Knebworth,
Hertfordshire - Knebworth House
19th century
Click photos to enlarge.
Notes in italics from Hertfordshire by Nikolaus Pevsner
and Bridget Cherry (2002)
Yale University Press, New Haven and London.
Knebworth
House has been the home of the Lytton family since 1490.
The house as it now appears is
essentially of the C19, partly c.1815-20 by J.B. Rebecca and partly by
Bulwer Lytton, the novelist, of after 1843, by H.E. Kendall. The body of
the house is one range of a two-storeyed courtyard house of c.1500. The
other three were pulled down in 1811. ... The E front is of E-type
with angle turrets to the projecting wings and a central porch. This is
Tudor in outline and c.1815-20 only in the details. ...
In 1878-83 the E front was unfortunately enlarged by a third storey (by
John Lee). ... The Great Hall is still in its original position (fourth
picture). Brickwork of the original building has been
revealed in the projecting wing by the Hall (last picture).
The W front on the other hand
is frankly a romantic paraphrase of the Gothic palace, unrestrained by
archaeological considerations. ...
W of the
house a formal garden by Lutyens, made in 1907-11.
Position of the long gallery east of the surviving wing.
Final picture, north front of the house.