Marlow Place

Marlow Place is a large country house built in 1720 by Thomas Archer, originally intended for the Prince of Wales, who later became George II, but in fact commissioned by John Wallop, later Earl of Portsmouth. It is a substantial, symmetrical, square block of brown brick with red brick and stone dressings, featuring three storeys and an attic.

The main south front has five bays, with the central three bays slightly projecting. Angle pilasters are topped with stone caps, and a stone cornice breaks forward over the pilasters, surmounted by a deep frieze, stone pediment containing a semi-circular radiating light in the tympanum, and a parapet with stone coping at the sides and raised corner piers at the feet of the pediment and angles of the building. The roof is hipped, covered in old tiles, and features brick chimneys with moulded stone capping. The windows have segmental heads, with the central bay on the second floor having a broken stone architrave. A tall, half-glazed double door is centrally positioned on the first floor, set within an elaborate arched surround of double-panelled pilasters, flaming obelisks, and a segmental double-dentilled pediment. A false-panelled radiating fanlight surmounts the arch, which was formerly approached by a double flight of stone steps with a balcony landing, of which a modern brick parapet remains.

The north front is of similar design, featuring a central doorway with a Doric surround of fluted pilasters and an entablature with a triglyph frieze and dentilled cornice, enriched with guttae. This entrance is approached by a wide flight of stone steps with moulded nosings that curve slightly outwards at the bottom and are protected by delicate wrought iron guard rails with scroll ornament and urn-topped standards.

The east and west fronts each display a smaller central projection, crowned with pediments.

The interior retains contemporary panelling and enriched fireplaces. The entrance hall is notably grand and baroque in style, with giant Tuscan columns and a metope frieze above a half-storey. The design of the chapel door at Hale House, Wiltshire (Thomas Archer’s home and burial place), is closely related to the south doorway of Marlow Place.