Ceiling
Category
Architecture / Features & Decoration
Date
1570 - 1599
Materials
Lime plaster
Measurements
3400 x 6300 x 6700 mm
Place of origin
Shropshire
Order this imageCollection
Wilderhope Manor, Shropshire
NT 112206
Summary
Decorative plasterwork applied to the ceiling of the Great Chamber. The main body of this ceiling is subdivided into two sections by a wooden beam running across its width, with the bay to the front forming a further compartment. Remains of ribwork and inset motifs survive in partial form to each area. The room is currently used as a dormitory, called Corvedale.
Full description
This plasterwork is in the largest and best appointed of the chambers, occupying the area above the main hall, including the projecting bay to the south. The ceiling is spanned by three substantial transverse beams and retains small, dscireteareas of decorative plasterwork comparable to, and using the same moulds as that recorded at ground floor level (see also 112204, 112205 and 112207). 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). (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.