Cottesbrooke Hall, Cottesbrooke

Image: © Stephen Richards Taken: 26 Aug 2002

An attractive brick and stone house, characteristic in many respects of its probable architect, Francis Smith (aka 'Smith of Warwick'). Giant Corinthian pilasters, a balustraded parapet topped with urns and a Corinthian doorcase with an open scroll pediment approached by a sweeping perron. It was built in 1702-13 for Sir John Langham. Grade I listed. The house is privately owned but regularly open to the public. In the C18th architectural hierarchy, Smith (1672-1738) lay somewhere between the London elite and the breed of skilled, provincial builder-architects who created substantial parts of the built fabric of the country that we see today. It's likely that brick dust ran in his veins - his father, also Francis, and his brother, William, were bricklayers, his elder brother Richard was also in the trade, and Francis's son, William, inherited his practice. Centred around Warwick, Francis built up a substantial practice, designing numerous country houses for the Midlands gentry, covering every county in the region except Nottinghamshire, as well as churches and the odd public building. After the catastrophic fire of 1694 in Warwick, he and William were contracted to supervise rebuilding and rebuilt parts of the town themselves. Francis assembled a small band of talented craftsmen to whom he returned time and time again. Whilst not particularly innovative, his commissions were secured on the back of building attractive houses to high standards of craftsmanship, his trustworthiness and reliability. Two members of the London elite, James Gibbs and Thomas Archer, entrusted Francis to execute several of their designs, and it seems likely that in at least one of these cases he modified the building to his own designs.

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