Talk:Chiswick House/Archive 1

Archive 1

Boyle

The house belonged to Richard Boyle, 4th Earl of Cork and also known as Lord Burlington, and he designed it in 1729 with William Kent and Inigo Jones.

Jones died in the mid-17th century - did he design the original version which was then altered by Boyle and Kent, or is his name being here just a mistake? --Camembert

Thanks for that - the Inigo Jones reference only applied to the gateway which had been designed by him more than a century earlier. I have now clarified that. Renata 10:30 Jan 5, 2003 (UTC)

Ah, I see - thanks. --Camembert

Bollo Brook

"The grounds include an extensive lake and ornamental water features which are supplied by the waters of Bollar Brook, a stream running from Acton to the River Thames."

The stream is called Bollo Brook and doesn't actually feed the lake, but is carried through it in a pipe. I'm not sure which water features are referred to here - there is "the cascade" at the end of the lake ...

Sold

"The 9th Duke of Devonshire sold Chiswick House to Brentford and Chiswick Council in 1929" It was actually sold to Middlesex County Council.

Italian Garden

This seems to confuse several different parts of the garden, ref "remnants" actually I think that it is intact and remains as laid out in 1812. The Italian Garden doesn't adjoin the house (so has no relation to any facade) and iirc there are no cedars or cypresses in it.

See http://www.chgt.org.uk/index.asp?PageID=14 for a discussion of what is actually in the garden.

Plus - change the importance to high "It is one of the most important landscapes in the world for its influence on garden design, in particular the English Landscape Movement. Chiswick House is also one of the most glorious examples of neo-Palladian architecture."

I've edited the article to reflect the above sentiment (and add various details) Jo2802 (talk) 11:48, 19 September 2008 (UTC)

Jo2802 (talk) 17:14, 16 September 2008 (UTC)

January 2010 comment

Dear all. As you can see I have substantially added to this entry, providing many different sources, references and information.

Just to clarify a few things-

the Villa was designed by Lord Burlington with help on the interiors by William Kent.

The Bollo Brook lake is indeed feed by the river Thames. The cascade is at the one end.

Regards, Ricky Pound, 09/01/2010 —Preceding unsigned comment added by Chivalrick1 (talk • contribs) 14:55, 10 January 2010 (UTC)

Green Park gates sphinxes

Sphinxes on posts of gates on Piccadilly leading into Green Park

Thought this picture (and the links in the information summary) might be of interest to those editing this article. Carcharoth (talk) 02:00, 19 March 2010 (UTC)

Queries

• "The origins of Rome were made manifest at Chiswick through Burlington's strategic deployment of statues, including those of a Borgian gladiator, a..." - Should that be Borghese Gladiator? Johnbod (talk) 01:53, 29 April 2011 (UTC)

Yes, thank you for bringing this to my attention. my mistake- will correct immediately.

• "The finely carved Corinthian capitals on the projecting six-column[8] portico at Chiswick, carved by John Boson, are derived from Rome's Temple of Jupiter Stator". Surely not Temple of Jupiter Stator (8th century BC); I've assumed Temple of Jupiter Stator (2nd century BC), but please correct if wrong. Johnbod (talk) 02:12, 29 April 2011 (UTC)

Also correct- to avoid confusion I will refer to it in the future as the Temple of Castor and Pollux

• " What is also surprising is the number of books by French architects that Lord Burlington owned, including books by Jean Cotelle, Philibert de l'Orme, Abraham Bosse, Jean Bullant, Salomon de Caus, Roland Fréart de Chambray, Hugues Sambin, Antoine Desgodetz, Francesco Fanelli, Félibien and John James's translation of Claude Perrault's Treatise of the Five Orders" - several named are variously not French, not architects, or not surprising to find in a well-stocked library. I think a rephrase is needed. Johnbod (talk) 02:26, 29 April 2011 (UTC)

• I am confused here, in the history section, we have a new villa being built because the old jacobean house was burnt down, yet we are told "As accommodation was already provided in the old Jacobean house and stable block, there was little need for bedrooms" did it burn down or did it not? Giacomo Returned 13:34, 30 April 2011 (UTC)

As far as I can tell from the article, no- it was presumably demolished some time in the 19th or 20th centuries- the article fails to mention when it was demolished, but since there's a photo of the foundations being excavated… Ning-ning (talk) 21:05, 30 April 2011 (UTC)

Ok - here is the answer to avoid confusion. Although there was a fire in the old Jacobean House Lord Burlington decided it was still habitable and it continued to be lived in until 1788 when it was demolished by William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire. The architect John White was employed to design two new wing buildings to be positioned either side of the Villa which became the living accomadation and were in place until demolished around 1956.

• Am I right in thinking Canning was a Tory? The problem is that the Villa is being portrayed in the article as a Whig stronghold, giving the impression that Canning was a Whig, or alternatively that he was a Tory who died in Whig territory of unnatural causes. Ning-ning (talk) 10:48, 8 May 2011 (UTC)

As far as I am aware George Canning was a Tory. How he come to die in one of the wing buildings at Chiswick House I do not know. The Cavendish family were staunch Whigs. However, the 6th Duke of Devonshire had many friends and maybe friendship on this occation over rode politics. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Chivalrick1 (talk • contribs) 22:41, 10 June 2011 (UTC)

Over zealous editing of a great article

Unfortunately this article has been butchered by later 'contributors' to the extent that much of the valuable information has disappeared. Many of the photographs have also disappeared greatly bringing down the quality of the article that I spent so much time putting together---- — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.184.212.30 (talk) 22:33, 24 July 2013 (UTC)

Perhaps you did not notice that an editor split the article, so there is a separate article on the architecture of Chiswick House, for good or ill; hardly anything was actually lost. The presence of so much uncited text remains an issue from before that time, it's still uncited today. The article will not reach B class without full referencing, let alone GA. Chiswick Chap (talk) 19:33, 18 December 2014 (UTC)

Events

Many different events are held at Chiswick House each year. There may be a place for an events section, but it's not obvious that we should either try to list all of them here, as Wikipedia is Not a Catalogue, and equally not obvious that we should focus on one type of event. Perhaps what should be done is to give a short list of examples with a suitable source. Chiswick Chap (talk) 21:55, 21 March 2017 (UTC)

Two PM deaths

Two British Prime Ministers, Charles James Fox (d. 1806) and George Canning (d. 1827), died in the same room at Chiswick House.

Already cited in the article. Chiswick Chap (talk) 16:06, 7 October 2018 (UTC)