Doncaster Mansion House

History and development

Presentation by Helen Hutchinson

• Helen thanked Bob Fitzharris for his kind introduction and invitation to speak

at the James Paine Launch Event

• Helen speaks as an architect not an historian; her work in the study and

analysis of historic buildings or areas, is through understanding how they

were built, how their plan, form and detail has evolved. In this Helen is

supported by parallel research into documentary sources. That way, we

build a holistic understanding, attempting to define the essence of a place.

That way, when we intervene in an historic building, we can work with it and

avoid the risk of damaging its essential characteristics. As Donald Insall

says, ensuring that we make each building more itself.

• And that is how Helen came to be involved with Doncaster Mansion House,

through the production of a Conservation Plan in 2003.

• So, what is a Mansion House and how does it differ from a town hall or

assembly room?

• The Georgian era saw considerable changes in local government and the

creation of new buildings to house them. Until the 18th century Parliament

and government in London was housed in rambling ancient buildings in and

around Whitehall and Westminster. In the same way many local

Corporations like that at Doncaster operated out of churches, inns and

houses.

Blandford Forum Town Hall, with meeting

rooms above an arcaded ground floor

Georgian Mansion Houses

• Blandford Forum

• Early town halls were often modelled on prototypes such as guildhalls and

markets. The typical form was a meeting room supported on a colonnade

above an open sided covered market.

• Although town halls were sometimes used for hosting entertainments, it was

common practice to hire rooms in a local inn or private house for such

events. The town hall was primarily for meetings of the members and did not

generally provide accommodation for the mayor.

• In some towns a mansion house was built as well or instead of a town hall,

for the mayor to carry out his duties; to host formal dinners and

entertainments and sometimes as his official residence. The model for such

buildings was invariably that of a substantial town house, both in appearance

and internal layout.

Floor Plans Elevation of York Mansion House

Georgian Mansion Houses

• York Mansion House elevation and floor plans

• In England it is York which boasts the first purpose built mansion house,

dating from 1730-32. The plan of York’s Mansion House is essentially that

of a large town house with a state room on the first floor

• York’s mansion house is attributed to William Etty, who is known to have

subscribed to William Kent’s book, the Designs of Inigo Jones published in

1727. As you will see, there are strong similarities between the plan of the

York Mansion House and that at Doncaster.

• The plan at York is simple, with a central entrance leading to a main stair to

the rear, a service stair to the side, large ballroom or banquet room upstairs

at the front with drawing rooms behind.

City of London Mansion House

Georgian Mansion Houses

• City of London Mansion House

• The most outstanding Georgian mansion house is probably that in the City

of London designed by George Dance the Elder in 1737 and completed in

1752. Here the plan form is derived from designs by Andrea Palladio for a

large palazzo designed around an internal courtyard.

• Its front elevation resembles contemporary country houses while the side

elevations and the dramatic rooftop pavilions perhaps hark back to Inigo

Jones’s Witon House built some 100 years previously.

Palladianism and Neo Classism

Villa Rotunda, Vicenza

Queen’s House, Greenwich

• Palladianism and Neo Classicism

• You will have noticed that Helen has referred now to Andrea Palladio and to

Inigo Jones a couple of times and it is time to look briefly at the architectural

influences on James Paine.

• Palladio stood out among Italian architects of the mid-16th century, for

rejecting the complex dynamic mannerism of his contemporaries such as

Michelangelo. Instead he looked back to Vitruvius, the ancient Roman

author whose work had been rediscover in the 1400s and which inspired

early Renaisance architects.

• Palladio’s publication “The Four Books of Architecture” had wide influence

beyond Italy. You can see here one of his most famous buildings, the Villa

Rotunda. It employs pure geometric forms, a restrained use of the classical

orders and repose. It has a deceptive simplicity and repose.

• Inigo Jones, was a solitary trail blazer for Palladio’s style in England in the

years before the Civil War. Renaissance architecture had limited impact

here before his time and had generally been a pick and mix approach.

Jones was the architect of the Queens House in Greenwich and the

Banqueting House in Whitehall. He harked back to Palladio’s work of the

previous century.

Palladianism and Neo Classism

Castle Howard, c1699-1709, John VanbroughBy Pwojdacz

• Energetic baroque - Castle Howard

• After the Restoration of the Monarchy it was the Baroque style, then popular

throughout mainland Europe, which prevailed for most buildings of

significance in England. This style is exemplified in the work of Wren,

Hawksmore and Vanbrough

Palladianism and Neo Classism

Stourhead, Wiltshire by Colen Campbell

illustrated in Vitruvius Britanicus

• Stourhead, Wiltshire by Colen Campbell illustrated in Vitruvius

Britanicus

• A sudden change in the tide of fashion occurred in 1715, coinciding with the

start of the Georian era, when two books were published. One was a

translation of Palladio’s Four Books of Architecture and the other was a

book titled Vitruvius Britanicus by Colen Campbell. This new trend had the

effect of turning the architectural clock back by 100 years, starting again

where Inigo Jones had left off.

• The next generation of architects made the Palladian Revival their own.

Among its key proponents were Robert Taylor, John Carr of York, the two

John Woods of Bath and of course, James Paine.

• By the 1750s the impact of archaeology became a factor in architectural

taste and Neo Classicism began to displace the Palladian style.

• Controversy raged over the merits of Roman or Greek design, the Greek

seen by opposing sides as either as pure or primitive, and the Roman as

either sophisticated or decadent. Some architects chose simply to take

inspiration from any source.

Kedleston Hall, Derbyshire by Paine but re-worked by Adam.

This elevation was inspired by a triumphal arch.

Palladianism and Neo Classism

• Kedleston Hall, Derbyshire. Originally by Paine but re-worked by Adam

• Among these were Robert Adam, followed as the century progressed by

James and Samuel Wyatt and Henry Holland. All these architects took

elements of the Palladian tradition and adapted it to incorporate the new

ideas emerging from study of Greek and Roman buildings outside of Italy.

As fashions changed poor James Paine suffered the indignity of many of his

houses being redecorated by Robert Adam.

• Towards the close of the 18th century architects began to combine the

elements of Classicism in yet new the new Regency style was emerging.

This with its roots in Palladianism and Neo Classicism, but increasingly

eclectic, inspired also by Gothic and Picturesque sensibilities and the

rapidly changing social conditions of early 19th century Britain.

Key Individuals

James Paine (1717 – 1789)

• So after setting the architectural context let’s look at the architect of this

building, James Paine. Here is a portrait of James Paine

• James Paine (1717–1789) was a prolific country house architect based in

Yorkshire during the mid-18th century.

• The son of a carpenter from Andover and probably trained at St Martin’s

Academy and his first commission was as clerk of works at Nostell Priory,

an early Palladian style country house not far from here near Wakefield.

The work took seven years and established Paine in Yorkshire.

• Between 1745 and 1770 Paine was involved in the design or alteration of

over 30 country houses. During that time he took over the established

practice of Daniel Garrett. Other well known houses that are associated with

Paine include additional buildings at Chatsworth and the original designs for

Keddleston. He is widely regarded as one of the great architects of the

Palladian Revival.

• He combined his Northern practice with London based appointments,

including the post of Clerk of Works to the Queens House at Greenwich

(that building crops up yet again!). He took a grand tour in Italy, and seems

to have preferred the interpretations of classical architecture by Palladio and

other Renaissance architects as his inspiration, rather than ancient Roman

buildings.

South Parade, William Lindley’s

Doncaster home

Key Individuals

• The other key architect for the Mansion House was William Lindley.

• William Lindley (1739-1818) began his professional career as an assistant

to John Carr of York, where he worked for some 20 years. He was

responsible for several public buildings in Doncaster, including a theatre, a

gaol and the grandstand at the racecourse.

• He designed and remodelled several houses in Yorkshire and adjoining

counties. Among his surviving buildings here in Doncaster, is his own house

in South Parade (1797). This elegant terrace would not look out of place in

Cheltenham or any other fashionable town of the period.

• His designs could be described as rather conservative, perhaps suited to

the provincial tastes of his clients and their modest means. He continued to

work in the style he had learned from John Carr, and had much in common

with the tastes of Adam.

• And the final known architect involved at the Mansion House is William

Hurst (1787-1844). He was born in Doncaster and trained under William

Lindley. The architectural practice took the name Woodhead and Hurst

following Linley’s death. Hurst was also a town councillor and in 1827 was

mayor of Doncaster. Other names associated with the building are Joseph

Rose, the plasterer and the contractor John Thompson, later Anelays of

York.

Medieval Doncaster showing the castle

in the North-East, The Great North

Road, Carmelite Priory and Market

Georgian Doncaster

• Medieval Doncaster

• Medieval Doncaster showing the defensive fort/castle site in the northeast.

The Great North Road, market and Carmelite Priory can also be seen

• As you might guess, Doncaster has its origin as a Roman fort at the

crossing of the River Don on the route from Lincoln to York.

• The same site was chosen by the Normans for the construction of the now

long lost Doncaster Castle. The Mediaeval town grew up mainly to the south

of the castle, clustering on the Great North Road and around the market

place.

• There were two religious foundations within the town limits, a Franciscan

Friary to the north and a Carmelite Friary in the south west.

Doncaster in 1828 with the Mansion

House shown on High Street

Georgian Doncaster

• Georgian Doncaster

• Georgian Doncaster was a medium sized market town on the immensely

important coaching route linking London, to York and Edinburgh. It was

home to the racecourse where the famous St Leger was first held in 1778.

The town corporation was based in the former St Mary’s church in the

market place. Civic events and banquets were held in rented premises,

such as private houses and inns.

• But by 1730 this was no longer considered adequate. A new building would

allow grander entertainments and increase the towns attraction for local

gentry and other visitors, so boosting prosperity.

• Land was bought on the west side of High Street, a garden occupying part

of the two and a half acres which made up the Carmelite Friary until its

dissolution in the 1530s. The young architect, James Paine was appointed

in 1744.Work commenced in 1745 and the building completed in 1749 with

the decoration finished a year later.

James Paine’s original design

Elevation with wings

• James Paine’s original design

• Paine’s original design was highly ambitious, with a large central block

housing the main entrance sequence and first floor banqueting or ball room,

and two flanking wings with ancillary and domestic accommodation; a

typical Palladian design as seen on a larger scale in many Palladian country

houses but here compressed to an urban site.

James Paine’s original design

Original historic plan, principle (first) floor

• Proposed plan with wings

• His design for the Mansion House was never fully implemented. The

Corporation did not purchase the adjoining houses on the High Street

necessary for the implementation of the flanking wings. However the main

central block and its magnificent kitchen wing to the rear was built and

closely follows the designs published by Paine shortly after its completion.

James Paine’s original design

Imperial stair and Venetian window

• Staircase and window

• The plan was compact and elegant in its simplicity. Paine was well known

for his ability to design well planned, manageable houses that catered to the

needs of the minor aristocracy while still providing the fashionable

architectural setting they demanded. He was also admired for his ability to

design staircases, always a complex three-dimensional exercise. Both of

these talents are evident at the Mansion House.

James Paine’s original design

Ground Floor plan as built

• Ground floor plan as published

• The front of the building is dominated at first floor by the large Ballroom,

Behind it are the Main Stair, a service stair and ancillary rooms for small

events, card playing and for men and women to withdraw after dinner.

Linked to the building via a colonnade was the Great Kitchen, carefully

designed to mirror the symmetry of the main building.

James Paine’s original design

Front elevation as published

• Front elevation as published

• The exterior of the Mansion House facing onto the High Street was, and is,

a fine example of the Palladian Revival style. A rusticated base supports a

tall first floor featuring paired columns in the composite order, supporting a

wide pediment.

• The central window is in the form of a Venetian window or Serliana; an

arched opening flanked by narrower rectangular openings. This feature

marks the central axis of the building’s symmetry and is repeated through

the interior and staircase

• The heavily rusticated base incorporates a central doorway flanked by

blocked columns. The ground floor is in fact rather squat compared to

Paine’s drawings, with a shallow arch in place of an entablature above the

door shown here.

James Paine’s original design

Part of Inigo Jones’ unbuilt

scheme for Whitehall Palace

• Part of Inigo Jones’ unbuilt scheme for Whitehall Palace

• Similarities between Paine’s design for the Mansion House and an

unexecuted design by Inigo Jones for Whitehall Palace are striking. Today

plagiarism may be scorned but the use of published sources, as inspiration

for a new building, was accepted practice at this time. Indeed by doing so

both the architect and the building were elevated by association with a past

master.

James Paine’s original design

Ballroom elevation as published

• Ballroom elevation

• The interiors of Palladian revival buildings varied in their treatment

attempting to imitate Roman precedents for which there was, at the time, no

evidence The spaces were often designed in mathematical proportions

defined by classical and renaissance precedent but with a variety of

decorative treatments. The Ballroom has timeless and elegant proportions

of a double cube.

• The decoration shown in his published scheme is highly ornate and almost

Baroque in feel, with heavy flowing scrolls, swags and drapery, Figures and

billowing clouds. The decoration implemented was less elaborate, and of

distinctly Rococo character, flowing and energetic but rather more

restrained.

Ballroom details

James Paine’s original design

Photographed by Colin Barnes

• Ballroom photographs

• The main focal point of the decoration is in the Ballroom and the Main

Staircase, with perhaps the ceiling of the Ballroom its climax. Although the

same character is carried throughout the building, as seen in the drawing

room ceiling and hall lamp brackets.

Door, door case and lamp

brackets in Vestibule

Rococo ceiling decoration of

the Imperial Staircase

James Paine’s original design

James Paine’s original design

The interior design and external architecture form a seamless whole

• Ballroom Window

• Here you can see how the main elevation and interior of the ballroom share

the same architectural treatment. The Mansion House has great

architectural integrity, unlike some later Neo-Classical building where the

interior and exterior often did not relate to each other, requiring the use of

contrivances such as blind windows to force symmetry on the elevation.

Original Ground Floor Plan

Original First Floor Plan

Evolution of the Mansion House

• Plans showing original as built layout.

• So here are simplified plans of Paine’s Mansion House as originally built.

The front of the building is to the left .

• On the ground floor were various offices, the large kitchen to the rear

reached via the long covered corridor. Visitors mounted the imperial stair

which splits, turns back on itself and lead towards the ballroom. Either side

are drawings rooms and to the side a service stair.

Street Views; external character of the building alters

from the original Palladian to suit more Neo Classical

tastes

Pre 1800 street view 1826 street view

Evolution of the Mansion House

• Regency extensions and alterations

• Sixty years passed before substantial alterations were made to the Mansion

House, possibly to coincide with a visit to the races by the Prince Regent

and the Duke of Clarence (later George IV and William IV). The alterations

were designed by the local architect William Lindley.

• Pre 1800 street view and 1826 view. The external character of the building

is now more in keeping with late Georgian or Regency tastes.

• First, in 1800, Lindley was commissioned to remove the pediment and

replace it with an attic storey crowned with urns and the Corporation’s arms.

This work was carried out in 1801 and it is believed that the original

stonework was rendered and painted at this time. When seen from within

the roof space much of the pediment is still in place, with the new windows

built on top or punched through the earlier structure.

• Until this time the plot to the north Of the Mansion House, where Paine had

planned one of two symmetrical wings, was occupied by a house of 17th

Century appearance. In 1801 the Corporation bought the old house and

planned its demolition. A new house facing the High Street was completed

and occupied by 1805. Seen here to the right of the Mansion House

Dining RoomPhotographed by Colin Barnes

Evolution of the Mansion House

• Dining room photographs

• In 1806 a new first floor Dining Room was built to the rear of the Mansion

House, also by Lindley. The new Dining Room is slightly longer and

narrower than the original Ballroom, but not as tall It is less imposing but

none the less has elegant proportions. Its decoration is in a light Regency

style, with dainty geometrical mouldings, contrasting with the flowing Rocco

work of Paine.

Original Ground Floor Plan (1745)

Evolution of the Mansion House

Ground Floor Plan in 1806

Evolution of the Mansion House

Original First Floor Plan (1745)

Evolution of the Mansion House

First Floor Plan in 1806

Evolution of the Mansion House

• Plans as built followed by plans in 1806 showing changes. Flick back and

forth to “animate” the coloured areas. Green house is 1 Priory Place.

• The original service stair was replaced and one drawing room enlarged to

create a large saloon.

• At ground floor the kitchen link corridor was replaced and a new stair was

created linking the dining room to the kitchens.

• You will see that as part of this work the Mansion House expanded outside

its original plot and became interlinked with the new house indicating that 1

Priory Place was constructed primarily with the Mansion House expansion

in mind.

• Lindley was careful to reinforce the classical rules of space planning in his

work and created a new secondary axis, with the Dining Room centred on

one of the side doors to the Ballroom. This created an enfilade, a long view

through the newly formed saloon to the dining room.

1 2 31 – 3 Priory Place

Evolution of the Mansion House

• Mid 19th century changes

• 1-3 Priory Place

• In around 1830 a new side street was created running back from the High

Street, named Priory Place, presumably after the Carmelite Friary. The rear

garden adjacent to the Mansion House was used for the development and

the street was filled a unified terrace of houses by Woodhead and Hurst.

You can see here number 1 on High Street, the lower number 2 and taller

number 3.

• Plans of building as at 1805/6 and coloured plan of 1830s additions /

changes. Flick between the two to animate the changes.

• The first two of the new houses on Priory Place, like the earlier house on

High Street, interlinked with the Mansion House. Number 3 has no staircase

of its own, rather it uses the stair built in 1806 linking the great kitchen to the

dining room. This house may have been occupied by the house keeper and

butler to the Mansion House. Other evidence suggests that it provided

offices for the town clerk. Windows were added to the earlier house, now

known as 1 Priory Place, when the new street was created.

First Floor Plan in 1806

Evolution of the Mansion House

First Floor Plan in 1831

Evolution of the Mansion House

The amazing detail of the 1851 map shows the interior of public

buildings including the Mansion House and 3 Priory Place

Evolution of the Mansion House

• The amazing detail of the 1851 map shows the interior of public buildings

including the Mansion House and 3 Priory Place

• The use of these domestic buildings to support the Mansion House points to

the strength of Paine’s original design which incorporated ancillary side

wings. I wonder if anyone in the town corporation regretted not being bolder

back in the 1740s when they had the chance to build the whole scheme?

• The later 19th and early 20th century changes

• The last significant alteration to the Mansion House was undertaken in

1864.

• A link was formed across the back of the Mansion House, behind the main

staircase, creating a space now known as the Buffet. The Venetian Window

that lit the Main Stair was moved to the new back wall and an opening in the

same Venetian form was used to allow light and views through to the stairs.

This attractive new, top lit space copied the original decorative scheme in its

detail. The architect for this work was John Butterfield, the Borough Steward

Evolution of the Mansion House

First Floor Plan in 1864

Evolution of the Mansion House

View from the Main Stair through the Buffet

• View from the Main Stair through the Buffet

• Intervening in this central part of the Mansion House was a bold move but it

was carefully done; retaining the central axis of symmetry, the flow of light

and repeating the use of the Serliana motif.

• This extension is at first floor only and is supported on four large cast iron

columns.

• Other work from this period onwards can best be described as ad-hoc

tinkering. At some point in the closing years of the 19th or early 20th century,

a set of gentlemen’s toilets were constructed below part of the Buffet,

encapsulating two of the iron columns.

• Ground floor flick book for 1864-1910

Evolution of the Mansion House

Ground Floor Plan in 1864

Evolution of the Mansion House

Ground Floor Plan in 1910 Ground Floor Plan in 1910

Modern Times

Unfortunate additions to the rear of the Mansion House

and Buffet

• Modern times

• Courtyard elevation

• The last century has seen only modest changes. Sheds and outhouses

have appeared in the small yard areas. Flues and ducts sadly mar the

courtyard wall. A corrugated iron air raid shelter was created in the cellar.

• More importantly the Mansion House took on more and more of the

functions associated with a town hall. Rooms changed their function, for

instance with the dining room becoming the main council chamber.

• The Peace Window

• The most attractive modern contribution to the building is the Peace

Window commemorating the International Year for Peace in 1986.

Modern Times

The Peace Window

Photographed by Colin Baily

The Mansion House today

The Mansion House elevation to High Street as

seen today

• The significance of the Mansion House today

• James Paine’s legacy, Classicism, the survival of a historic public

building.

• And so we arrive back in the present day. The Mansion House is listed

Grade I and is therefore recognised as a building of outstanding national

significance.

• The main frontage of the Mansion House to High Street is a design of

exceptional quality. Although altered from Paine’s original concept by an

architect of rather lesser importance, the resulting elevation has a scale and

dignity rare in a Georgian market town and remains very substantially

Paine’s design.

The Mansion House today

Great Kitchen InteriorPhotograph Colin Barnes

• The Great Kitchen

• The great kitchen remains in its original form. The survival of an 18th

century kitchen is of itself quite remarkable, with most comparable

examples having been lost or substantially altered in the 19th or 20th

centuries.

The Mansion House today

Stairs and ballroomPhotograph Colin Barnes

• View from the Balcony to the Ballroom

• The complex interrelationship of spaces and interior detailing represented

by the Mansion House remains undiminished in the 2 and a half centuries

since it was completed. We have seen how Lindley’s dining room created

another layer of complexity while respecting Paine’s original design. So too,

the formation of the balcony retained the original spatial qualities and

lighting of Paine’s staircase.

• The building represents the fusion of Neo Classical and Regency elements

within a fine Palladian building. The continuity of the classical tradition has

played such an important part in the evolution of the Mansion House.

Paine’s design survives substantially complete and the architectural

character of the interior is undiminished.

• And so here we are today, celebrating the survival this splendid building, the

vision of the people of Doncaster throughout the 18th and 19th century and,

above all, James Paine’s remarkable talent.

The Mansion House today