Charlecote Park

Charlecote Park is a country house begun in 1558 and extensively extended during the 19th century. It was partly restored and extended, including the east range, between 1829 and 1834 by C S Smith. The north-east wing was rebuilt and the south wing extended between 1847 and 1867 by John Gibson. These works were commissioned by George and Mary Elizabeth Lucy.

The house is built of brick — the original 16th-century brickwork features diapering in vitrified headers, though much was replaced in the 19th century. It has ashlar dressings, a tile roof, and brick stacks with octagonal ashlar shafts and caps. The plan forms a U-shape facing east, with a later west range and south wing.

East Entrance Front

The east entrance front has two storeys with an attic and comprises a three-window range with long gabled projecting wings. It features an ashlar plinth, continuous drip courses, and coped gables with finials. Sections of strapwork balustrading run between the gables, and there are quoins throughout.

The two-storey ashlar porch has a round-headed entrance flanked by pairs of Ionic pilasters and an entablature. The entrance itself has panelled jambs, an impost course, and an arch with a lion mask to the key and two voussoirs. Strapwork spandrels and stained glass appear in the fanlight over paired four-panel doors. At first-floor level, the Arms of Elizabeth I appear below a projecting ovolo-moulded cross-mullion window, flanked by pairs of Composite detached columns. The top balustrade, with symmetrical balusters, supports a Catherine wheel and heraldic beasts holding spears. Original diapered brick survives to the returns.

To the left of the porch is a three-light mullioned and transomed window at each floor, with the first-floor window having a strapwork apron. To the right is a large canted bay window with 1:3:1 transomed lights and a pierced rosette parapet modelled on that of the gatehouse. This is flanked by cross-mullioned windows, all with moulded reveals and small-paned sashes. The 19th-century gables have three-light ovolo-mullioned windows with leaded glazing.

The wings are similar in treatment, with two gables to the five-window inner returns and ovolo-moulded cross-mullioned windows. The south wing retains much diaper brickwork and has a stair window with a strapwork apron.

The east gable ends have two-storey canted bay windows dated 1852 in strapwork panels displaying the Lucy Arms, positioned between 1:3:1-light transomed windows. Three-light attic windows appear above; the north window has a patch of reconstructed diaper brickwork to the left.

Octagonal stair turrets occupy the outer angles, featuring two-light windows, top entablatures, and ogival caps with wind vanes. The south turret is mostly original, while the north turret has a round-headed entrance with an enriched key block over a studded plank door.

North Side

The north side has a turret at each end, with the west turret entirely 19th-century. Three gables with external stacks having clustered shafts appear between the turrets. There are cross-mullioned windows and a three-light transomed stair window on a strapwork apron. The turrets have two-light single-chamfered mullioned windows.

East Range

The single-storey east range is built of blue brick and has two bay windows with octagonal pinnacles topped with pepper-pot finials and arcaded balustrades over 1:4:1-light transomed windows. A central panel with the Lucy Arms in a strapwork setting is dated 1833. The coped parapet has three gables with lights. The returns are similar, with three-light transomed windows.

The range behind has three renewed central gables and two lateral stacks, each with six shafts. There is a gable at each end. The south gable sits over a Tudor-arched verandah with an arcaded balustrade to the central arch and above. Behind the arch to the left is an entrance with a half-glazed door, with a blocked arch to the right. The first floor has a cross-mullioned window and a blocked window; the turret to the right is wholly 19th-century. The south return has a cross-mullioned window at each floor and an external stack with clustered shafts.

South-West Wing

The south-west wing has two storeys. The west side is a seven-window range. A recessed block at the north end has a window at each floor. The next four windows are positioned between octagonal pinnacles. The gabled end breaks forward under a gable with a turret at the angle. There is a rosette balustrade, and the stacks have diagonal brick shafts. The gable contains a lozenge with the Lucy Arms impaling the Williams Arms (for Mary Elizabeth Lucy).

The windows are cross-mullioned, but the two southern ground-floor windows are three-light and transomed.

The south end is a four-window range between turrets with cross-mullioned windows. At each end of the first floor is a bracketed oriel with a strapwork apron bearing the Lucy/Williams Arms in a lozenge and dated 1866. There is a rosette balustrade with a gable at each end containing a two-light single-chamfered mullioned window with a label. Each turret has three similar windows, one at each floor.

The east side has a three-window range with a recessed range to the right. The south end has a Tudor-arched entrance and a three-light transomed window, with a cross-mullioned window and three-light transomed window at first floor and a gable with a lozenge at the south end. The gable to the full-height kitchen to the north has octagonal pinnacles flanking a four-light transomed window, with a gable above containing a square panel with the Lucy/Williams Arms on a shield. The recessed part to the north has a loggia with an entrance and flanking windows. To the left is a single-storey re-entrant block with cross-mullioned windows. The first floor has five small sashed windows. The south side of the south-east wing has varied brickwork with mullioned and transomed windows, two external stacks, and two gables with three-light windows.

Interior

The great hall was remodelled by Willement with a wood-grained plaster ceiling featuring four-centred ribs and Tudor rose bosses. The armorial glass is attributed to Eiffler, restored and extended by Willement. There is wainscoting and panelled doors. The ashlar fireplace has paired reeded pilasters and strapwork to the entablature, with fire-dogs. The white and pink marble floor is Italian, dated 1845.

The dining room and library in the west wing have rich wood panelling by J M Willcox of Warwick, strapwork cornices, and strapwork ceilings with pendants. Wallpaper is by Willement. The dining room has a richly carved buffet from 1858 by Willcox and a simple coloured marble fireplace. The library has bookshelves and a fireplace with paired pilasters and a motto to the frieze, with paired columns and a strapwork frieze to the overmantel displaying armorial bearings. There are painted arabesques to the shutter backs.

The main staircase dates from around 1700 but was probably extensively reconstructed in the 19th century. It is an open-well stair with a cut string, three twisted balusters to a tread, carved tread ends, and a ramped handrail. The bolection-moulded panelling appears in two heights; the upper panels and panelled ceiling are probably 19th-century.

The morning room south of the hall has Willement decoration, including a white marble Tudor-arched fireplace with cusped panels and a plaster ceiling with bands.

The Ebony Bedroom, originally the billiard room, and the drawing room in the north-east wing have a scheme from 1856 with cornices and Jacobean-style plaster ceilings, and white marble 18th-century-style fireplaces. The Ebony Bedroom fireplace has Italian inserts with the Lucy crest. The drawing room has a gilded and painted cornice and ceiling, and large pier glasses.

The first-floor rooms, originally guest bedrooms, have doors with egg-and-dart and eared architraves and 18th-century-style fireplaces. The end room, originally the Ebony Bedroom, has a wood Rococo-style fireplace with a Chinoiserie panel. A 1950s stair leads to the attic.

The south-east wing has a stair from around 1700, probably altered in the 19th century, with symmetrical balusters with acanthus decoration and a closed string. The first floor has wall and ceiling paintings depicting land and sea battle scenes painted on canvas, and male and female grisaille busts.

The first floor has the Green Room to the west, with Willement wallpaper and a simple Tudor-arched fireplace with a wallpaper-covered chimney board. An adjacent room has a marble fireplace.

The Death Room and its dressing room at the east end have wallpaper of gold motifs on white, painted six-panel doors and architraves, and papier-mâché ceilings. The bedroom has a fireplace with a marble architrave. An adjacent room has bolection-moulded panelling with around 1700 Dutch embossed leather. The stair to the attic has around 1700 balusters with club-form on acorn decoration.

The attics over the great hall and the north-east and south-east wings have lime-ash floors and servants' rooms, each with a small annex and corner fireplace. Some bells survive.

The south wing has a kitchen with a high ceiling and two segmental-arched recesses for 19th-century ranges, and a Tudor-arched recess with a latticed chamber for smoked meats over a door.

The servants' hall has a dark marble bolection-moulded fireplace and cornice. The scullery has a bread oven, small range, pump, and the former south window retaining its glass.

The first floor has at the south end a pair of rooms added for Mary Elizabeth Lucy in her widowhood. The bedroom to the east has a deep coved cornice and an Adam-style fireplace. The sitting room to the west is similar, with gold on white wallpaper, a white marble fireplace with painted glass armorial panels, and an 1830s–1840s carpet. A door leads to a spiral timber turret staircase.

The nursery has a fireplace with faceted panels and 19th-century Delft tiles, and probably 1920s wallpaper. Other rooms have similar fireplaces and coloured glazed tiles.

Significance

While dating back to the 16th century, the house is one of the best examples of the early 19th-century Elizabethan Revival style. The property is owned by the National Trust.