Hi Dear Folk,
If you are still with me on my day at Holkham Hall, here is the actual hall.
Thomas Coke 1st Earl of Leicester had the house built in the eighteenth century in the Palladian style.
The name Coke is pronounced Cook, one of those crazy English pronunciations of a name.
Basically the Coke family made their money at the time of Henry VIII, you know the king who had six wives, beheaded several, and broke away from Catholicism and started The Church of England. A lot of that wealth that had belonged to the church was now given to favorite supporters of the king.
In more modern times, the last direct descendant died in the early 1960's and the estate which was suffering from a lack of cash was left to a distant cousin in South Africa, along with the title. The distant cousin in South Africa, being happily ensconced in the sun saw no need to come back to a declining old house in the cold, and dispatched his young 21 year old son to take a look. The son did take a look, decided he liked what he saw and had the energy and youth to make the house and all the estates, which includes an entire village, pub, hotel, houses and beach, plus extensive farmlands into what it is today. Eventually his father died and he even got the title, which has now been passed on to his son.
A considerable part of the revenue of the estate comes from tourists like me coming to visit the house. Along with farm contracts such as supplying Tesco's with all their potatoes and so many other pies.
This is The Egyptian Hall, although as you will see is based on Roman design, so not sure why it is called the Egyptian Hall. In any case the first Earl in the 1600's went on the Grand Tour of Europe and was greatly influenced by what he saw. The layout of columns and niches is similar to a Roman Basilica, or hall of justice. It is like a Roman public building and not too dissimilar to a lot of buildings here in the states, which have that Roman influence.
While the design of the apse is pure Roman, based on the ruins of the Temple of Venus and Roma, near the Forum, it bears a striking resemblance to the choir of Palladio's Redentore church in Venice. There are also echoes of the palace chapel at Versailles.
The coffering or square pattern of the apse is adapted from the dome of the Pantheon in Rome. This idea of a pantheon or temple to all the gods is mirrored in the roman statues around the hall.
The walls are clad Roman style, in stone. Thomas Coke chose an English alabaster from Staffordshire, which closely mimics Sicilian jasper, a true marble, used in the fireplaces of the salon and the north state dining room.
Christine
If you are still with me on my day at Holkham Hall, here is the actual hall.
Thomas Coke 1st Earl of Leicester had the house built in the eighteenth century in the Palladian style.
The name Coke is pronounced Cook, one of those crazy English pronunciations of a name.
Basically the Coke family made their money at the time of Henry VIII, you know the king who had six wives, beheaded several, and broke away from Catholicism and started The Church of England. A lot of that wealth that had belonged to the church was now given to favorite supporters of the king.
In more modern times, the last direct descendant died in the early 1960's and the estate which was suffering from a lack of cash was left to a distant cousin in South Africa, along with the title. The distant cousin in South Africa, being happily ensconced in the sun saw no need to come back to a declining old house in the cold, and dispatched his young 21 year old son to take a look. The son did take a look, decided he liked what he saw and had the energy and youth to make the house and all the estates, which includes an entire village, pub, hotel, houses and beach, plus extensive farmlands into what it is today. Eventually his father died and he even got the title, which has now been passed on to his son.
A considerable part of the revenue of the estate comes from tourists like me coming to visit the house. Along with farm contracts such as supplying Tesco's with all their potatoes and so many other pies.
This is The Egyptian Hall, although as you will see is based on Roman design, so not sure why it is called the Egyptian Hall. In any case the first Earl in the 1600's went on the Grand Tour of Europe and was greatly influenced by what he saw. The layout of columns and niches is similar to a Roman Basilica, or hall of justice. It is like a Roman public building and not too dissimilar to a lot of buildings here in the states, which have that Roman influence.
While the design of the apse is pure Roman, based on the ruins of the Temple of Venus and Roma, near the Forum, it bears a striking resemblance to the choir of Palladio's Redentore church in Venice. There are also echoes of the palace chapel at Versailles.
The coffering or square pattern of the apse is adapted from the dome of the Pantheon in Rome. This idea of a pantheon or temple to all the gods is mirrored in the roman statues around the hall.
The walls are clad Roman style, in stone. Thomas Coke chose an English alabaster from Staffordshire, which closely mimics Sicilian jasper, a true marble, used in the fireplaces of the salon and the north state dining room.
Christine
My goodness the hall is a real delight, what a lovely tour you took us on.
ReplyDeleteThat hall was probably the most spectacular.
DeleteThat is very beautiful. I do like going round these old houses.
ReplyDelete