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rrent events random article about wikipedia contact us contribute help learn to edit community portal recent changes upload file special pages search search appearance donate create account log in personal tools donate create account log in contents move to sidebar hide top 1 stately homes of england 2 sizes and types toggle sizes and types subsection 2 1 power houses 2 2 minor country houses 2 3 victorian houses 3 decline 4 today 5 see also toggle see also subsection 5 1 media 6 references 7 sources and further reading 8 external links toggle the table of contents english country house 18 languages afrikaans català čeština deutsch español euskara suomi français italiano 日本語 한국어 македонски português simple english svenska ไทย türkçe 中文 edit links article talk english read edit view history tools tools move to sidebar hide actions read edit view history general what links here related changes upload file permanent link page information cite this page get shortened url switch to legacy parser print export download as pdf printable version in other projects wikimedia commons wikidata item appearance move to sidebar hide from wikipedia the free encyclopedia redirected from english country houses larger house or mansion estate in england country house redirects here for other uses see country house disambiguation stately home redirects here for the television episode see stately home keeping up appearances belton house in lincolnshire is considered a complete example of a typical english country house it was built between 1685 and 1687 by sir john brownlow 3rd baronet an english country house is a large house or mansion in the english countryside such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house this allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city hence for these people the term distinguished between town and country however many were and often still are the full time residence for the landed gentry who dominated rural england until the reform act 1832 1 frequently the formal business of the counties was transacted in these country houses having functional antecedents in manor houses with large numbers of indoor and outdoor staff country houses were important as places of employment for many rural communities in turn until the agricultural depressions of the 1870s the estates of which country houses were the hub provided their owners with incomes the late 19th and early 20th centuries were the swansong of the traditional english country house lifestyle increased taxation and the effects of world war i led to the demolition of hundreds of houses those that remained had to adapt to survive while a château or a schloss can be fortified or unfortified a country house similar to an ansitz is usually unfortified some english country houses were given castellated designs but many buildings with castle in their name such as highclere castle were never fortified in such cases the title reflects architectural fashion rather than defence 2 3 stately homes of england edit longleat in wiltshire is widely regarded as one of the finest examples of elizabethan architecture in britain in the 20th century it opened to paying visitors in 1949 becoming one of the first country houses to do so the estate later established the first drive through safari park outside africa in 1966 4 5 the term stately home is subject to debate and is generally avoided by historians and academics as a description of a country house it was first used in a poem by felicia hemans the homes of england published in blackwood s magazine in 1827 and later popularised in a song by noël coward 6 in england the terms country house and stately home are sometimes used interchangeably however many country houses such as ascott in buckinghamshire were deliberately designed to harmonise with the landscape rather than to impress while others such as kedleston hall and holkham hall were built as power houses intended to dominate it in his book historic houses conversations in stately homes robert harling documents nineteen stately homes ranging from the vast blenheim palace and castle howard to the minuscule ebberston hall and from the jacobean renaissance of hatfield house to the eccentricities of sezincote 7 the book s collection of stately homes also includes george iv s brighton town palace the royal pavilion 8 sizes and types edit wealthy and influential people often bored with their formal duties go to the country in order to get out of london the ugliest and most uncomfortable city in the world they invented the long week end to stay away as long as possible their métier is politics they talk politics and they make politics quite spontaneously john gunther 1940 9 power houses edit kedleston hall in derbyshire designed by matthew brettingham and robert adam one of the great power houses the great houses are the largest of the country houses in truth palaces built by the country s most powerful these were designed to display their owners power or ambitions to power 10 very large unfortified or barely fortified houses began to take over from the traditional castles of the crown and magnates during the tudor period with vast houses such as hampton court palace and burghley house and continued until the 18th century with houses such as castle howard kedleston hall and holkham hall 11 such building reached its zenith from the late 17th century until the mid 18th century these houses were often completely built or rebuilt in their entirety by one eminent architect in the most fashionable architectural style of the day and often have a suite of baroque state apartments typically in enfilade reserved for the most eminent guests the entertainment of whom was of paramount importance in establishing and maintaining the power of the owner the common denominator of this category of english country houses is that they were designed to be lived in with a certain degree of ceremony and pomp it was not unusual for the family to have a small suite of rooms for withdrawing in privacy away from the multitude that lived in the household these houses were always an alternative residence to a london house during the 18th and 19th centuries for the highest echelons of english society the country house served as a place for relaxing hunting and running the country with one s equals at the end of the week with some houses having their own theatre where performances were staged 12 blenheim palace in oxfordshire one of england s largest houses it was built between 1705 and 1722 the country house however was not just an oasis of pleasure for its owners it was also a major centre of employment for local communities estate staff often had greater security and accommodation than many agricultural labourers but their conditions were demanding with long hours strict hierarchies and modest pay 13 14 as a result of the aristocratic habit of only marrying within the aristocracy and whenever possible to a sole heiress many owners of country houses owned several country mansions 15 and would visit each according to the season grouse shooting in scotland pheasant shooting and fox hunting in england the earl of rosebery for instance had dalmeny house in scotland mentmore towers in buckinghamshire and another house near epsom just for the racing season 16 for many this way of life which began a steady decline in 1914 continued well into the 20th century and for a few continues to this day minor country houses edit in the second category of england s country houses are those that belonged to the squirearchy or landed gentry these tend either to have evolved from medieval hall houses with rooms added as required or were purpose built by relatively unknown local architects smaller and far greater in number than the power houses these were still the epicentre of their own estate but were often the only residence of their owner however whether the owner of a power house or a small manor the inhabitants of the english country house have become collectively referred to as the ruling class because this is exactly what they did in varying degrees whether by having high political influence and power in national government or in the day to day running of their own localities or county in such offices as lord deputy lieutenant magistrates or occasionally even clergy 17 the country house mystery was a popular genre of english detective fiction in the 1920s and 1930s set in the residence of the gentry and often involving a murder in a country house temporarily isolated by a snowstorm or similar with the suspects all at a weekend house party victorian houses edit waddesdon manor in buckinghamshire during the victorian era vast country houses were built in a variety of styles by wealthy industrialists and bankers following the industrial revolution of the 18th century a third category of country houses was built as newly rich industrialists and bankers were eager to display their wealth and taste by the 1850s with the english economy booming new mansions were built in one of the many revivalist architectural styles popular throughout the 19th century 18 the builders of these new houses were able to take advantage of the political unrest in europe that gave rise to a large trade in architectural salvage 18 this new wave of country house building is exemplified by the rothschild properties in the home counties and bletchley park rebuilt in several styles and famous for its code breaking role in world war ii decline edit see also destruction of country houses in 20th century britain trentham in staffordshire between 1900 and 1955 around 1 200 english country houses were demolished often with their stone and fixtures sold 19 during this era many fine architectural features were transported to the us the slow decline of the english country house coincided with the rise not just of taxation but also of modern industry along with the agricultural depression of the 1870s by 1880 this had led some owners into financial shortfalls as they tried to balance maintenance of their estates with the income they provided some relied on funds from secondary sources such as banking and trade while others like the severely impoverished duke of marlborough sought to marry american heiresses to save their country houses and lifestyles 20 the ultimate demise began immediately following world war i the members of the huge staff required to maintain large houses had either left to fight and never returned departed to work in the munitions factories or filled the void left by the fighting men in other workplaces of those who returned after the war many left the countryside for better paid jobs in towns the final blow for many country houses came following world war ii having been requisitioned during the war they were returned to the owners in poor repair many estate owners having lost their heirs if not in the immediately preceding war then in world war i were now paying far higher rates of tax and agricultural incomes had dropped thus the solution for many was to hold contents auctions and then demolish the house and sell its stone fireplaces and panelling this is what happened to many of britain s finest houses despite this slow decline so necessary was the country house for entertaining and prestige that in 1917 viscount lee of fareham donated his country house chequers to the nation for the use of a prime minister who might not possess one of his or her own chequers still fulfills that need today as do both chevening house and dorneywood donated for sole use of high ranking ministers of the crown today edit today many country houses have become hotels 21 schools hospitals and museums while others have survived as conserved ruins but from the early 20th century until the early 1970s hundreds of country houses were demolished houses that survived destruction are now mostly grade i or ii listed as buildings of historic interest with restrictions on restoration and re creation work however such work is usually very expensive several houses have been restored some over many years for example at copped hall where the restoration started in 1995 continues to this day although the ownership or management of some houses has been transferred to a private trust most notably at chatsworth other houses have transferred art works and furnishings under the acceptance in lieu scheme to ownership by various national or local museums but retained for display in the building this enables the former owners to offset tax the payment of which would otherwise have necessitated the private sale of the art works for example tapestries and furniture at houghton hall are now owned by the victoria and albert museum in addition increasing numbers of country houses hold licences for weddings and civil ceremonies another source of income is to use the house as a venue for parties 22 a film location or a corporate entertainment venue while many country houses are open to the public and derive income through that means they remain homes in some cases inhabited by the descendants of their original owners the lifestyles of those living and working in a country house in the early 20th century were recreated in a bbc television programme the edwardian country house filmed at manderston house in scotland another television programme which features life in country houses is the itv series downton abbey 23 see also edit england portal housing portal banqueting house british country house contents auctions country house poem country house theatre english country houses with changed use estate houses in scotland estate land great house historic house homestead building english landscape garden licence to crenellate list of castles in england list of country houses in the united kingdom list of english heritage properties list of historic buildings of the united kingdom country house architectural periods and styles list of national trust properties in england manor house mansion prodigy house roman villa servants quarters treasure houses of england media edit country life downton abbey the edwardian country house a channel 4 series country house song references edit as documented in the purefoy letters 1735 53 by l g mitchell highclere castle list entry historic england retrieved 19 october 2025 castle encyclopædia britannica retrieved 19 october 2025 the lions and loins of longleat archived 29 june 2011 at the wayback machine the sunday times retrieved 18 february 2011 new scientist 2 dec 1982 archived 21 may 2016 at the wayback machine retrieved 18 february 2011 the stately homes of england by noël coward 1938 was featured in his musical operette which premiered in the same year girouard p harling p 1 16 gunther john 1940 inside europe new york harper brothers p 287 girouard p2 12 girouard p 2 12 rise and fall of the english stately home historic uk retrieved 20 october 2022 girouard mark 1978 life in the english country house a social and architectura...
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