Elveden Hall

TL 87 NW ELVEDEN ELVEDEN PARK

2/17 Elveden Hall - 27/1/72 - II*

Large country mansion, built in 2 major phases. The west wing, c.1879, by John Norton for Prince Frederick Duleep Singh, formerly Maharajah of the Punjab. (This wing is believed to contain the core of the earlier Hall of c.1760). The central hall and east wing added 1899-1903 by William Young for Edward Guinness, 1st Viscount Iveagh. In the Classical Style. West wing of 3 storeys and 11 windows, A:B:C:B:A. Red brick with limestone dressings; ground floor of banded rusticated ashlar, upper floors of brick with rusticated quoins. Moulded cornice and balustraded parapets. Entrance bay slightly set forward, with segmental pediment on 4 giant columns. Set forward end bays with 2-storey splayed bay windows. French casement windows; at ground floor with semi-circular heads, at 1st floor with pediments. Low-pitched leaded and slated roofs with chimneys of red brick. The east wing added by Young is almost identical externally; his kitchen wing beyond was demolished c.1970. As a centrepiece he added the Marble Hall, rising through 4 storeys, surmounted by a cupola with copper-covered dome. The extrance bay has a portico rising through 1st and 2nd storeys; the pediment has a cartouche with the date 1900, flanked by palm-fronds. The attached porte-cochere has a balustraded flat roof and stands on clustered columns. The main rooms in the west wing have elaborate wood and plaster decoration, with Hindu and Moorish motifs intermingled with classical forms. The entrance hall and west drawing room have drop-traceried arcading and are heavily encrusted with Hindu ornament. The west staircase has traces of original bright red paint; other spaces also once had bright primary-coloured paintwork. Young's central Indian Hall of white Carrera marble dominates the house; top lit, with the dome traceried and the pendentives encrusted with stalactites. Arcaded balconies on 4 sides are recessed behind the main supporting drop-traceried arches, all enriched in a similar manner to the west entrance hall. The east wing has no Indian work; the Cedar Room has joinery in the Rennaisance style of high quality, and the staircase and other spaces are also in the manner of C17 and C18. For detailed description, see article in Country Life magazine, 14th-21st March 1984.

Listing NGR: TL8246279720