Compton Verney And Attached Screen Wall

COMPTON VERNEY AND ATTACHED SCREEN WALL

A country house of major importance, comprising a west range attributed to Sir John Vanbrugh dating to around 1714, substantially remodelled by Robert Adam between 1761 and 1765, with further alterations carried out by John Gibson in 1855. The building is constructed in limestone ashlar with a graduated slate roof, ashlar ridge and internal stacks, and is planned on a U-shaped footprint with wings extended by Adam.

The entrance front faces east and presents two storeys plus an attic storey. The centrepiece comprises a four-window section framed by a giant tetrastyle Corinthian colonnade designed by Adam, which displays unfluted columns and a frieze, cornice and balustrade that continue over flanking re-entrant stair wings. The colonnade features rich coffering. Flanking the colonnade are pedimented wings. A balustraded parapet runs across the façade. The frieze above the windows is ornamented with festoons, rosettes and a central crest within a belt by Gibson. The entrance itself, executed by Gibson, has moulded pilaster strips, an architrave, a pulvinated frieze with bay leaf decoration and a consoled cornice, surmounting small-paned glazed doors with a small-paned overlight. Flanking windows have architraves and 24-pane horned sashes. Attic dormers pierce the roofline. The stair wings contain windows with architraves, pulvinated friezes and pediments to 8/12 horned sashes, with upper windows glazed in 8-pane format. The returns of the stair wings have plain entrances with round windows above.

The taller wings extend with four-window returns to either side. First-floor sill courses, top friezes and cornices articulate the façades. Windows throughout have architraves; those on the ground floor display pulvinated friezes and cornices, while entrances feature small-paned overlights and 19th-century doors with two round-headed glazed panels over two fielded panels. The wing ends are treated with rusticated quoin strips and pediments containing lunettes. Venetian windows set within arches, complete with balustraded aprons and Ionic colonnettes, frame small-paned sashes. First-floor windows have architraves and consoled cornices to 8/12 sashes.

The west, or garden, front is articulated as a composition of 3-5-3 bays. Rusticated quoin strips flank the ends, whilst plat bands and first-floor sill bands define the storeys. A top frieze and cornice complete the façade, with a balustraded parapet to the central section. The taller centre is framed by Doric pilasters, a first-floor sill band, an entablature and a balustraded parapet. A round-headed French window to the centre is flanked by rusticated Doric pilasters and features an entablature with a triglyph frieze, small-paned glazing over two fielded panels. Round-headed windows throughout have plain architraves with large key blocks to small-paned sashes. Ground-floor examples include aprons and niches similar to those flanking the centre bays, whilst first-floor windows display impost bands. Attic dormers with pediments and 4/4 sashes complete the composition.

An attached screen wall, masking a demolished service wing, is positioned at the left end and features plain surrounds to an entrance and a blind window.

The south façade follows similar treatment to the west front and was originally composed of four bays with end bays projecting forward beneath pediments. Adam extended this façade by adding four bays to the right, with the end bay also breaking forward under a pediment. Rusticated quoin strips, a broad first-floor sill band, a top frieze and cornice articulate the surface. Lunettes punctuate the pediments, and five pedimented dormers pierce the roofline.

The north side, facing the demolished service wing, is rendered in dressed stone with ashlar dressings. A basement on a brick plinth, exposed at the right end, features a recessed-chamfered mullioned window and a similar window adapted to serve as an entrance. Blind windows appear above, and a bell surmounts a pediment. Other windows display 24-pane and 8/12 sashes.

The interior, designed by Adam, includes a hall and saloon with plasterwork executed by Joseph Rose and Robert Moore. Significant alterations were made by Gibson, and various details are now obscured by later screening.

The hall contains a coloured marble floor and a dado with mouldings to plinth and cornice. A screen with two Ionic columns stands at the left end. A large fireplace with painted decoration by Andrea Zuchi is a notable feature. Picture frames display acanthus scrolling and eared and shouldered architraves. Entrances throughout have architraves, friezes and cornices. A rich cornice runs around a coffered ceiling with coving; this ceiling was altered by Gibson.

The saloon features pairs of scagliola Ionic columns screening apses. A dado, a fluted frieze with paterae and a dentil cornice articulate the walls. The fireplace is plain. A doorway at one end contains an architrave with a frieze and consoled cornice, opening to large paired mahogany doors with enriched panels and glass door knobs.

Rooms in the south range display similar details throughout: dados, wall panels, rich cornices and doors. Carved wood fireplaces retain early 18th-century detailing, many fitted with 19th-century grates. One room contains what is probably early 20th-century landscape wallpaper. A dogleg staircase with turned balusters and a newel serves these spaces. An octagonal end room is fitted with four closet and bookcases featuring rich friezes and cornices. Round-headed recesses with shelves flank openings equipped with glazed doors, and one case incorporates a doorway with flanking shelves displaying dummy books attributed to female authors.

Rooms in the north range display simpler detailing with eared architraves to doorways. Two rooms at the west end retain coved cornices with acanthus and bay leaf decoration, these elements probably dating from the 1690s and representing survival from an earlier house on the site. A blocked elliptical-headed doorway may form part of an enfilade along the west range. A dogleg staircase with stick balusters, and some turned balusters at the top, serves this range. The kitchen in the west range features a large elliptical-headed arch with a key block. The stair wings contain a 19th-century cantilevered stair with moulded treads and cast-iron balusters, as well as a service stair with stick balusters.

The first floor displays considerable alteration and subdivision, though rooms in the south range extension retain evidence of taller elliptical-headed doorways. Eared architraves frame pine doors throughout; some carved wood fireplaces remain, certain examples displaying Rococo detailing and one featuring a Rococo-style angle fireplace. One room in the west range contains an elliptical-arched recess and door fitted with an etched glass panel.

The cellar is partly vaulted and contains a tunnel leading to the service building.

Despite alterations, Compton Verney remains an important country house, set within grounds landscaped by Lancelot 'Capability' Brown.