Index:
The Barons of Ashby
History & House Development

HISTORY & HOUSE DEVELOPMENT

Index:

The Middle Ages (before 1600)
Elizabethan (after 1600)
The Restoration of Charles II (1660)
The Height of the Grand Tour(1750)
Later Times
Conclusion

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THE MIDDLE AGES (Before 1600)

HOUSE - exterior

Forts and fortified house only, consisting of little more than a Great Hall, with kitchen etc.

HOUSE - interior

The Great Hall was the first and foremost room, and was always on ground level. It featured a central fireplace, a very high ceiling, and was protected by a courtyard and gatehouse, sometimes on both sides.

Solid oak roof timbers, white washed walls and a rough stone floor was indicative in the Great Halls of this time. The Great Hall was decorated with Tapestries and wall hangings to subdue the cold. Arms and Armour also hung here, so as the Lord might be able to keep a visual check on the household weaponry in peacetime. Battle trophies, Shields painted with the coat-of-arms of the Baron and his squires, and helmets surmounted by the crests, were displayed with pride.

Exits, Doors and other Rooms.
The Great Hall had a main entrance at one end. The doors that led out to the courtyard were usually positioned on the sidewall at the far end of the room, near three doors on the back wall that led to the Kitchen, Pantry and Buttery. It became fashionable to screen off these exits, with either permanent or removable screen - this shielded from cold drafts and became known as the musician's gallery. Servants quarters were most likely off the Kitchen, and a Privy room or rooms for the Master was directly off the Great Hall. There was no doubt a least small stable and a well.

The Great Chamber was where the family now ate in privacy, away from the servants, who still ate in the Great Hall. Increasingly these Great Chambers were built upstairs, which brought about the advent of...

The Staircase, which became grander and broader as time went on. First made only of stone or wood. marble became popular in later years. The small arrow slits in the stairwells were replaced by windows at this time.

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ELIZABETHAN (After 1600)

HOUSE - exterior

The emergence of the master masons - architects. Still Castle like in appearance, the manors were not as well fortified.

HOUSE - interior

The Parlor, smaller than the Great Chamber, became where the family ate on lesser occasions.

The Privy Room became the Withdrawing Room, which led to the bedchamber, where servants slept outside their master's room. In this era it became, for the first time, the repository of some of the owner's finest works of art. Most houses eventually had more than one of these rooms and so they were identified by characteristics or decoration, i.e. the North Drawing Room, or the Blue Drawing Room. Or if they were later extended into a Long Gallery, it was so called.

The Withdrawing Room was decorated to match the adjoining bedchamber. It could be decorated with tapestries and works of art from abroad. These were always more intimate than saloons, they had lower ceilings, housed smaller pictures and works of art, and could be used quite informally.

The Music room sometimes adjoined the drawing room. A Festoon curtain hung here - curtain made to pull up with four or more drawstrings, so as to form folds.

To have a withdrawing room without a Bedchamber and Boudoir (dressing room) beyond was unthinkable. Servants stairs in both rooms if on first floor. The bed was the most important piece of furniture in the house, a potent symbol of rank and wealth. Long curtains hung from a canopy or 'sparvor'. Four poster beds were in use, with sold oak frames. Love, marriage, seduction etc. were the themes of decoration. Fertility too, pictures of woman with many children.

NOTES ON THE PERIOD

ELIZABETHAN (1558-1603) HOUSE OF TUDOR
English hero's such as Hawkins and Drake, were just pirates to the Spanish, and the fact that Elizabeth refused to bring them into line was intolerable to Philip, King of Spain.

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THE RESTORATION OF CHARLES II (1660)

HOUSE - exterior

Double pile (story?) houses - consisting of two rows of rooms, back to back, separated by a central corridor.

HOUSE - interior

The Saloon took the pace of the Great Chamber, with either a staircase or hallway leading to it, or both. The Saloon could have one or two levels as could the Hall, this was the 'State Center' of the house.
Sculpture featured more than pictures on these walls. Marble columns also featured in the halls, and saloons. Figures of classical Gods and Goddess', and painted scenes from famous written works, began to replace the images of ancestors and the trophies of the military and civil prowess.

Stairwells became rooms within themselves.

Long Galleries were rooms of passage, places of exercise. Often built over covered walks or arcades, or as projecting wings to non-courtyard houses. These often lead to an apartment consisting of a bedchamber, dressing room and closet. The relationship between Long Galleries and the Garden must be stressed. Their bay windows always provided the best vantage points over the intricate knot gardens, terraces and enclosures below. This was only bettered by the view from the roof above, used in fine whether as a sort of outdoor gallery.

Long Galleries were furnished with a chair or couch of state, plus other chairs and stools. Bay windows, cushions for the window seats. Some galleries where built to house specific works of art, or a series of family portraits. A history lesson in pictures, the ceilings too could be educational.

Notes on the Period:

THE RESTORATION PERIOD - (1600 - 1700) HOUSE OF STUART

1650 - CHARLES I is overrun by civil war led by CROMWELL

1660 - CROMWELL dies.

1660 - CHARLES II is crowned King of England and the RESTORATION begins.

1689 - 'The Glorious Revolution' of WILLIAM III & MARY II
Saw Religious Freedom - never again would Religion
provide a call to arms.

Established Britain as a constitutional monarchy.

1702 - QUEEN ANNE

WHIGS - wanted to exclude Anne's father, JAMES, from the succession on account of his religion.
TORYS - supported his inheritance.

During her rule Whigs and Tory's changed their meaning.

WHIGS - persevered the great aristocratic landowners and the rising commercial classes

TORYS - accepted the constitutional arrangements of
The 'Glorious Revolution', and were associated with
the Anglican church and the country gentry.

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THE HEIGHT OF THE GRAND TOUR (1750)

HOUSE - exterior

A time of restoring old exteriors or adding a wing. The bending of the house into the landscape, and the advent of landscape gardening. Building follies, like Temples, BoatHouses, Cascades, Bridges etc. Observatories too, with the growing interest in Astrology. Greenhouses.

HOUSE - interior

The Dinning Room came of age replacing the parlor. There were no textiles used in here, as a rule, shutters were more in use. These rooms were painted in soft pastel shades, rather than heavy primary colours - white and gold trim were very popular. By 1800 the long thin table down the middle had caught on.

The Saloon was now used for Dancing (Ballroom)

Apartments consisting of a Withdrawing room, Bedchamber, Dressing Room and Cabinet. It was a great honour to be admitted to the Lord's Dressing Room. Only those who were close relations or most trusted advisors were generally admitted. It was also were the matters of uttermost secrecy were discussed. This room contained the finest small works of art, a closet, and a small staircase for the servants to come and go. It contained a 'close stool' (toilet), a mirror and a dresser. Important for private activities like reading, writing, sewing, and filling in the hour before bed, it sometimes contained a desk. The Cabinet was the male equivalent of a boudoir, for bathing and dressing. These could be circular as they were sometimes fashioned into the towers of houses.

The private Library became vogue in the 1750's as books increased in importance to country gentlemen. By 1770 libraries were becoming large enough to accommodate billiard tables etc, and so became the general living area, stateroom, or best parlor. Could lead off to Conservatory. Secret Libraries were also popular.

Indoor Columns help to achieve a sense of theatre, when they are used to replace the dividing walls upstairs and downstairs inside a stairwell. Gothic Vaulting by 1814.

Notes on the Period:

THE HELL FIRE PERIOD (1700 - 1800) THE HANOVERIANS

1714 - GEORGE I the great grandson of JAMES I, rules England. GEORGE I son, GEORGE II, was his father's
main opposition.

1727 - GEORGE I died leaving behind the first Prime Minister, Robert Walpole.

GEORGE II crowed King of England, his main opposition was also his son, Prince of Wales, Frederick
Louis. GEORGE and his wife CAROLINE loathed their son, who returned the sentiment. Frederick died
1751.

1745 - CHARLES EDWARD STUART, Bonnie Prince Charlie, grandson of JAMES II, mounts a serious challenge for the crown.

1746 - CHARLES' army was slaughtered at Culloden Moor.

1760 - GEORGE II dies suddenly, leaving the realm at the zenith of its power and prestige.

GEORGE III, the grandson of GEORGE II, is crowned King of England. His rein would see the end of the
Seven Year War. It would also see the loss of America, the French Revolution, and the Napoleonic Wars.

1788 GEORGE III became briefly deranged. Was struck mad on and off until 1820, when he died.

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LATER TIMES

HOUSE - exterior

With the rise of interest in horse breeding, larger stables would have been built.

HOUSE - interior

19th Century - The Saloon became the Picture Gallery.

The Dinning Room became cosier, as up until this time dinning was still a ritual affair, with a formal procession of rank and importance. With the advent of hunting and horse breeding it became a kind of Hunting Room. Often trophies were displayed in the dinning room.

Closets, Boudoirs and Dressing Rooms were converted to Bathrooms.

Notes on the Period:

VICTORIA - EDWARD - THE WINSORS
1837 - 1901 VICTORIAN PERIOD
1901 - 1910 EDWARDIAN PERIOD
1910 Reform Bill of George V

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ASHBY MANNER - CONCLUSION

ELIZABETHAN PERIOD (1600)

Consisted of:

The Great Hall & Musician's Gallery Courtyard Gate House Stables - (small) Kitchen Pantry Buttery Servant's Quarters Master's Privy rooms

1st Baron Ashby adds:

Staircase to 1st floor (leading to) The Great Chamber Withdrawing Room Bedchamber & Boudoir (stairwells to servants quarters)

THE RESTORATION PERIOD (1660)

3rd Baron Ashby adds:

Parlor (dinning room) Saloon replaces Great Chamber Long Gallery with Bay windows Covered Walkway underneath Outdoor Gallery above Music Room Begins work on Garden

THE HELL FIRE PERIOD (1750)

6th Baron Ashby adds:

Apartments off saloon with: Withdrawing room Bedchamber Dressing Room Cabinet Landscaping: Temple - shrine Boat House Cascades Fountain Greenhouse Dinning Room replaces Parlor Saloon becomes Ballroom Library & Conservatory Secret Library

EDWARDIAN PERIOD and BEYOND (1850)

Part of Ashby is destroyed by fire, The Secret Library.

9th Baron Ashby adds:

Large Stables for Horses Dinning Room converted to Lodge (i.e. Hunting room) Ballroom becomes Picture Gallery

With the advent of electricity and plumbing, closets or Dressing rooms were converted to bathrooms.

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