucestershire, England. It is a former country house that has been converted into flats and has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade II* listed building....
, furniture designs (1728) - Stowe HouseStowe HouseStowe House is a Grade I listed country house located in Stowe, Buckinghamshire, England. It is the home of Stowe School, an independent school. The gardens , a significant example of the English Landscape Garden style, along with part of the Park, passed into the ownership of The National Trust...
, interiors and garden buildings (c.1730 to 1748) - Alexander PopeAlexander PopeAlexander 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...
's Villa, designs for garden buildings (c.1730) demolished - Richmond Gardens, garden buildings 1730-35, demolished
- Stanwick ParkStanwick ParkStanwick Park was a palladian country house at Stanwick St John in Yorkshire. It was re-built by the 1st Duke of Northumberland, a great patron of the arts, c1739-1740, mostly to his own designs. The Duke's principal seat was Alnwick Castle thus Stanwick Park was always a secondary residence...
(ascribed), remodelled and interiors (c.1730-40) - Raynham HallRaynham HallRaynham Hall is a country house in Norfolk, England. For 300 years it has been the seat of the Townshend family. The hall gave its name to the area, known as The Raynhams, and is reported to be haunted, providing the scene for possibly the most famous ghost photo of all time, the famous Brown Lady...
, interiors and furniture (c.1731) - Kew House, (1731-5) demolished 1802
- Esher PlaceEsher PlaceEsher Place is a Grade-II listed country house, now used as a college by the trade union Unite, in Esher, Surrey, United Kingdom. The current building is at least the fourth on the site.-History:...
, the wings (c.1733) demolished - Shotover HouseShotoverShotover is a hill and forest in Oxfordshire, England.Shotover Hill is east of Oxford. Its highest point is above sea level.-Early history:The toponym may be derived from the Old English scoet ofer, meaning "steep slope"...
, Obelisk, Octagonal & Gothic temples, (1733) - Holkham HallHolkham HallHolkham Hall is an eighteenth-century country house located adjacent to the village of Holkham, on the north coast of the English county of Norfolk...
, with Earl of BurlingtonRichard Boyle, 3rd Earl of BurlingtonRichard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington and 4th Earl of Cork PC , born in Yorkshire, England, was the son of Charles Boyle, 2nd Earl of Burlington and 3rd Earl of Cork...
& Earl of LeicesterThomas Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester (fifth creation)Thomas Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester, KB was a wealthy English land-owner and patron of the arts. He is particularly noted for commissioning the design and construction of Holkham Hall in north Norfolk. Between 1722 and 1728, he was Member of Parliament for Norfolk.He was the son of Edward Coke ...
executed by Matthew BrettinghamMatthew BrettinghamMatthew Brettingham , sometimes called Matthew Brettingham the Elder, was an 18th-century Englishman who rose from humble origins to supervise the construction of Holkham Hall, and eventually became one of the country's better-known architects of his generation...
(1734–1765) - Devonshire HouseDevonshire HouseDevonshire House in Piccadilly was the London residence of the Dukes of Devonshire in the 18th and 19th centuries. It was built for William Cavendish, 3rd Duke of Devonshire in the Palladian style, to designs by William Kent...
including furniture, (1734-5), demolished 1924-5 - Easton NestonEaston NestonEaston Neston is a country house near Towcester, Northamptonshire, England, and is part of the Easton Neston Parish. It was designed in the Baroque style by the architect Nicholas Hawksmoor. Easton Neston is thought to be the only mansion which was solely the work of Hawksmoor...
, designed fireplaces (1735) - Aske HallAske HallAske Hall is a Georgian country house, with parkland attributed to Capability Brown, north of Richmond, North Yorkshire, England. It contains an impressive collection of 18th-century furniture, paintings and porcelain, and in its grounds a John Carr stable block converted into a chapel in...
(ascribed), Gothic temple, (1735) - Claremont GardenClaremont (country house)Claremont, also known historically as 'Clermont', is an 18th-century Palladian mansion situated less than a mile south of Esher in Surrey, England...
, garden buildings, (1738), only the domed temple on the island in the lake survives - Rousham HouseRousham HouseRousham House is a Jacobean country house at Rousham in Oxfordshire, England. The house has been in the ownership of one family since it was built.-History:...
, addition of wings and landscaping of the gardens & garden buildings (1738–41) - Badminton HouseBadminton HouseBadminton House is a large country house in Gloucestershire, England, and has been the principal seat of the Dukes of Beaufort since the late 17th century, when the family moved from Raglan Castle, which had been ruined in the English Civil War...
, remodelling of the north front & Worcester Lodge, (c.1740) - 22 Arlington Street, London, (1741–50), completed after Kent's death by Stephen Wright
- 44 Berkeley SquareBerkeley SquareBerkeley Square is a town square in the West End of London, England, in the City of Westminster. It was originally laid out in the mid 18th century by architect William Kent...
, London, (1742-4) - 16 St. James Place, London early (1740s) demolished 1899-1900
- Oatlands PalaceOatlands PalaceOatlands Palace is a former Tudor and Stuart royal palace located between Weybridge and Walton on Thames in Surrey, England. The surrounding modern district of Oatlands takes its name from the palace...
, garden building (c.1745), demolished - Euston HallEuston HallEuston Hall is a country house, with park by William Kent and Capability Brown located in Euston, small village located just south of Thetford in Suffolk, England. It is the family home of the Dukes of Grafton....
, Suffolk (1746) - Wakefield Lodge, Northamptonshire (c.1748-50)
Public buildings & royal commissions
- Chiesa di San Giuliano dei FiamminghiChiesa di San Giuliano dei FiamminghiThe Church of St. Julian of the Flemings is a Roman Catholic church dedicated to Saint Julian the Hospitaller, located in Rome, Italy. Historically, the church has been the National Church in Rome of the Southern Netherlands and, in 1830, became the national church of the Kingdom of...
, painted ceiling (c.1717) - York MinsterYork MinsterYork Minster is a Gothic cathedral in York, England and is one of the largest of its kind in Northern Europe alongside Cologne Cathedral. The minster is the seat of the Archbishop of York, the second-highest office of the Church of England, and is the cathedral for the Diocese of York; it is run by...
, marble pavement (1731-5) - Royal MewsRoyal MewsA Royal Mews is a mews of the British Royal Family. In London the Royal Mews has occupied two main sites, formerly at Charing Cross, and since the 1820s at Buckingham Palace....
, (1731–33) demolished 1830 - Royal State Barge, (1732)
- Hampton Court PalaceHampton Court PalaceHampton Court Palace is a royal palace in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, Greater London; it has not been inhabited by the British royal family since the 18th century. The palace is located south west of Charing Cross and upstream of Central London on the River Thames...
, gateway in Clock Court & rooms for the Duke of Cumberland, (1732) - Kensington PalaceKensington PalaceKensington Palace is a royal residence set in Kensington Gardens in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. It has been a residence of the British Royal Family since the 17th century and is the official London residence of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, the Duke and...
, interiors, including Cupola Room and several murals and painted ceilings (1733-5) - former Treasury building WhitehallWhitehallWhitehall is a road in Westminster, in London, England. It is the main artery running north from Parliament Square, towards Charing Cross at the southern end of Trafalgar Square...
, (1733-7) - St. James Palace, the library (1736-7), demolished
- Westminster Hall, Gothic screen enclosing law courts (1738–39), demolished c.1825
- York Minster, Gothic pulpit and choir furniture (1741), removed
- Gloucester CathedralGloucester CathedralGloucester Cathedral, or the Cathedral Church of St Peter and the Holy and Indivisible Trinity, in Gloucester, England, stands in the north of the city near the river. It originated in 678 or 679 with the foundation of an abbey dedicated to Saint Peter .-Foundations:The foundations of the present...
, Gothic choir-screen (1741), removed 1820 - Horse GuardsHorse Guards (building)Horse Guards is a large grade I listed building in the Palladian style between Whitehall and Horse Guards Parade in London, England. It was built between 1751 and 1753 by John Vardy to a design by William Kent. The building was constructed on the site of the Guard House of the old Whitehall Palace,...
, (1750-9)
Church memorials
- Chester CathedralChester CathedralChester Cathedral is the mother church of the Church of England Diocese of Chester, and is located in the city of Chester, Cheshire, England. The cathedral, formerly St Werburgh's abbey church of a Benedictine monastery, is dedicated to Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary...
, to John & Thomas Wainwright - Henry VII Lady ChapelHenry VII Lady ChapelThe Henry VII Lady Chapel, now more often known just as the Henry VII Chapel, is a large Lady chapel at the far eastern end of Westminster Abbey, paid for by the will of Henry VII. It is separated from the rest of the abbey by brass gates and a flight of stairs.The structure of the chapel is a...
, to George Monck, 1st Duke of AlbemarleGeorge Monck, 1st Duke of AlbemarleGeorge Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle, KG was an English soldier and politician and a key figure in the restoration of Charles II.-Early life and career:...
(1730) - York Minster, to Thomas Watson Wentworth (1731)
- Westminster AbbeyWestminster AbbeyThe Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...
to Sir Isaac NewtonIsaac NewtonSir Isaac Newton PRS was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, and theologian, who has been "considered by many to be the greatest and most influential scientist who ever lived."...
, sculpted by John Michael RysbrackJohn Michael RysbrackJohannes Michel or John Michael Rysbrack, original name Jan Michiel Rijsbrack , was an 18th-century Flemish sculptor. His birth-year is sometimes given as 1693 or 1684....
(1731) - Kirkthorpe church, to Thomas & Catherine Stringer (1731-2)
- Blenheim PalaceBlenheim PalaceBlenheim Palace is a monumental country house situated in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England, residence of the dukes of Marlborough. It is the only non-royal non-episcopal country house in England to hold the title of palace. The palace, one of England's largest houses, was built between...
Chapel, to John Churchill, 1st Duke of MarlboroughJohn Churchill, 1st Duke of MarlboroughJohn Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, Prince of Mindelheim, KG, PC , was an English soldier and statesman whose career spanned the reigns of five monarchs through the late 17th and early 18th centuries...
, sculpted by John Michael Rysbrack (1733) - Westminster Abbey, to James Stanhope, 1st Earl StanhopeJames Stanhope, 1st Earl StanhopeJames Stanhope, 1st Earl Stanhope PC was a British statesman and soldier who effectively served as Chief Minister between 1717 and 1721. He is probably best remembered for his service during War of the Spanish Succession...
(1733) - Westminster Abbey, to William ShakespeareWilliam ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
, sculpted by Peter ScheemakersPeter ScheemakersPeter Scheemakers was a Flemish Roman Catholic sculptor who worked for most of his life in London, Great Britain....
(1740) - Ashby-de-la-ZouchAshby-de-la-ZouchAshby-de-la-Zouch, — Zouch being pronounced "Zoosh" — often shortened to Ashby, is a small market town and civil parish in North West Leicestershire, England, within the National Forest. It is twinned with Pithiviers in north-central France....
, to Theophilus Hastings, 9th Earl of HuntingdonTheophilus Hastings, 9th Earl of HuntingdonTheophilus Hastings, 9th Earl of Huntingdon was the son of Theophilus Hastings, 7th Earl of Huntingdon and Mary Frances Fowler. He married Lady Selina Shirley, daughter of Washington Shirley, 2nd Earl Ferrers and Mary Levinge, on 3 June 1728.There is a monument to him in St Helen's Church,...
(1746)