Ceiling
Category
Architecture / Features & Decoration
Date
1570 - 1599
Materials
Lime plaster
Measurements
4000 x 7800 x 6000 mm
Place of origin
Shropshire
Order this imageCollection
Wilderhope Manor, Shropshire
NT 112205
Summary
Decorative plasterwork applied to the ceiling of the Parlour. This room features the only fully extant decorated ceiling at the property. The ceiling ribwork is of interlocking lozenges and crosses with bosses marking the principal intersection points of the design. A wide variety of emblems and motifs are set within the panels formed by the ceiling geometry. The parlour is currently used as a lounge/private function room.
Full description
The finest and most decorative plasterwork in the house, comprising a lattice of moulded ribs defining interlinked star- and cross-shaped fields with an array of motifs similar to those of the Great Hall (112204). 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). The ceiling extends to the full area of the room though it makes little accommodation at it sedges for the size or shape of the room. (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.