Bramham Park, the entrance facade. A facade or façade (fəˈsɑːd is generally one side of the exterior of a Building, especially the front but also sometimes the sides and rear A carriage ramp conveys visitors to the principal entrance on the piano nobile

Bramham Park is a country house near Wetherby, West Yorkshire, England. The piano nobile is the principal Floor of a large House, usually built in one of the styles of classical renaissance architecture. The English country house is generally accepted as a large House or Mansion, once in the ownership of an individual who also usually owned another Great Wetherby is a Market town in the City of Leeds Metropolitan borough, West Yorkshire, England West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland The Baroque mansion was built in 1698 by Robert Benson, 1st Baron Bingley. Baroque art redirects here Please disambiguate such links to Baroque painting, Baroque sculpture, etc Robert Benson 1st Baron Bingley, PC (circa 1676 &ndash 9 April 1731) was an English politician of the 18th century It has remained in the ownership of Benson's descendents since its completion in 1710 ^[1]. The house is surrounded by a landscaped park ornamented by a series of follies and avenues laid out in the 18th century landscape tradition. In Architecture, a folly is a Building constructed strictly as a decoration having none of the usual purposes of housing or sheltering associated with a conventional Following a fire in 1828 the house was derilict for 80 years until restored under the supervision of the architect Detmar Blow circa 1908. Detmar Jellings Blow (1867 - 1939 was a British Architect of the early 20th century who designed principally in the arts and crafts style

Today it remains a private residence, while the park is the setting for the annual Bramham Horse Trials and Leeds Festival. Bramham Horse Trials is one of the UK 's premier Three day events, taking place every June on the Lane Fox's Bramham Park Estate, near Leeds in

Architecture

Chatsworth House, England's 1st truly Baroque House was built between 1687 and 1707 an almost exact contemporary of Bramham was designed by William Talman. Chatsworth House is a large Country house at Chatsworth, Derbyshire, England 3½ miles north east of Bakewell. William Talman (1650&ndash1719 was an English architect and landscape designer Colen Campbell's drawings of Bramham of 1717 show a remarkable similarity of style between the corps de logis of Bramham and Chatsworth. Colen Campbell (1676–1729 was a pioneering Scottish architect who spent most of his career in England, and is credited as a founder of the Georgian style Corps de logis is the architectural term which refers to the principal block of a large usually classical, Castle, Mansion or Palace

Bramham Park, drawn by Colen Campbell in 1717. Colen Campbell (1676–1729 was a pioneering Scottish architect who spent most of his career in England, and is credited as a founder of the Georgian style The statuary decorating the roofscape was never executed. A statue is a Sculpture in the round representing a person or persons an animal or an event normally full-length as opposed to a bust, and at least close to life-size The carriage ramp is an unusual feature, leading to the piano nobile. The piano nobile is the principal Floor of a large House, usually built in one of the styles of classical renaissance architecture.

Like many 18th century mansions and parks Bramham is a product of a grand tour, its creator Robert Benson, later Lord Bingley, completed his formal education with a grand tour in 1697, and it was in Italy that he began to envisage his new mansion in the Palladian manner complemented in a landscaped park in the fashion made popular by Le Nôtre in France in the late 17th century. The Grand Tour was the traditional travel of Europe undertaken by mainly upper-class European young men of means André Le Nôtre ( March 12, 1613 &ndash September 15 1700) was a Landscape architect and the gardener of King Louis XIV

The architect of Bramham is unknown, it's speculated that Giacomo Leoni was involved ^[2] (Leoni was responsible for the rebuilding of Lyme Park in an Italianate style in the neighbouring county of Cheshire some years later). Giacomo Leoni (also known as James Leoni, 1686 &ndash 1746 was an Italian architect. Lyme Park is an estate and Park near Disley, in the county of Cheshire, England. In the course of the history of Classical architecture, an Italianate style of architecture was a distinct nineteenth-century phase in which Italian sixteenth-century Cheshire (or archaically the County of Chester) is a county in North West England. However, the Italian, Leoni did not arrive in England until several years after the completion of Bramham. Other names suggested include James Gibbs, Thomas Archer and James Paine. James Gibbs (1682-1754 was one of Britain 's most influential Architects Born in Scotland, he trained as an architect in Rome, and practised Thomas Archer (1668&ndash1743 was an English Baroque Architect, whose work is somewhat overshadowed by that of his contemporaries Sir John Vanbrugh and James Paine (1717 &ndash 1789 was an English Architect. Essentially a Palladian, early in his career he was clerk of works at Nostell Priory Gibbs is not a serious possibility as he would have been only 15 years old when the house was begun. While it is known that Paine designed the stables which flank the corps de logis, he couldn't have been responsible for the main part of the house as he was born in 1717, another contender John Wood is also too young. Corps de logis is the architectural term which refers to the principal block of a large usually classical, Castle, Mansion or Palace John Wood or variants therefrom may refer to Actors Mrs John Wood (1831&ndash1915 British actor in America along with her less notable husband John The only chronological possibility is Thomas Archer (1668–1743) ^[3]. However, the most likely scenario is that Bramham is the work Robert Benson himself ^[4], probably working with a local draughtsman. While it is also quite possible that Benson was inspired by drawings taken from Palladio's books, the design of the house suggest Benson was more inspired by the restrained Baroque style then populat in France. Andrea Palladio ( November 30, 1508 – August 19, 1580) was an Italian Architect, widely considered the most influential The style in which Mansart's Versailles has been constructed between 1678 and 1684, indeed it has been speculated that Versaille's landscape architect André le Nôtre had a hand in the design of Bramham's landscaped park ^[5]. The Palace of Versailles, or simply Versailles, is a royal Château in Versailles, in France 's Île-de-France region André Le Nôtre ( March 12, 1613 &ndash September 15 1700) was a Landscape architect and the gardener of King Louis XIV

The architect William Talman has also been suggested as a possible architect ^[6], he was indeed working on Chatsworth House some thirty miles away from Bramham at this time. William Talman (1650&ndash1719 was an English architect and landscape designer Chatsworth House is a large Country house at Chatsworth, Derbyshire, England 3½ miles north east of Bakewell. Chatsworth is considered to be England's first truly Baroque house. However unlike Chatsworth (which is far larger) Bramham is given flanking wings more in the Palladian style, linked to the house by short collonades. In Classical architecture, a colonnade denotes a long sequence of Columns joined by their Entablature, often free-standing as in the famous elliptically The flanking wings contained the kitchen in the south wing, and the chapel in the north, thus as at the baroque Blenheim Palace balancing both spiritual and bodily needs equally. Blenheim Palace  is a large and Monumental country house situated in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England. However, while Campbell's drawing of Bramham show the never executed statuary on the roof and near perfect proportions, the reality of the executed design suggests a less professional hand then Talman's. A statue is a Sculpture in the round representing a person or persons an animal or an event normally full-length as opposed to a bust, and at least close to life-size Two low projecting wings from the corps de logis complicate the design, while the two colonnades are not quite long enough to give the flanking wings the independence from the main house to allow their design to be fully appreciated.

Interior

Bramham Park

The interior of Bramham Park was completely restored in the early part of the 20th century. The central Great Hall, double storey in height and severe in its Baroque design still bears the smoke staining on its stone walls.

The Park

The owners

Bramham in the 21st century

Its grounds (over 400 acres in total) are used for various events, including the Leeds Festival, and the Bramham Horse Trials. Bramham Horse Trials is one of the UK 's premier Three day events, taking place every June on the Lane Fox's Bramham Park Estate, near Leeds in A more restricted area of the grounds are kept as gardens and run as a tourist attraction — visitors can also tour the house but only in pre-arranged parties. A tourist attraction is a place of interest where Tourists visit typically for its inherent or exhibited cultural value historical significance natural or built beauty or

Notes

References

• Girouard, Mark (1978). Mark Girouard (born 1931 is a British architectural writer an authority on the Country house, leading architecture historian and biographer of James Stirling. Life in the English Country House. Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-02273-5.  

• Bramham Park. Yorkshire: Bramham Park, Estate Office. No author is credited, pages are not numbered.  

• Pevsner, Nikolaus (1967). Yorkshire: The West Riding. . Penguin. ISBN N/A.  

External links

• Official website