Banqueting House Approximately 100 Metres To West Of The Canal

SE 26 NE LINDRICK WITH STUDLEY STUDLEY PARK ROYAL AND FOUNTAINS 9/69 Banqueting House approximately 100 metres 6.3.67 to west of The Canal (formerly listed as Banqueting Hall)

GV I

Banqueting house. 1728-32. By Thomas Buck, mason, under the direction of Robert Doe probably to a design by Colen Campbell. For John Aislabie. Ashlar, with Westmorland slate roof. One storey, 2 bays. 4 steps up to central glazed double door under fanlight flanked by round-arched sash windows with glazing bars. Each opening has rusticated voussoirs and keystone with masks of bearded faces. The windows have balustrades in blind recesses beneath them. 6 pilasters with alternate bands of frosted rustication support cornice and balustraded parapet with ball finials. Hipped roof, corniced stack to rear, centre. Rear: part rebuilt in cement blocks before 1966. Left and right returns: banded rustication to apsidal projections with domed lead roofs reaching eaves height of main cornice. Interior: main room - large elaborate Doric fire surround with attached columns surmounted by a portrait of the Sultan of Surat removed for restoration at time of resurvey. The fireplace and masks with baskets of flowers and cascades of fruit and flowers flanking recesses were carved by Richard Fisher of York. Edward Shepherd may have been responsible for the plasterwork in high relief showing putti with female bust in circle above the doors to the 2 smaller inner rooms. The domed roofs to the apses at each end of the room carry very fine plaster decorations representing a ribbed framework overlaid with fabric decorated with flowers, scrolls, foliage and ribbons; oval plaques containing flowers alternate with profiles of Roman Emperors; the upper edge is folded back and is fixed by large stylised flower. Frieze at impost level of the apse and to ceiling later and by Guisseppe Corteze (similar to the portico of the Temple of Piety). The Ceiling coved, divided into 3 parts and with panels contain large central rose and corner panels with scrolls and masks. Style and motifs similar to the Cascade, Quebec Monument and Rustic Bridge (qv). Original records refer to this building as the 'Greenhouse', ie orangery. Restoration in progress at time of resurvey. A scheduled Ancient Monument. G Beard, Studley Royal, Country Life, 1961. W T C Walker, personal communication.

Listing NGR: SE2781268901