This new phase of works also throws up some interesting questions over the future of the building as it is viewed from the outside. One of the most fascinating things was the uncovering of a blind window, or “bulls eye window” in the tower, a black window just painted on.
Picturesque movement full#
The picture above shows the trials done on the tower and a full video of this can be found on the Attingham YouTube channel by clicking here . Recently paint analysis has been done on the exterior of the tower to see what Nash originally intended and also the best way to remove the most recent external paint layers. The application of these paints to stonework and ‘Roman’ stucco can stop the natural movement of moisture and create damp areas within the building. The house has a problem with damp which is caused by the external plastic paints which stop the house from ‘breathing’. The brown strip down the tower is the uncovering of layers of paint.Ĭronkhill is even more interesting to visit at the moment because it is undergoing planning for some conservation works. Investigation work on the round tower at Cronkhill. You can imagine how striking it would have been to people who saw it in the early 1800s, an Italian villa in the middle of the Shropshire countryside! Cronkhill was also placed within the landscape to be seen by those around it, perhaps even as an ‘eyecatcher’ from Attingham Mansion.
Picturesque movement windows#
The internal layout of the house reflected this with the prominent dining and drawing room all with large windows overlooking the landscape, and the arches of the loggia almost framing the landscape as though it were a painting. It was the complete opposite of the classical and symmetrical Attingham Mansion below it had no symmetry and so it was more picturesque! The villa was set on a hillside, overlooking countryside and the river, with spectacular views from the windows and loggia to the countryside beyond. An example of a ‘Claudian’ landscape made popular by Grand Tourists.Īt Cronkhill Nash incorporated an earlier timber built farmhouse into his designs, altering the pitch of the roof and the shape of the windows to blend it with the new building which included a prominent round tower and an eye-catching loggia. The Landing of Aeneas at Planteum by Claude Lorrain. Nash was one of the foremost designers of this new style of architecture, of the irregular house set within the landscape, and no type of house more embodied this than the villa. “the best style of architecture for irregular and picturesque houses… is that mixed style which characterises the building’s of Claude and the Poussins… built piecemeal, during many successive ages.” Richard Payne Knight was one of the most influential figures in this period and believed that This movement was a hugely important and influential force and it changed not only the way houses were designed and built but how they were lived in. These ideas about the relationship of building and landscape were reflected in writings of theorists of The Picturesque movement in the late eighteenth century. Pictures of an idealised Italian countryside placed buildings within the landscape, making them almost a feature of it. Cronkhill is important as it is an example of an Italian style of villa which emulated the buildings in the landscape paintings that were popular with the Eighteenth Century grand tourists, such as the Second Lord Berwick himself. John Nash built in a variety of styles from castellated at Luscombe in Devon, to the Tudor of nearby Longner Hall and the Eastern inspired opulence of Brighton Pavilion. A photo of Cronkhill from Attingham’s Archives
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