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[2] Survey drawing dated May 1786
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Reference number
SM volume 67/51
Purpose
[2] Survey drawing dated May 1786
Aspect
General Plan of Castle Hill as it now is
Scale
bar scale of 1/16 inch to 1 foot
Inscribed
as above, The Right Honble Lord Fortescue, Gothic Gateway, Rock (twice), Malt House, Woodhouse, Chickens (twice), Dressing / Room, Stewards / Office, Chamber, Drawing Room, Butlers / Pantry, Passage, Saloon, Best / Staircase, Smoking Room, Passage, Eating Room, Passage, Servants Hall, Vestibule, Library, Dairy, Larder, Stable (twice), Brewhouse Washouse Laundry &c, Stable (twice), Slaughter House, Hay &c, Wood Yard, Coachouse, Dung Yard, Barns (twice), Stable Yard, Old Coachouse, (pencil, Soane) Road to the Offices, Drying Ground and some dimensions given
Signed and dated
- May 1786
Medium and dimensions
Pen and wash, pencil within single ruled border on 2 sheets of laid paper (1156 x 440)
Hand
John McDonnell (1770-?, pupil 1796-1791), John Sanders (1758-?1826, pupil 1784-90) and Soane
Watermark
J Whatman, fleur-de-lis above cartouche with bar and W below
Notes
SM volume 67/51 and SM volume 64/225 are designs for altering the office wings, with the central range of the house left without much detail. The drawings correspond to the elevation in SM 5/3/7, showing Soane's preliminary designs for alterations.
SM volume 67/51 is a measured drawing for making alterations to the west wing and the terminal pavilions. The wood house and malt house occupying the west wing were refitted to contain a kitchen, laundry, housekeeper's room and other servants' rooms. Preliminary designs for these alterations are shown on SM volume 67/51, with windows and a door added to the drawing in pen. A 'Road to Offices' and 'Drying Ground' have been added by Soane in pencil on the left-hand side of the sheet, suggesting a road approaching the house on the west side and entering the 'gothic gateway' to the rear of the house, with a drying ground behind the hedges so as not to be visible from the front entrance. The brew house and washhouse to the north of the central section were demolished.
In comparing SM volume 67/51 and SM volume 64/225 with later plans (SM volume 67/52 and SM volume 64/123), it is apparent that the layout of Lord Fortescue’s rooms was greatly altered, suggesting that another set of building works occurred after the offices were refitted, between 1788 and 1791.
SM volume 67/51 is a measured drawing for making alterations to the west wing and the terminal pavilions. The wood house and malt house occupying the west wing were refitted to contain a kitchen, laundry, housekeeper's room and other servants' rooms. Preliminary designs for these alterations are shown on SM volume 67/51, with windows and a door added to the drawing in pen. A 'Road to Offices' and 'Drying Ground' have been added by Soane in pencil on the left-hand side of the sheet, suggesting a road approaching the house on the west side and entering the 'gothic gateway' to the rear of the house, with a drying ground behind the hedges so as not to be visible from the front entrance. The brew house and washhouse to the north of the central section were demolished.
In comparing SM volume 67/51 and SM volume 64/225 with later plans (SM volume 67/52 and SM volume 64/123), it is apparent that the layout of Lord Fortescue’s rooms was greatly altered, suggesting that another set of building works occurred after the offices were refitted, between 1788 and 1791.
Literature
P. Dean, Sir John Soane and the country estate, 1999, pp. 175
Level
Drawing
Digitisation of the Drawings Collection has been made possible through the generosity of the Leon Levy Foundation
If you have any further information about this object, please contact us: drawings@soane.org.uk