'Front' Elevation and part section of a Swiss barn
Unknown architect
Category
Architecture / Drawings
Date
circa 1775 - 1800
Materials
Pen and ink with coloured washes
Measurements
275 x 300 mm
Place of origin
Switzerland
Order this imageCollection
Wimpole, Cambridgeshire
NT 206291.1
Summary
Unknown architect. 'Front' Elevation and part section of a Swiss barn, circa 1775-1800, inscribed 'Front', pen and ink with coloured washes (275 x 300mm)
Full description
The elevation 'AB' - marked on the corresponding plan (NT 206259) - of the symmetrical, five-bay, three-storied façade to the farmhouse, with a cross section showing the access to the cellars beneath. The elevation also shows the first floor balconies, protected from heavy snows by pronounced, overhanging eaves, on the side walls of the house. The entrance door, giving access to the 'hausgang' a spine passageway, is placed at the centre of the façade. The side of the ramp (with its door to the pig-sties beneath) is shown on the right. We know from a letter written by John Soane in September 1800 that he had borrowed a group of five drawings of a Swiss farm building (NT 206258; NT 206291.1 -2; NT 206259 and NT 206260) from his client, Philip Yorke, and was sufficiently impressed by them to make his own reference copies. Whilst it is tempting to assume that the drawings might have influenced the design of the Great Barn at Wimpole (1794), it is unlikely that the meticulous John Soane would have retained the drawings for six years before returning them. It is more likely that the loan reflects an interest shared between the architect and his client in finding a simple ‘classical’ vernacular appropriate for agricultural buildings. Catalogue entry adapted from David Adshead, Wimpole Architectural drawings and topographical views, The National Trust, 2007
Provenance
Philip Yorke, 3rd Earl of Hardwicke, KG, MP, FRS, FSA, (1757–1834); bequeathed by Elsie Kipling, Mrs George Bambridge (1896 – 1976), daughter of Rudyard Kipling, to the National Trust together with Wimpole Hall, all its contents and an estate of 3000 acres.
Marks and inscriptions
Bottom centre: Front [beneath German inscription]
Makers and roles
Unknown architect, draughtsman
References
Adshead 2007: David Adshead, Wimpole Architectural drawings and topographical views, The National Trust, 2007, p.139, no. 319 du Prey, 1979: Pierre de la Ruffiniere du Prey 'John Soane, Philip Yorke and their Quest for Primitive Architecture' National Trust Studies, 1979., pp.28 - 38, fig. 12