Blickling Hall - Blickling, Norfolk (NT)
Despite Blickling Hall's elegant Jacobean exterior, a large part of the house dates from Tudor times, when it was owned by Sir Thomas Boleyn, father of Anne, Henry VIII's fated, second queen. Tradition has it that Anne was born here and this tradition played a factor in the purchase of Blickling by Sir Henry Hobart, who commenced his rebuilding in 1619. He had amassed his wealth during a career as a lawyer in London and he brought in Robert Lyminge to design and build a symmetrical and harmonious blend of red brick and pale limestone, complete with corner turrets, Dutch gables and two large service wings and yew hedges at the front of the house. The effect is of being drawn into the perspective, with the carved stone entrance way right at the centre of the south front.
The South Front
Generous windows and tall, clustered chimneys proclaim the typical Jacobean styling of the exterior, although as you walk around the outside, the way the house sits embedded into the ground tell of it's origins as a moated manor house of the late fourteenth century, a fact which gave Robert Lyminge some difficulties. Unusually, the principal bedchambers are on the front of the house, which may explain why the entrance way is so impressive.
Inside, the decoration continues to be of the highest quality. The oak staircase, although not originally in the entrance hall, carries lively carved figures and pierced pinnacles above the strap work balusters. The work here is very similar in design and execution to that at Hatfield House, Lyminge's best known work, so it is reasonable to suggest that the same carver carried out both. Elaborate plaster ceilings are another delight at Blickling, notably in the spectacular Long Gallery, at 123 feet, a confident display of emblems, mottoes and heraldic devices amongst strap work and foliage.
Sadly, Sir Henry never lived to see his beloved Blickling complete. Within twenty years of his death in 1625, decline caused by bad financial management led to the mortgaging of the house and an estate of only a quarter of it's 1625 size. Only an advantageous marriage to an heiress, Elizabeth Maynard, released Blickling from financial ruin in 1684. However, even that was not enough and the house was only saved by the early death of the 4th Baronet, Sir Henry Hobart, in 1698, following a duel. Had the expensive political campaigns of Sir Henry continued, Blickling's future would have been very different. His son John inherited at only five years old and a quiet period of recovery followed. On his return from touring Europe, the twenty-four year old Sir John married money to further secure Blickling. Sir John's political career went well, aided by the liaison between his sister Henrietta and the Prince of Wales. He became Baron Hobart of Blickling in 1728 and 1st Earl of Buckinghamshire in 1739. Despite political and fashionable success, funds were still not sufficient to decorate the house in the latest styles, with costly pictures and top works of art. However, the inheritance of 10,000 books from a distant relative in the mid eighteenth century called for a library to be built into the Long Gallery - the only room large enough to house the collection. This was the only significant building or alteration made by the 1st Earl and on his death in 1756, the inventory describes a house in need of repair, especially in the old, Tudor north and west ranges.
Fortunately for present day visitors, many of the Jacobean features were sensitively preserved by the 2nd Earl, aided by his aunt Henrietta. The Chinese Bedroom and its Dressing Room were fashioned from the old Jacobean withdrawing room in a rococo style and the great staircase was moved to its present site, allowing a comfortable suite of rooms on the ground floor of the east range. Following an unhappy appointment as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland from 1770 to 1780, a more felicitous spell as Ambassador at St. Petersburg in Russia led to the present decoration in the Peter the Great Room, following the gift of the huge tapestry by Catherine the Great. The adjoining State Bedroom also dates from this time.
The 2nd Earl died with no sons to succeed him, so the title went to his brother and Blickling to his favoured 2nd daughter, Caroline, in 1793. Caroline, Lady Suffield, lived quietly at Blickling until 1850. Her main contribution was in the design of the gardens and the reconstruction of the clock tower. On her death, the house was passed to William, 4th Marquess of Lothian, her grand-nephew. The Lothians had many houses and travelled a great deal, mixing with artists such as G.F. Watts and the decorative painter John Hungerford Pollen, whose work can be seen at Blickling in the Long Gallery and the morning room's beamed ceiling, currently glimpsed after years hidden away above a suspended ceiling. Recent water damage has resulted in conservation work at Blickling and it is now being considered whether to fully open the ceiling or preserve it's delicate paintwork under cover again.
One of the most remarkable owners of Blickling Hall was it's last - Phillip, 11th Marquess of Lothian. In 1934, he addressed the AGM of the National Trust, setting out the origins of the Country House Scheme, whereby houses with their contents could be left in lieu of death duties, endowed by their estate income for upkeep. The bill was enacted in 1937 and has led to all the major Trust's houses being saved for the nation in this way, with Blickling Hall the first, in 1940.