Ceiling
Category
Architecture / Features & Decoration
Date
1570 - 1599
Materials
Lime plaster
Measurements
4200 x 8550 x 6300 mm; 3200 mm (Width); 3700 mm (Depth)
Place of origin
Shropshire
Order this imageCollection
Wilderhope Manor, Shropshire
NT 112204
Summary
Decorative plasterwork applied to the ceiling of the Great Hall. Typically the largest and grandest of rooms, this continues to serve as a Dining Hall and the main room for assembling, eating meals etc. Remains of original plasterwork extend over approximately one quarter of the main body of the ceiling, but entirely over the bay to the front of the house. The surviving plasterwork is of a simple shallow ribbed design, a cross set within a square to the main body of the Hall, and a central square with perpendicular ribs running from it in the Hall bay. A narrow moulding circumscribes the bay and extends around the north corner of the Hall. The spaces around and between the ribs are generously punctuated with various motifs including shields, portcullis, Tudor rose, and fleur-de-lys.
Full description
Fine plasterwork ceiling of geometric ribs defining square- and cross-shaped fields enclosing decorative motifs surviving in the bay and fragmentally in a section in the main body of the hall. Motifs include Tudor rose, portcullis, Prince of Wales feathers, fleur-de-lys, a ‘sacred heart’ inscribed ‘JESU’ and a blank cartouche circumscribed with the motto ‘DROIT DEU MAL MEU’ (roughly translated as ‘lawful right is ill moved’); the lettering of the inscription is partly reversed. That over the body of the Hall also includes the initials ‘FS and ‘ES’ denoting Francis and Ellen Smalman. The plasterwork is identical to work at the Abbotts’ Lodging at Buildwas Abbey (see Newman and Pevsner 2006, 183; col.pl.64) and clearly by the same craftsmen; the same moulds were also employed at Belswardine Hall, Morville Hall and the gatehouse at Upton Cressett Hall (see Newman and Pevsner 2011; p.239, 417 and 669 respectively; see also Mercer 2003, 165-5). See also 112204, 112206, 112207 (Description taken from Historic Building Record & Assessment of Wilderhope Manor by Ric Tyler, January 2015)
Provenance
The Elizabethan Manor house at Wildehope lies in Hope Dale, Shropshire and was constructed on land purchased in 1583 by Thomas Smallman. The land was leased to his younger brother Francis who began the building of the house shortly afterwards. The initials of Francis and his wife Ellen appear repeatedly in the plasterwork ceilings. The building passed into the Lutwyche family in 1742, up until the Nineteenth century at which point it was sold and became a farmhouse. As the estate was sold off the building fell into dereliction. The house was purchased by the W.A. Cadbury Trust on behalf of the National Trust in 1936. This instigated a first phase of repair; including works to secure the roof to protect the decorative plasterwork, some restoration and opening up of blocked up elements and the introduction a new heating system. A second restoration programme with further works to secure the fabric and facilitate the conversion of the building to become a Youth Hostel was funded by Mr. John Cadbury between 1975-6.