England

Derbyshire

Derby

52.9592

-1.537

1759

1765

Fully Extant

Grade I

Grade I

No

C. IV, pls. 45-51, 1767.

X, 240, 1901. XXXIV, 892, 928 plan, 1913. CLXIII, 194 plan, 262, 322, 1978.

Vol. I, 1818.

Yes

01332-842-191

01332-841-972

The National Trust

Visitor Attraction

Curzon family

Sir Nathaniel Curzon, later first Baron Scarsdale, 18th century. George Nathaniel Curzon, later Viscount Scarsdale, Earl Curzon, and Marquess Curzon, early 20th century.

An earlier Queen Anne house on the site was demolished to make way for the current house. In addition, Sir Nathaniel Curzon moved the entire village of Kedleston, save the Church, half a mile away to create the perfect setting for his new house.

Sir Nathaniel Curzon

The original designs for Kedleston by James Stuart were based on Palladio’s unbuilt Villa Mocenigo, published in his "Quattro Libri." Kedleston was intended to be a modern day Roman temple of the arts. The South Front by Robert Adam is based on the Arch of Constantine in Rome, while Adam's famous top-lit Marble Hall is supported by 20 fluted (carved in situ) Corinthian columns of pink-veined alabaster (mined locally from the Curzon family's quarries at Ratcliffe-on-Soar) with white alabaster capitals based on those of the Temple of Jupiter Stator in the Roman Forum; the columns soar 25 feet to the ceiling. Above the Marble Hall's alcoves are monochrome panels depicting scenes from Homer. The Hall also contains fine plasterwork by Joseph Rose. The Saloon dome is 62 feet high and was inspired by the Roman Pantheon, with the rosettes and octagonal compartments in the dome inspired by the Basilica of Maxentius in Rome, with the coffering in the alcoves copied from the Temple of Venus and Rome in the Roman Forum. The wall sconces in the Saloon depict playing cupids taken from the work of Poussin and Raphael. Kedleston cost the immense sum of £70,000 (equivalent to approximately £9.3 million in 2007 values) to complete and contains one of the least altered and most complete sequence of Robert Adam’s interiors in England. The design of Government House in Calcutta, home to the Viceroy of India, was built between 1799 and 1803 by Marquess Wellesley (brother of the 1st Duke of Wellington) to the designs of Charles Wyatt, and was based on Kedleston Hall. When the capital of India was moved to Delhi in 1911 Government House became the residence of the Governor of Bengal; the building is now known as the Raj Bhawan. Kedleston today houses the Indian Museum, which contains a display of artifacts brought back by George, Lord Curzon, while he was Viceroy of India (1899-1905). Lord Curzon was a passionate preservationist with a strong sense of his family's history (the Curzon family has lived in this part of Derbyshire since the 12th century) and was responsible for saving a number of important historic structures; however, a little ditty written while he was at Oxford is what has stuck through time: "My name is George Nathaniel Curzon, I am a most superior person. My cheek is pink, my hair is sleek, I dine at Blenheim once a week." The Capital Transfer Tax upon the 2nd Viscount’s death in 1977, in part, led to The National Trust's acquisition of Kedleston; the House and contents were acquired, and an endowment established, with total funds of £13,981,715, raised by public and private donations.

The pair of 17th century silver cisterns originally in the Dining Room at Kedleston were sold in 1947 (one is today in the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum, London and the other is in a private collection). The copies on view today at the House were made in the 1980s for The National Trust. A set of 3 silver condiment vases by Louisa Courtauld and George Cowles, London, 1771-72, made for Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Baron Scarsdale, are today in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Also in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston is a silver argyll made by Courtauld and Cowles in London, 1772-73, for Nathaniel Curzon. The 12 painted benches, designed by Robert Adam, and made circa 1788 by John Linnell for the Marble Hall, are based on the Tomb of Agrippa in Rome. The Linnells also executed the 4 over-the-top Drawing Room sofas on a nautical theme, which are loosely based on Adam's designs.

Kedleston’s great rooms are frequently cited as the best in England. The North Front has been described as "the grandest Palladian facade in Britain, with few rivals anywhere in the world." Olivier Bernier, writing in "The New York Times" on Nov 20, 1988, called the Marble Hall "one of the most glorious rooms ever built."

The House is set in 800 acres of parkland, complete with 18th century pleasure grounds that includes 5 lakes, the Fishing Pavilion, a summer house, and the Orangery. The Fishing Pavilion was built 1770-72 to Adam's designs and has exterior stone roundels of putti riding sea monsters carved by George Moneypenny. Inside, still life paintings of fish and a fishing scene by Zuccharelli adorn the walls. The Estate today (2006) comprises 6,000 acres.

Adjacent to the House is the 13th century church, all that remains of the former village of Kedleston, which was moved from this site to make way for the current House.

"Women in Love" (1969). "Boon" (1991 - TV series, episode 6.5, "The Barefaced Contessa," for the charity auction). "A History of Britain" (2000 - TV documentary series). "Jane Eyre" (2006 - BBC TV mini series for the flashback scene in the Caribbean). "The Duchess" (2008). "Kevin McCloud's Grand Tour of Europe" (2009 - TV mini series).