The Stately Homes of Norfolk - Houghton Hall

[Music] as Britain's first Prime Minister Robert Walpole wished to realize his dream of a truly magnificent house that were justly reflect his considerable power and status no expense was spared and every room was to be lavishly decorated using the finest craftsmen of the early 18th century it was to become a place for political entertaining on a grand scale welcome to Houghton Hall despite long periods of neglect when the house was put up for sale little has changed since Walpole's time with much of the original furniture and fabric still in place each room has its own unique story and quality [Music] today I'm being shown around the hall by senior house guide John Marchant wow this is a fairly impressive hallway John yes this was the formal entrance hall in Sir Robert worple's time where important guests would be invited to enter through the doors over here and as they walked through you looked around and you were left in no doubt as to the importance and status of your host it's just so intricate the carvings are just stunning well it sets the tone for the whole house which was really set out to impress and it embodies everything that was fashionable and desirable in the 18th century and I noticed there's a number of I presume Roman emperors his walpole feature in here so Robert himself features over the fireplace there a Buster by Michael Rhys Breck dressed as a new Imperial Roman to represent the the new form of parliamentary government over which he now presides in this country and did for 21 years and he surrounds himself with busts of mainly Roman emperors and notice that each one is placed slightly lower than he is and they illustrate the kind of company with which he'd like to be associated so John amongst all of the the Whitestone there is actually one black piece that stands out dramatically tell me about that acha one statue the legend is that Leah Cohen was a priest of Apollo who tried to warn the Trojans not to accept the wooden horse into Troy at the time from ancient mythology the gods were the only people who could direct the course of war and so they were displeased with him for trying to alter it effectively and so they sent serpents from the sea to destroy him and his sons as a rather gruesome topic but that's what it represents so Robert who wanted a striking centerpiece for this entrance hall heard that it might be available so dispatched his eldest son also called Robert on the grand tour and told him effectively combat viperous offer them a thousand Guineas bring it back with you so it's quite a striking piece as the guests arrive and then they're taken into the next room to to meet me yes that's right they'll come through here look all around take that in I expect and then turn as we do walk through here and this leads us into the saloon which was after the formal entrance or was the formal reception room will you be properly received at the start of your stay and well again it exemplifies the whole purpose of a house to impress one of the things that immediately strikes you in this room John is this extraordinary furniture what do we know about it yes this is a unique suite of furniture designed and made by William Kent again who had a free hand to do the interior design for the house as I say it is unique and it's a very sumptuous suite for the saloon and it's matched also as you'll see by the cut and uncut velvet wall covering it's known as CAF I made a new tract in Holland the other main features in the room to pick up and each tells its own story really the picture in front of us is the Walpole family and it shows in effect the succession with Sir Robert and his second wife in the center and his daughter on the right who married into the Chumley family so John we got sumptuous furniture extraordinary paintings but the eye is drawn to this ceiling yes the William Kent's splendid ceiling the central feature of which is Apollo charging across the heavens in his chariot also featured are the four seasons to the west side there's autumn and winter and to the east above me is spring and summer it's just full of intricate artwork notice particularly the gilded mosaic painted onto the ceiling and then you come down a bit further and there's a frieze running around just above the cafe wall covering and you'll notice that it's a frieze of hunting seen as you've got bows and Quivers of arrows and hounds and hares and so on reflecting Sir Roberts not on his ancestry but also his particular interest in country pursuits which he was very enthusiastic about and so this room being the formal entrance room reception room then led to a further suite of rooms which were reserved for most important guests and among those is the marble parlor which was Sir Roberts formal dining room interesting fact that it was one of the first formal dining rooms in the country and of course when Sir Robert designed or thought of the house he wanted it to incorporate everything that was up-to-date and modern and so this is the result so it was a sumptuous room it's William Kent ceiling and he really went to town on this it's a celebration of feasting and drinking mmm the the sculpture above the fireplace carved from a single piece of marble by Michael Rhys brat is a sacrifice to Dionysus the god of wine the table mr. Roberts own table it was commissioned for him and the table setting on it is a typical 18th century style table setting that's the most easiest way to describe it and presiding over all is Sir Robert in this fine portrait of him alongside us dressed in his robes as knight of the Garter which he was awarded in 1726 and was extremely proud of being one of the first commoners to be so honored with that award wonderful well John thank you so much you've given us just a little taste of some of the rooms here at Houghton it's been extraordinary so thank you very much indeed it's been very very informative well it's been a pleasure Robert Walpole's direct descendant the 7th Marquess of Chameli now resides with his family in this magnificent Hall he's kindly showing me Sir Robert Walpole own personal study and library it's pretty much exactly as it was in his time all his books here book the bookcases designed around his collection of books by William Kent this desk is that the one that he signed many official papers at them yes he would have worked at this desk his his own bedroom is just next door so he would have gone back and forth do you remember as a as a child in the 60s visiting grandparents and getting a sense of everything around here yes it was a always remember the atmosphere this extraordinary atmosphere of history and coming here to for holidays with my grandmother and this room always was a fascination with the books and she'd bring out some of the books especially with the drawings of the house and it really gave you a sense of the of that history and the place have never changed in the grounds here at Halton you've developed your own collection of Modern Art what was what was the driving force behind that I just felt that we should add something of our own time to the to the place and sculpture was a good thing because you don't have to you don't and pin John the house itself probably the largest it's a sky space by American artist James Turrell which is a sort of viewing chamber and you sit and you can see the sky through an aperture with the light around so the colors of the of the sky seems to change in a way you wouldn't see outside the gardens themselves you developed as a as a like a homage to your grandmother if I'm right in saying so it was a development in memory of her did you always have as a child and interest in gardening and flowers and vegetables I've always liked gardens and a bit but not not particularly good gonna but looking for something I was looking for something to as a memorial to my grandmother all she'd done here and she always said that she would have liked to have developed the wall garden and done something with it and never got around to it so I thought this is the perfect thing to do it's developed hasn't it I mean it's quite stunning in particularly the height of summer with all of the magnificent flowers that are out yes and we've started maybe 20 more than 20 years ago and all the shrubs and everything and the hedges have grown and developed wonderful [Music] so when this garden was designed it was designed into four quarters wasn't it the one wearing at the moment is the is the Italian Italian garden yes and there's the rose garden and the vegetable and fruit garden area and the croquet and Mediterranean garden in my mind there's something here for everyone to see whether it be the wonderful interiors of the house such as the architecture the furniture or the ceilings or the five-acre award-winning garden the sculptures or much of that which we haven't been able to show you in this short program such as the stable block the playground or the soldier museum however what makes it so unique is the history of this building and to me that makes it a real heavyweight in the realms of stately homes of Norfolk [Music]

Channel: Chris Bailey Presents

Views: 41,679

Rating: 4.9194245 out of 5

Keywords: Norfolk, Palladian, stately home, Houghton, Sir Robert Walpole, William Kent, architecture, interior design

Id: MsaTLDVylvY

Length: 11min 34sec (694 seconds)

Published: Mon Sep 30 2019