274 HOLKHAM HALL 



vivacity. Holkham is a case in point. There is nothing novel 

 about the plan (Fig. iSS), save that the wings are closer to the 

 main building than usual ; but in spite of this the kitchen is a 

 long way from the dining-room. The rooms are not particularly 

 striking: the finest are the entrance hall, and the sculpture 

 gallery or " statue gallery," as it is called on the plan in " Vitruvius 

 Britannicus." The house was designed for the reception of the 

 numerous works of art which the owner and builder, Thomas 

 Coke (afterwards created Earl of Leicester), collected in Italy. 

 The collection of pictures, statues, antiques, books, and manu- 

 scripts ranks among the finest in England. The opinions of 

 critics on the house are by no means unanimous. Sir William 

 Chambers, for instance, remarks how difficult it is to give 

 pleasing proportions to rooms of differing sizes, but which are 

 all of the same height, and so to arrange the smaller as to con- 

 trive suitable mezzanines above them. " Holkham," he says, " is 

 a masterpiece in this respect, as well as in many others. It 

 deserves much commendation, and does credit to the memory 

 of Mr Kent, it being exceedingly well contrived both for state 

 and convenience." 1 Ferguson, on the other hand, says: " \Ye 

 are left to conjecture whether the noble host and hostess sleep 

 in a bedroom 40 ft. high, or are relegated like their guests to a 

 garret or an outhouse, or perhaps may have their bedroom 

 windows turned inwards on a lead flat." He goes on to say 

 that although the house may be " a monumental whole, yet 

 the occupants would probably prefer rooms of appropriate 

 dimensions, where they could get fresh air and a view of 

 the park." - 



Both opinions are, or were, probably right. At the time it was 

 built, and for the wants of that period, Holkham was no doubt 

 both convenient and stately. But Ferguson's criticisms find a 

 ready echo in our own bosoms, and they are a measure of the 

 difference between the ideas of the eighteenth and nineteenth 

 centuries as to domestic comfort. 



The exterior of Holkham (Fig. 189), although a departure 

 from the customary treatment, is hardly an improvement upon 

 it. It is a little monotonous, and the large extent of plain 

 wall above the windows of the principal floor has a dull 



1 "Treatise on Architecture." 



- Ferguson's " History of Architecture," Book IV., 1873 e d-, P- 328. 



