# Burley House

Burley House, Burley-on-the-Hill, Rutland, England is a 17th-century country house built for Daniel Finch, 2nd Earl of Nottingham. Although Finch sought advice on the house from such as Christopher Wren, he appears to have acted as his own architect. The house stands on the site of an earlier building, owned by George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham in the early 17th century. The scale of Finch's new house is vast, the main block, the corps de logis, is fifteen bays long by seven wide, and fronts an expansive cour d'honneur. Construction took place between 1696 and 1700. Much of the interior of the house was destroyed in a major fire in 1908, although subsequently restored. In the late 20th century the house was converted to apartments, with enabling development in the grounds, by Kit Martin. Burley House is a Grade I listed building. Its park is listed at Grade II on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England.

## History

A Jacobean house on the site was in the possession of John Harington, 1st Baron Harington of Exton who sold the manor to George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham (1592-1628) in around 1620. Buckingham's house is said to have been the venue for a banquet for Charles I and Henrietta Maria, when Jeffrey Hudson, the Rutland Dwarf, was produced from a pie. The house was destroyed in the subsequent Civil War. Buckingham's successor, the second duke sold the estate to Daniel Finch, 2nd Earl of Nottingham (1647-1730) in the 1670s. The early Finchs were lawyers, Finch's father, Heneage having served as Lord Chancellor under Charles II. Finch later determined to construct a new house on the site.
Elizabeth Williamson, in her Leicestershire and Rutland volume in the Buildings of England series, revised and reissued in 2003, gives the build dates for the new house as between 1696 and 1700. Historic England suggests a slightly later completion date of 1705. While Finch consulted widely on the design, including seeking advice from Christopher Wren, and employed a number of known builders, including Henry Dormer and John Lumley, he appears to have acted as his own architect. Historic England describes Finch's design as "Baroque in composition" and it consists of a large central block with adjoining wings that flank an entrance court. Finch incorporated the stables from Buckingham's house which had survived the civil war into the east wing. The southern, garden, frontage now looks out over Rutland Water. In 1795 the 9th Earl engaged Humphry Repton to remodel the grounds. Repton produced one of his celebrated Red Books showing the potential for development, but not all of his ideas were taken forward.
On 6 August 1908 a fire broke out at the house, resulting in the destruction of many of the interiors and much of the contents, including some books dating to the Elizabethan period. At the time the house was let to Freddie Guest, a cousin of the future prime minister Winston Churchill, who was staying at Burley when the fire occurred. Churchill helped to try to extinguish it, though ineffectually. The Finches held on to the estate into the late 20th century, the house passing by descent to the Hanbury family, until it was sold in the 1980s to Asil Nadir. After Nadir's flight to Northern Cyprus following charges of fraud, the estate was bought by Kit Martin, who converted the house into six separate dwellings and undertook enabling development in the grounds. Burley remains privately owned and is not open to the public.

## Architecture and description

Williamson notes that "the site and scale are impressive". Historic England describe Finch’s style as “Baroque in composition, Palladian in detail”. The house consists of a main block, the corps de logis, which is fifteen bays long by seven wide. This is of three storeys over a basement. It is surmounted by pediments with, at the centre, Nottingham's coat of arms supported on four Corinthian columns. The building material is brick, faced with limestone quarried at Clipsham in the north of the county. The main floor, the piano nobile, is raised on a wide terrace. To the north, the entrance front is partially enclosed as a cour d'honneur by two flanking wings and a colonnade with Tuscan columns that concludes with the western and eastern stables.
Much of the original interior was destroyed in the fire of 1908. Restoration was undertaken by John Coleridge in the early 20th century in an imitation 17th-century style. Some original work remains, including mural decoration by Gerard Lanscroon in the Staircase Hall.
Burley House is a Grade I listed building. The terrace and the entrance gateway to the cour d'honneur are both listed at Grade II*. The park is listed at Grade II on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England.