More information : [TQ 6689 5323] Mereworth Castle [NR] (1)
Mereworth Castle with east and west pavilions, Grade I. Built by
Colin Campbell for John Fane between 1720 and 1730. (For full
description see list.) (2)
Mereworth Castle (main block) with moat walls to north, Grade I.
House, roofed 1723. Designed by Colin Campbell for John Fane, 1736 tobecome the Earl of Westmorland.
Large square block with four identical fronts, excepting the lack of
portico steps to east and west.
The block was originally moated, parts still visible to north.
(For full descriptions see list.) (3)
Mereworth Castle. The shell of Mereworth Castle was completed in 1723 by Colen Campbell; a straight copy of Palladio's famous villa
overlooking Vicenza, the Villa Rotonda. Campbell's client was John
Fane, who in 1736 inherited the Earldon of Westmoorland. In the
1720's however he did not have to support the state appropriate to a
peer, and could indulge his fancy with a castle (Campbell calls it
that) surrounded by a moat. The moat has been filled in, but as
approached from the north over a lake, the house is splendidly formed
by its free standing pavilions left and right, and two giant cedars.
Full architectural descriptin of house, pavilions and lodgs. [Were
the pavilions built at the same time as the house? They are not
attached to it - indeed the moat made that impossible. Campbell makesno mention of them in Vitruvius Britannicus. Perhaps Fane needed moreaccommodation after 1736 when he inherited the peerage. The west
pavilion nearly, but not quite encroaches on the site of the medieval
church (TQ 65 SE 27) rebuilt only in 1744. Yet recently discovered
drawings by Campbell inlcude one for the stable pavilion, not
admittedly to the executed design, but dated 1723. That would seem toindicate that they were at any rate intended from the first.
(4)
[TQ 668 533] Mereworth Castle is the closest English imitation of a
Palladian villa and therefore a key monument of the English Palladian
movement. It is closely modelled on the VillaCapra, Vicenze. Colonel Fane had inherited a moated castle that stood on the site of the present house and Jussey suggests that this may have dictated the plan, as originally Campbell's Palladian adaptation was surrounded by
a moat which was most regrettably filled in during the 19th century.
(5)
Mereworth Castle. Almost an exact copy of the Villa Almerico at
Vincenza. This Halian villa at Mereworth was erected for the Honary
John Fane by a Scottish architect named Colin Campbell between 1720
and 1723 at a cost of #100,000. The site was first cleared by the
destruction of the ancient moated manor house, the ancient parish
church and the rectory. Architectural description of the house.
(6)
[TQ 669 532] Mereworth Castle listed as a moated site in the county
checklist for Kent 1977 and 1979. (7-8)
The present building is on the site of a castle licenced in 1332. (9) |