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Request to view at the Prints & Drawings Study Room, level E , Case A, Shelf 149, Box E

Drawing

ca. 1730-1735 (made)
Artist/Maker
William Kent (maker)

Sketch of the entrance front of Wayneflete's Tower at Esher Place, Surrey. With tentative additions and a sketch plan in pencil. Designs for Esher Place, Surrey, show plans and exterior elevations of the house, designs for the interiors and plans and elevations for the garden, park and outbuildings, ca. 1730-1735. By the time Henry Pelham purchased Esher Place in 1729 all that remained of the original structure was Waynflete's Tower, built ca. 1475 by Bishop Waynflete as the gatehouse to the Episcopal Palace. When William Kent was commissioned to enlarge the house and redesign the grounds, it seems that Pelham originally considered a classical villa overlooking the Tower in the Park. However this scheme was abandoned in favour of altering and adding to the Tower itself.

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read William Kent: designing Georgian Britain William Kent (1685 – 1748) was the leading architect and designer of early Georgian Britain. Credited as having introduced the Palladian style of architecture into England and originating the 'natural' style of gardening known as the English landscape garden, Kent was a polymath, who also ...

Object details

Categories
Drawings
Designs
Object type
Drawing
Materials and techniques
Pencil, pen and brown ink and wash
Brief description
Sketch of the entrance front of Wayneflete's Tower at Esher Place, Surrey, by William Kent, ca.1730-5
Physical description
Sketch of the entrance front of Wayneflete's Tower at Esher Place, Surrey. With tentative additions and a sketch plan in pencil.
Dimensions
  • Height: 23cm
  • Width: 38cm
Summary
Sketch of the entrance front of Wayneflete's Tower at Esher Place, Surrey. With tentative additions and a sketch plan in pencil. Designs for Esher Place, Surrey, show plans and exterior elevations of the house, designs for the interiors and plans and elevations for the garden, park and outbuildings, ca. 1730-1735. By the time Henry Pelham purchased Esher Place in 1729 all that remained of the original structure was Waynflete's Tower, built ca. 1475 by Bishop Waynflete as the gatehouse to the Episcopal Palace. When William Kent was commissioned to enlarge the house and redesign the grounds, it seems that Pelham originally considered a classical villa overlooking the Tower in the Park. However this scheme was abandoned in favour of altering and adding to the Tower itself.
Bibliographic references
  • John Harris, "A William Kent Discovery: Designs for Esher Place, Surrey", Country Life, May 14, 1959
  • John Harris, "Esher Place, Surrey", Country Life, April 2, 1987
Collection
Prints, Drawings & Paintings Collection
Accession number
E.361-1986

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Record createdOctober 7, 2008
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O168903/drawing-william-kent/
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