3.8 Contextual Analysis

3.8 CONTEXTUAL ANALYSIS 3.8.1 PARKS, GARDENS AND WALLED GARDENS Before the eighteenth century, gardens and parks were designed both for pleasure and the cultivation of vegetables and herbs, and would have contained structures such as walls, arbours, follies and foundations. Some 3,000 medieval deer parks are recorded, and usually lay in open countryside, enclosed by pales. By the early eighteenth century, garden fashions were moving away from the rigid order of formal gardens, and long, designed views became important, which led to the introduction of the sunken wall and ha-ha. Temples, ruins and statues appeared as eye catchers and the short-lived fashion for curved Rococco features were popular. Historic England has observed that ‘Such landscape parks are reckoned among England’s most important contributions to European civilization’. 02

By the mid-eighteenth century informal landscapes evolved rapidly, largely due to the influence of Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown. As at Raby Castle, huge numbers of landscapes were transformed and laid out with pasture, undulating grounds studded with clumps, plantation belts to screen villages and new lakes devised to resemble rivers. The whole was enclosed within a tall wall, punctuated by entrances with gatekeeper’s lodges (appearing from the later seventeenth century). Kitchen and formal walled gardens also multiplied at this time as technological developments in propagation and horticulture expanded the range of what could be cultivated.03 Whilst the new landscapes were of interest, owners also wanted areas to walk, and shrubs/flowers to provide interest. The influence of Humphry Repton c.1800 led to raised terraces and flower beds or urns, with lawns, shrubberies and architectural features such as summerhouses. Gardens became more formal again in the second quarter of the nineteenth century, and Coade stone was frequently used for statuary.

Walled kitchen gardens supplied the house with vegetables, fruit and flowers. The tall walls created a micro-climate, but at Raby, would have also protected the produce from the deer. These gardens were southfacing and the north walls were heated with a complex system of flues and associated boiler houses. Walled gardens were productive, bustling and energetic spaces, that demonstrated horticultural showmanship and the power and status of the owner. These were innovative places where new techniques were applied, and exotic edible plants cultivated, often at considerable cost and requiring great skill. Earlier walled gardens in the mideighteenth century would have been a talking point and delight for guests, but by the nineteenth century they were being screened from the main house as merely productive areas. Raby is therefore unusual in that it remained in situ, in full view of the Castle gates.

Generally, the gardener would have lived on site in a spacious house, and from the 1840s the range of glasshouses expanded as glass became cheap. This was certainly the case at Raby and the increased use of glasshouses is clearly shown in the Ordnance Survey maps during the nineteenth century and twentieth century. Structures within parks and gardens were either for pleasure or utility. Within the Walled Gardens and stables area, the majority are for utility, with statuary, formal planting and landscaping providing the pleasure. However, functional structures essential to maintenance were often embellished architecturally to allow discerning visitors to be shown around. At Raby, the Gardener's House, Byre House and stable block were all ‘Gothickised’ to form a coherent ensemble. Elaborate gates, piers, fencing and walls are all found at Raby, controlling access into and within the landscape. Landscape structures such as deer houses were usually of high architectural quality as they also acted as eyecatchers. At Raby, kennels and associated house were also of high-quality, and are a typical element of high status complexes, providing facilities for foxhounds as this became popular in the early eighteenth century. Examples pre-dating the 1850s, as at Raby, are of national significance.

Turner’s view of Raby Castle and the Park (first exhibited 1818)

02 Historic England, Rural Landscapes: Register of Parks and Gardens

Selection Guide, 2018, 10 03 Ibid

3.8.2 GARDEN STRUCTURES The discovery and introduction of exotic plants to Britain in the seventeenth century dramatically increased the desire to cultivate these rarities and ingenious methods were invented to do so.04

Gardeners embarked on a period of experimentation in which trial and error played a large part, even in the design of the structures they built. The Orangery came first and citrus fruits were cultivated in England from the mid-sixteenth century against south-facing walls or within sheltered galleries.

The eighteenth century again saw a new range of exotic plants introduced, many of which needed warm conditions all year round to achieve optimum growth. These included figs and pineapples such as at Raby Castle. The Dutch are credited with developing the glasshouse as we know it today in the 1680s. This was a lean-to arrangement with glass casements sloping from the south wall to the ground. These became known as hothouses, a term applied to both those that were artificially heated but also cooler glasshouses or conservatories.

The hothouses were often heated by a serpentine flue that ran through the brick back wall that led from a firegrate at the bottom of the wall to a chimney at the top. The initial hot air flues were not ideal as there was a danger that they would leak fumes into the house and it was also difficult to maintain a constant temperature. At Raby Castle, the remnants of hot walls, boiler houses and glass structures remain, but there is no single intact arrangement. Survivals are often rare due to the lightweight construction of the structures and their constant evolution. The walls generally survive better than the glasshouses due to their sturdy design.

Walled garden and glasshouse at the Museum of East Anglian Life, Stowmarket (© Snapshooter, Flickr, 2013) 3.8.3 BATH HOUSES The mid-eighteenth century is associated with the creation of open ‘natural’ parkland. Pleasure grounds did continue to be created and maintained in this period but they were usually hidden away from the main façade of the house, as with the Bath House landscape at Raby. They featured curvilinear, relatively narrow gravel paths, which ran through areas of grass and shrubbery planted with varying densities of trees. The paths usually provided a circuit walk, mirroring the circuit drive within the park. A wide variety of flowering shrubs and flowers were planted and built structures were added to give ‘delight’, such as miniature bridges. Bath Wood is a thickly wooded valley, with winding walks and drives that all terminated at the Bath House (1752). In front of the bath house was an open lawn:

“well laid out with rhododendron beds and single specimens of conifers, with a lake-stream of water winding its way in various falls and artificial forms. This open space, or lawn, is thickly surrounded with grand old beech and spruce-fir trees, blending most charmingly together”05

There was a Kentian stream with rustic rock-work bridge, probably by Robinson. There is also a 1750s plan of a menagerie in Bath Wood designed by Carr which was probably not executed.

1750s Sketch plan of the intended Menagerie in Bath Wood (not executed)

3.8.4 PINERIES The introduction of the pineapple drove the design of hothouses and glasshouses more than any other exotic plant. The first pineapple was successfully grown in the Netherlands, in the late seventeenth century. By the eighteenth century this skill had transferred to Britain and the pineapple became a major status symbol for the wealthy and skilful gardener. The first pineapple was successfully grown in England between 1714 and 1716 by Sir Matthew Decker.

Pine pits were the crucial feature within a Pinery; these were shallow beds in which pineapple plants were placed, in pots, and surrounded by a layer of tanners oak bark and mature. A description of 1781 suggested that a pine stove should be between 12 and 14 feet in width in order to allow for a large central bed about 6 to 8 feet wide. These beds were usually higher at the back than the front in order to provide a sloping surface paralleling the roof of glass above.06 The pineries could be any length from 20 to100 feet, depending on the amount of pineapples being grown. Welbeck Abbey had a pine stove 250 feet long. The design for Raby Castle’s pine pits survives and is thought to date to the at least the 1850s. Although no longer visible above ground, there may be remnants surviving below. Many country houses are known to have cultivated pineapples but very few survive in anything like their original condition.

Plans for cold house and pine pit in the Walled Gardens at Raby Castle, n.d Until the 1850s Pineapples were grown on a threeyear cycle. After the crowns had rooted in the first year they were transplanted into a ‘succession bed’ to be grown in the second year before being moved to a final ‘fruiting bed’ in the third. It was not uncommon to have three different structures for each of these stages although smaller estates were often split into two separate sections, divided by a partition and individually heated to different levels. The latter appears to have been the case at Raby Castle. By the mid-nineteenth century hot water systems were being used instead. Boilers were installed next to the furnaces in a back shed and pipes would have run in a circuit at the bottom of the pits.

Pineapples were still exhibited at horticultural shows in the 1900s but by the twentieth century imported fruits started to arrive in good condition. From the 1950s onwards pineapples were grown so that they fitted neatly into a tin and of the 52 varieties listed in 1835, only two remain in cultivation today.

Elevation and plan of Pinery cum Orangery, John Walter, 1809, Glasshouses, Fiona Grant, 2013. Pineapples were often cultivated with vines above then, as shown here, to provide shade.

3.8.5 SERVICE BUILDINGS Agricultural and Farm Structures The patterns within the landscape can often be traced back to historic land use and settlement from at least the medieval period. At Raby, radical and wholesale enclosure, village clearance, parkland redesign and road diversions have had a major impact on the legibility of the landscape prior to the 1750s.

Within the landscape, the farmstead is the main focus of both the domestic and agricultural buildings. This complex of buildings can include a farmhouse, buildings for the housing and processing of crops, storage of vehicles, implements, fodder and accommodation for livestock. Buildings can be multi-purpose and specialist in their function. The relationship between the farm and the farmstead was rationalised in the seventeenth and eighteenth century, with a desire to unify and integrate functions, particularly after 1750 as farmers looked to increase productivity.

The agricultural revolution of the second half of the eighteenth century saw investment into new types of stock, crops, buildings and land management, coupled with enclosure of open fields and moors or heath. The 1750s to 1880s was the most important period of farm building development in England, and from the 1790s the era of ‘High Farming’ saw investment in new scientific measures and principles that led to more rational use of buildings. Earlier local and vernacular styles made way for architect designed structures, pattern books and gentrification. The designs by Paine at Raby of the ‘ideal’ farmstead (Raby Hill House) are an example of this movement. At Raby Estates, the home farm was to the west of the Castle and has always remained in hand as the estate farmstead. The farm structures integrated into the stables area were used to serve the immediate needs of the Castle with meat and dairy.

The general farmstead types, which were clearly distinct by the late nineteenth century, included the courtyard plan, the linear or L-shaped plan and the dispersed plan.

Raff Yard The maintenance and service buildings of Raff Yard were developed to support the immediate Estate of the Castle and the extensive stables area. An earlier form of the site existed within Old Raby village but in a different location. It would have included timber and lumber yards, masons and blacksmiths workshops, sheds and other maintenance spaces. The term Raff Yard is one

Paines’ design for a farmhouse intended for Raby particular to the north of England and refers to a works or maintenance yard.07 They held the joint function of maintenance yard – with blacksmith, farrier, joiners and masons – alongside the farmstead functions that served the Castle and incumbent family – cattle for dairy and meat, pigs, horses for work and transport, and gardeners.

The Dutch or Hay Barn Hay barns were recommended for use at the end of the eighteenth century and the early years of the nineteenth century as a method to protect hay which was easily spoiled, particularly in wetter climates. Ventilations were a key feature. Dutch barns differed from French barns in the permanence of their construction. Hay barns rarely appear on farms as permanent buildings after the1860s.08 Barns of this size in the north of England are fairly rare and are usually associated with the housing of large numbers of cattle over winter. At Raby, it is likely that the hay also served the extensive stables. Hay barns, the predecessors of Dutch barns, are fairly common in the western counties of Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, and Cheshire where pastoral farming and dairying predominated in the nineteenth century. Most are of relatively late date – late nineteenth century –making Raby’s version that much more significance. Of interest is also the integrity of the hay barn and the

Hay barn at Croxdale Hall (Roger Smith)

07 Catherine, 4th Duchess of Cleveland, A Handbook for Raby Castle, 1870, p205 08 RW Brunskill, 1999, Traditional Farm Buildings of Britain, pp101–102 limited evidence of changing use over the decades. A similar example can be found at Croxdale Hall, near Sunderland Bridge, County Durham.

Cattle Housing The byre or cow house was for the accommodation during the winter for animals too precious or insufficiently hardy to winter in the open. This was dependant on the amount of fodder available. Very few cow house interiors of the nineteenth century or earlier have survived unaltered because of changes required to meet hygiene regulations for the production of milk. The byres at Raby are unusual for the survival of fabric and fittings including flooring, partitions, feeding troughs and hay racks.

Pigsties Pigs were kept on most farms but little evidence for pigsties survives even in dairying areas, save in Cheshire and Staffordshire, as pigs were often left to run in yards amongst the cattle. The pigsties at Raby originally had small enclosures on the south side of the piggery which have since been removed. As with many other examples, the ones at Raby have been largely adapted for other uses.

3.8.6 EQUESTRIAN BUILDINGS Stables09 The noble display of the horse was a critical function of country house stable design from the medieval period to the nineteenth century and was at least as important as its practical management. Due to the value of horses, stables have always been well built, placed near to the house and of a certain level of architectural treatment. Stables needed to be well ventilated with plenty of light for grooming and harnessing. Historic stables are generally normally two storey buildings with a hayloft above and the horses stalled across the building, with a central door between two windows along one side. Stables associated with high status houses were usually the most architecturally refined.

The Evolution of Medieval and Early Modern Stables The stables buildings themselves were visually set apart from the other service buildings through their quality of materials and design. Windows were glazed by the late 16th century but few stables were stylistically innovative before the end of the Jacobean period, with stalls, arcading, racks and mangers as common features. Evolution in stable technology occurred from the seventeenth century onwards lies mainly in the introduction of a new, expensive breed of horse which merited greater comfort than existing breeds:

• Partitions between horses were unusual before the seventeenth century but were common by the eighteenth century.

• Hay racks evolved in the seventeenth century to make it easier for the horses to eat and keep the dust out of their eyes and drainage was also improved at this time, with stone or brick paving and drainage gullies.

• Saddle rooms were also an important space, providing storage but also display or harnesses and other trappings. • Hay could be stored above the stables or in a separate building within the complex.

• Coach houses began to be built, initially as a roofed structure with open sides.

Part of this revolution in design was to do with haute école, which was a new courtly fashion for riding horses in displays rather than in the traditional military form and was first popularised in this country by Henry VIII. The introduction of the coach or carriage, common by the end of the sixteenth century was also an important factor.

Classical architectural features and styles were adapted for stables from the 17th century onwards, including use of the oeil de boeuf window for the hay lofts. The first surviving detailed drawing of a stable dates to 1658, for Welbeck Abbey by Robert Smythson. The stable was vaulted in stone (to protect against fire), heated chambers for grooms and harnesses, running water to remove waste and ventilation shafts for the horses. It had alternating round and segmental pediments over the windows.

Eighteenth Century Onwards Post-Restoration stables were often elaborate and were often miniature versions of the contemporary country house. Early on, these could be placed in a wing flanking a house but later, were placed with other offices and services to one side. Most stable courtyards lacked unity and included a variety of buildings including barns, coach house, laundry, brewhouse and even farm buildings. Little changed in design until the early eighteenth century, when Palladian stable quadrangles became more popular, and is thought to relate in part to the changing practices brought about with hunting horses and the rise of foxhunting. This increased dramatically in the second half of the eighteenth century, as thoroughbred hunters and racing developed.

• Stables and coach houses were treated as independent structures until the eighteenth century but were later integrated. • In the seventeenth century, the timber partition between the horses became common, often with elegant sweeping curves and classical heelposts.

• Hay was generally kept above the stables in the eighteenth century and stables moved away from the house in an attempt to avoid the smells.

• Handsome interiors were created to showcase the horses, and sometimes included classical columns, cornicing and stone vaulting.

• Large timber partitions and hay racks were replaced in the later eighteenth century by ironwork as this became more readily available.

• Clinker brick flooring became common.

Thoroughbred, racehorse and hunter triggered a second revolution in stable design in the late Georgian period – 1790s–1830s, as horse prices rose. The most significant innovation was the introduction of the loose box. These could be 10ft square or more, enclosed on all sides allowing the horse freedom of movement. Before the 1800s, a few loose boxes were available for foals and sick animals only. Hunting stables were increasing fitted out with loose boxes and were often designed to impress.

Growing concern regarding ventilation and drainage continued although early solutions for ventilation were experimental and not entirely successful. The eighteenth century saw the length of the stall increase as standards rose in general.

It should be noted that increased popularity in hunting also required other service buildings. A design in Robert Lugar’s The Country Gentleman’s Architect of 1807 described a design for kennels, hunting stables and cow yard.

The stables and rising school at Wentworth Woodhouse, designed by John Carr

Stables and Riding House of Edinburgh Academy 1763 by Robert Adam

Riding Schools10 Covered spaces for equestrian exercise and sports date from the mid-seventeenth century when the schooling of horses or haute école was becoming fashionable. These buildings were constructed for the training of horses in the art of Manage, a practice similar to modern dressage. The Riding School at Bolsover (Grade I) is a grand rectangular, double-height building with upper and lower rows of windows and a suspended ceiling, and rather unlike the example at Raby Castle. Another example was built in the early nineteenth century for the Duke of Northumberland; it is also a long rectangular building of 28 bays set with Diocletian windows along each wall. The distinctive cast-iron truss roof structure enabled the roofing over of a wide span unencumbered by columns.11

The Rise of Early Modern Riding Houses Riding schools or houses were substantial covered spaces used for the exercise and training of horses and were one of the largest independent structures associated with the country house. They were one of the first buildings built specifically for a single sport (along with tennis courts) and were built for practicing haute école and the training of both horses and riders. The practice originated in Naples and was swiftly taken up by Henry VIII in the early sixteenth century. It was originally practiced in open manages but were soon replaced (in London initially) with riding houses. The first riding school was probably built in 1611 for Prince Henry as part of wider improvements. The building was a freestanding rectangle of approx. 40ft by 120ft, built in brick with a simple gable and buttresses, and minimal architectural detail. The interior was well lit, and the windows were hinged for ventilation. A viewing gallery was heated by a fireplace. The practice of haute école declined following the Civil War and no riding houses are known to have been built for a century following this (up to the 1740s), with horse racing and hunting becoming popular instead.

10 Worsley, The British Stable, 2004’ 11 https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1203779 Eighteenth Century Onwards After the 1750s and up to the 1780s, riding houses saw a revival, with fourteenth known to have been constructed in this period, built for devotees of haute école, although as possibly is the case at Raby Castle, some were built as a covered area for exercising horses in bad weather.

Many later riding houses were built for utility not for show, and all by men who had a passion for horsemandship (this was not a building type considered an essential by most), for example William Cavendish at Welbeck Abbey. Apart from the first Royal examples, the majority were plain buildings, and few were placed for architectural effect, often located at the back of the stables. Design and decoration was usually determined by their function, with plenty of indirect light and easy access. Few had ceilings or were plastered. They rectangular, 40ft wide or larger, and about three times as long (dimensions of 3:1 were common but 2:1 was also found), Many had an attached open manege for outdoor practice. There is a possibility that Duchess’ Walk at Raby Castle took on this function as an enclosed outdoor space for gentle exercise for the hunters and carriage horses.

Some examples of riding houses of interest include:

• Riding School for St James Palace, London, Robert

Smythson, 1611, 42ft x 124ft • Castle Ashby, Northamptonshire, 1610s, 35ft by 70ft • Petworth House, Sussex, 1610s • Syon House, not built • Welbeck Abbey, Nottinghamshire, 1623 • Bolsover Castle, 1630s • Grosvenor Square, Benjamin Timbrell, 1728, 86ft by 40ft • Raby Castle Riding School, late eighteenth century, 32ft x 210ft • Caulke Abbey, Derbyshire, 1760

Riding Hall in Brighton by John Nash

3.8.7 ARCHITECTS AND DESIGNERS AT RABY

Daniel Garrett (d.1753)

Daniel Garrett was Lord Burlington’s personal clerk of works in the 1730s, assisting on a number of his project. Little is known of his early life and career. With Burlington’s patronage, he set up his own practise and is known to have work on the mausoleum at Castle Howard.

Whilst he was an exponent of the English Palladian style, his most important work being the design of Foots Cray Place in Kent (c1752) he was also adept at Rococo design as can be seen at Raby and at Temple Newsam. He also employed the Gothic style to work at Gibside in County Durham (1751), and also published a volume on farmhouse designs in 1747.

He died in 1753 in London and his practise was taken over by James Paine.12 Garrett at Raby

Garrett is thought to have designed the Dog Kennel, Bath House, the Gothic Pavilion, Home Farm and Raby Hill Farmhouse, as well as his work on designing a number of state rooms in Raby Castle as well as an apsed drawing room and the dining room behind it.

12 Peter Leach, ‘Garrett, Daniel’ in Oxford Dictionary of National

Biography: https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/63115 Last accessed 06/06/2018 Thomas Wright (1711–1786)

Thomas Wright was both an astronomer, surveyor and a landscape gardener.

Born in Byers Green, County Durham, he was educated Dr Theophilus Pickering’s Free School in Gateshead probably in mathematics and navigation. He also studied instrument making and at the age of 20 set up a school to teach navigation and also sold instruments.

Wright later went on to lecture in astronomy; he also published a number of works on the subject – the work he is most famous for is An Original Theory of the Universe published in 1750 which expounds the theory that the stars must be arranged in a disc or grindstone, an idea that would later be seen as a precursor to the work of William Herschel.

Having gained the patronage of Richard Lumley of Lumley Castle in Ireland in the 1730s, White was to become well known in aristocratic circles. His skills in mathematics and navigation saw him surveying country estates, and planning gardens and grottoes for aristocratic families. In 1755 and 1758 Wright published the first two volumes of Universal Architecture, the first containing six designs for arbours, and the second grottoes. The final volume on alcoves was never published.

Examples of his work includes landscape designs for Culford Park, Bury-St-Edmunds, Stoke Park, Stapleton and Lumley Castle. He also designed buildings including the stunning deer shelter in Auckland Park, Bishop Auckland.13

He died in 1786 at his childhood home and was buried at St Andrew’s churchyard, South Church, Bishop Auckland.

13 David Knight, Thomas Wright, in Oxford Dictionary of National

Biography: https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/30060 Last accessed 06/06/2018 Wright at Raby

Wright may have been responsible for the laying out of Bath Wood and the Walled Gardens.

Thomas Wright, The Gentleman’s Magazine, 1793

James Paine (1717–1789)

James Paine was probably born in 1717 in Andover, Hampshire, the youngest son of a carpenter. He is believed to have studied architecture from an early age. It may be that following an introduction to Lord Burlington, he was made Clerk of the Works at Nostell Priory, Yorkshire. He received his first commission at this time for the Mansion House in Doncaster, launching his career as a designer of country houses.

He was an exponent of the English Palladian style, pioneering the Palladian villas a country house form, and also an early designer of Rococo interior decoration. His work epitomises the emergence of architecture as a profession working within private practises. This is also reflected in his variety of clients.

Whilst his work was mainly within Classical styles of architecture, he was employed on a number of projects where he employed the Gothic style. His work at Raby Castle and on another medieval building, Alnwick Castle, shows his willingness to keep within a style appropriate to the building. He also employed the Gothic style at Coxhoe Hall and Hardwick in County Durham, and at Ravensworth Castle the pointed hoodmould seen at Raby made a reappearance. Paine at Raby

Baron Barnard commissioned Paine c.1752. The work mostly consisted of remodelling parts of the south and west ranges and some internal decoration. Whilst his internal designs tended towards the Classical, his exterior work was more Gothic. The external alterations included a number of conventional features such as arrow-slits and quatrefoils but there were also some rather individual motifs. The most frequent was a pointed hoodmould over a four-centre window. Other works at Raby are believed to have been the design for Home Farm, an architectural site screened by a castellated curtain wall, and a cottage which is a Gothic version of the familiar tripartite formula, with a crenellated pediment to the centre and a pointed hoodmould over the door.14 His work appears to have overlapped with Garrett on some site (such as Raby Hill House), possibly with them working in collaboration towards a final solution, although this cannot be proven.

James Paine and Son by Joshua Reynolds

John Carr of York (1723–1807)

Was a renowned Georgian architect who was born in Horbury, the eldest of nine children. His father, Robert Carr (1697–1760) was a master mason and quarry owner, who is believed to have trained his son as a mason. However, it is known that by 1748, Carr began an independent career as an architect, working until shortly before his death. His early work is generally a mixture of Palladian and Rococo. He later sought a purer Antique Roman style with occasional French influences before adapting the style associated with Robert Adam. Towards the end of his career he returned to the bolder Palladian style of his youth but with detail that looked forward to nineteenth century usage.

Carr was chosen above James Paine to design a grandstand for the racecourse in his very first commission. His connection with York remained – he became a freeman in 1757 and served as Lord Mayor of York in 1770 and 1785 as well as being appointed as a magistrate for West Riding.

His works include Harewood House, but his largest was the St Antonio Hospital in Oporto, Portugal. His work encompassed a variety of building types including public buildings, a prisons and churches. At Buxton he designed an early example of a multifunctional building which encompassed a hotel, lodging houses, Assembly Rooms, shops, a post office and a public promenade all under one roof. His commissions for country houses included model farms, stable blocks, gate lodges, temples and other ornamental buildings. Carr at Raby

The 2nd Earl of Darlington engaged John Carr to carry out improvements inside the Castle and on the Estate in 1768 including the creation of a carriageway through the castle from west to east, with necessary removal of ceilings and floors in the Great Hall and in Chapel Tower. Paine, who had worked there up to 1756, commented favourably upon Carr’s proposals in 1771 to restore the Great Hall, create a new south front and add new buildings in the south-east corner of the castle.

Much of his work was restoration, for which his approach was pragmatic. He dictated the general alterations on plan and left the specifics to the exact position of new doors and windows and the construction of passages to the masons. The executant mason under Carr was Mr Wing. For details Carr generally made the masons copy existing models at the castle (Wragg, John Carr of York, 193–194). A drawing by John Carr (signed twice) shows the proposed crenellated stables and coach house at Raby. Although not as yet executed, the existing classical block displays the same massing and has the same door details, raising the possibility that the building was reduced in scale, potentially by the Mr Wing.

Carr also designed a variety of lodges bridges and a D-shaped menagerie for Bath Woods. Few of his proposals were executed according to drawn designs. In 1770 Carr enlarged the Gardeners House in the walled garden with single bay, and single storey wings15

John Carr by Sir William Beechey

Thomas White the Elder (1736–1811)

Thomas White the Elder was a designer associated of Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown in the 1760s, who later set up his own practise. Much of his work was in Yorkshire, but his later work from the 1780s were almost exclusively in Scotland.

White is believed to have engaged by Lord Darlington during the late 1760s and early 1770s. An ambitious plan for Raby Park dated 1774 has been attributed to White, which involved the construction of sinuous canals, islands and lakes. Only a few elements of this plan came to fruition.16