The Dairy At Syon Park

787/0/10137 PARK ROAD 27-AUG-02 The Dairy at Syon Park

GV II

Ornamental Dairy at Syon Park. Post 1847, by Decimus Burton for the 6th Duke of Northumberland. Yellow brick with single-pitch slate roof. Rectangular plan. EXTERIOR: plain brick exterior, with large opening on south side, part obscured by later single storey lean-to, with wide gauged brick arch above. Physically contiguous on the east side with the Grade I listed Conservatory (q.v.). INTERIOR: entrance from east to upper level, separated from main chamber by balustrade of veined red marble; a pair of arched niches with shelves are set into the angled walls flanking the entrance. Main chamber has a floor of encaustic Wedgwood tiles, with anthemion and meander-patterned borders; to the centre is a mask of Medusa, within a Neo-classical surround. A slate slab runs along the west wall at waist height, carried on serpentine legs of cast iron in the Louis XV style; the slab is continued on the east side, flanking the stairs. Another arched niche is set into the centre of the west wall. On the walls are four plaster reliefs, signed by J. Gott, showing Bacchic scenes of putti frolicking with goats. A moulded cornice runs around the ceiling. HISTORY: This ornamental dairy was built as an adjunct to the celebrated Conservatory: the more functional dairy, using milk from Syon's considerable herds, stands immediately to the north. Its eclectic decoration is highly characteristic of its epoch, and it forms part of an outstanding group of mid-19th century garden structures. It has been used as an aquarium and as a store in recent times. The plaster reliefs by Joseph Gott (1786-1960) are believed to have been brought to the dairy from Stanwick Park, Yorkshire North Riding, another Percy seat. The dairy was built on the instructions of Algernon Percy, 6th Duke of Northumberland (b.1792, suc. 1847, d.1865).