Uppark,
West Sussex
17th century
Click on photos to enlarge. Notes in italics from
Pevsner. |
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Up indeed, at the top of a
valley within a mile of the crest of the downs, near Harting. Oddly
enough, the view from the house is wide rather than deep, taking in nearly
180 degrees of the lower downs and stretching as far as the Isle of Wight. |
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Uppark was built c.1685-90 by
William Talman, and its three main fronts have not been altered since. It
is a copybook example of the Wren-style country house, moderate-sized
brick with stone dressings, comfortable to look at and live in. In fact
its parentage is Dutch, and it was brought to England after the
Restoration by men like Hugh May; Talman may have been May's pupil. |
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The design has to be judged by
the very highest standards, and by these it is good but not quite first
class. The main front faces S, its homeliness poignantly emphasised
by the rough grass which covers the original formal terraces. It has nine
bays, the centre quoined and pedimented, and the basic trouble is that
these bays are a little too crowded, and their ornament a little
parsimonious. It is essential that in a house depending on proportion, the
proportion is exact, and if the ornament is going to be spare, it must be
free from meanness. A look at the almost identical centre of Tadworth
House, Surrey, (right hand picture) will
bring out clearly the difference between the good and the excellent. ...
Plain wings, again with slight but important defects in the proportion:
bays three and seven have their windows too near the quoined centre, e.g. (But
the same is true on Tadworth Court).
Whilst I see what Pevsner is saying, I do not share his feelings. I
find Uppark at least as satisfying to look at, if not more so, even seeing
virtue in what he considers as faults. The bunching of the windows towards
the centre gives the facade a focus. Two different solutions, equally
satisfying. |
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Mid C18 arms in the pediment;
below, the first floor window is flanked by pinched scrolls and swags of
fruit, the ground floor has a doorcase with open scrolled pediment
supported on rich Corinthian demi-columns and between them a lintel packed
with curly carving. |
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The W front is seven bays wide
and plain, with markedly different spacing from the S front, which does
not help; the E front is identical except for a plain doorcase with
segmental pediment resting on brackets, of the type used by Wren at
Winslow, Buckinghamshire. |
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The E facade was originally
the entrance and was approached via two -two-storeyed offices. This was
all changed after 1746, when the estate passed to the Fetherstonhaugh
family; the two lodges were demolished and a matching pair of offices
built to the l. and r. of the house on the N side. They are plain
Palladian with a three-bay pedimented centre ... |
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The entrance was then moved to
the N side, and was elaborated by a Tuscan screen by Humphrey Repton in
1812 (presumably designed by one of his sons, giving their customary
'assistance in the architectural department'). Nothing has been altered
since. Since the above
was written, there was a devastating fire in 1989. However, a remarkable
restoration has taken place. The photographs are from 2006. Further details of the house and its history,
including interior photographs, at the National Trust website. |
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Map |
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