Nostell Priory - Nr Wakefield, South Yorkshire (NT)
As the name suggests, there was originally a medieval priory at Nostell, founded in the early twelfth century and dedicated to St. Oswald, the northern Saxon king who brought Christianity to the area. The Nostell Act Book, together with a royal charter of 1121-2 tells of Ralph Adlave, chaplain and confessor to Henry I, discovering a group of hermits living in the woods around Nostell. He was so impressed with their faith that he asked the king's permission for them to become a regular branch of Augustinian Priors. The resulting Cistercian abbey was never as large as that at Fountains or Rievaulx to the north, but their subsequent church and monastic buildings were visited by Cardinal Wolsey on his way to York in1530.After the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the buildings passed through various hands until the Winn family acquired the estate in 1650. The church and adjacent buildings had been converted for domestic use and were lived in by the Winns until the new house was planned in the early eighteenth century. The descendants of the family still live there, although the National Trust was granted Nostell in 1953.
The fourth baronet, Sir Rowland Winn, was impressed by buildings he had seen on the Continent during his Grand Tour and began to build the new house in the Palladian style about 1735. The young James Paine took over the construction in 1736 and modified the plans originally drawn up seemingly by the gentleman-architect Colonel James Mayser. Paine's work survives in the basic shape of the facade, the two internal staircases, the State Bedchamber and the Dining Room. His Rococo style was challenged however by that of Robert Adam who was brought in by the fifth baronet, who succeeded in 1765. His new Neo-Classical style can best be seen in the Library, the Tapestry Room, the Saloon and the Top Hall. He brought in Joseph Rose for the plasterwork, Antonio Zucchi for the decorative paintings and Thomas Chippendale for the furniture. Chippendale came from nearby Otley and may also have supplied items for the fourth baronet. Adam built the south and west ranges of stables, various lodges gates and garden buildings and had also planned four wings to the main house, only one of which was built. Some redecoration was carried out in the early nineteenth century under Charles Winn, nephew of the sixth baronet and father of the first Baron St Oswald. A large fire almost destroyed the Amber and Breakfast Rooms in 1980 and they were redecorated together with the South Staircase and the Top Hall.
The main rooms at Nostell are situated on the first floor, in the style of an Italian villa, although thankfully the stairs are enclosed against the Yorkshire weather. Some of the furniture in the Lower Hall may well have come from the old house, including the four oak refectory tables. The large painting of Sir Thomas More and his family has a Winn family connection - his daughter Margaret was an ancestor of Susanna Henshaw who married the fourth Sir Rowland Winn. There are two rectangular staircases leading from the Lower Hall, one for the family to their private apartments and one to the State Rooms to the south. The plasterwork is possibly by Joseph Rose the elder to Paine's design and is one of the earliest surviving examples of Rococo decoration in the north of England .
The Library is a complete expression of Adam's design, with Zucchi's paintings, Rose the younger's plasterwork and Chippendale's furniture. The large desk was the single most expensive piece of furniture ordered for Nostell and the painting of Sir Rowland and his wife, completed shortly after the room itself in 1766, shows the young owner's pride in his fashionable home. The Tapestry Room and Saloon are also Adam's, with integrated design schemes such as the ceiling painting of Cupid and Psyche echoed in the oval relief on the carved marble fireplace in the Tapestry Room.
The Dining Room presents a return to Paine's designs with plump putti and a Bacchic note well suited to the function of the room. The overdoor paintings are by Zucchi, but were unhappily overpainted in the early nineteenth century. The State Bedchamber was originally designed by Paine to be a music room, as can be seen from the motifs of instruments. The room has unusual 'Indian paper' wall coverings, procured by Chippendale, whose chinoiserie furniture fills the room. The State Dressing Room next door is a mixture of Paine and Adam touches as is the Crimson Bedchamber, although here Adam's touch is restrained. The Top Hall is a wonderful example of Adam's architecture and decoration combining both geometric division of space and Neo-Classical motifs. The two oval lobbies are reminiscent of his work at Culzean Castle in Ayrshire and there would have originally been full scale sculptures on display.
The exterior of Nostell is restrained and classical although achieving a sense of grandeur and display of wealth and taste. The engaged Ionic portico round the entrance is reached from a sweeping staircase to the first floor. Adam added the steps and the block to the left, repeating the shape of the pediment, this time supported on full Ionic pillars.