Holkham hall is a mid 18th century building situated in North Norfolk. As with all Palladian constructions lines of symmetry abound, inside and out. The general plan of the building follows the usual layout of a central block flanked with identical wings linked by corridors. Consequently the face on view of the hall boasts its maximum dimension, thus impressing the visitor with its size. However, unlike other Palladian buildings Holkham does not use long spindly extended corridors to its wings to artificially accentuate its breadth. In fact not only does the Hall have very short corridors but also it is effectively two Palladian mansions back to back, thus having a much greater depth than some other neo classical homes.
The sumptuous interior of Holkham is well known, especially the breath taking colonnaded entrance hall. The
décor is as ornamented as it could be without looking baroque and the interior just succeeds in retaining the clean, elegant and elemental feel that is a feature of pristine classicism. From the outside, however, I would not personally rate the building as particularly attractive; the wings, for example, look like workhouses. But perhaps this is appropriate: Holkham hall is not owned by a heritage trust who are doing their best to the halt forces of decay and fossilize it, but it is still a working concern – the Lord and Lady remain in residence and as of old the Hall is the hub of a farming estate, although income has been supplemented with tourism and the sale of rustic products.
Holkham Hall was built at the beginning of the industrial revolution when wealth was still primarily bound up with land ownership. As a great farming estate Holkham would have been amongst societies key wealth producers. The Lords of Holkham held one of the country’s chief means of production. Like the owners of the other great estates they used the then modern neo-classical architecture and statuary to signal their leadership status; they were where it was at, a new pinnacle of culture and civilization rivaling Rome. They thought of themselves as the “new Romans” but, in fact, one better: Technically they were more advanced than the Romans and these Christianized patricians, in their impressive celebrations of classical statuary and myth, were not afraid to contrast the barbarism of Rome unfavorably with their own Christian values and morality
After the medieval years of looking up to and feeling inferior to the classical world, western civilization, by the 18th century, had not only overhauled classical civilization but were poised to far exceed it. But it is ironic that the estate owners, who were at the center of the agricultural revolution with its new revolutionary farming techniques, were helping to bring about the demise of their landed class. The labor hungry industrial revolution would not have been possible without the efficient farming methods used by the great halls, freeing labor from direct contact with the land. When the industrial revolution got well underway and created a superstructure of industry and work far removed from the tilling of the land, wealth and power shifted away from the gentry: the factory owners, and not the hereditary land owners with their lineages and blood connections, were now vying to be the front runners. The factory owners were technically savvy, and the patrician class of the 18th century with their classical pretensions was in decline. Command of technology and not classics was the badge of the new modernism. The exuberant celebrations of classicism we find in the homes of the gentry became quaint and out of touch. The dynamic and frenetic pace of an accelerating industry with its ever-changing face of technical innovation was leaving behind the ponderous patrician wisdom of a bygone era.
The sumptuous interior of Holkham is well known, especially the breath taking colonnaded entrance hall. The
décor is as ornamented as it could be without looking baroque and the interior just succeeds in retaining the clean, elegant and elemental feel that is a feature of pristine classicism. From the outside, however, I would not personally rate the building as particularly attractive; the wings, for example, look like workhouses. But perhaps this is appropriate: Holkham hall is not owned by a heritage trust who are doing their best to the halt forces of decay and fossilize it, but it is still a working concern – the Lord and Lady remain in residence and as of old the Hall is the hub of a farming estate, although income has been supplemented with tourism and the sale of rustic products.Holkham Hall was built at the beginning of the industrial revolution when wealth was still primarily bound up with land ownership. As a great farming estate Holkham would have been amongst societies key wealth producers. The Lords of Holkham held one of the country’s chief means of production. Like the owners of the other great estates they used the then modern neo-classical architecture and statuary to signal their leadership status; they were where it was at, a new pinnacle of culture and civilization rivaling Rome. They thought of themselves as the “new Romans” but, in fact, one better: Technically they were more advanced than the Romans and these Christianized patricians, in their impressive celebrations of classical statuary and myth, were not afraid to contrast the barbarism of Rome unfavorably with their own Christian values and morality
After the medieval years of looking up to and feeling inferior to the classical world, western civilization, by the 18th century, had not only overhauled classical civilization but were poised to far exceed it. But it is ironic that the estate owners, who were at the center of the agricultural revolution with its new revolutionary farming techniques, were helping to bring about the demise of their landed class. The labor hungry industrial revolution would not have been possible without the efficient farming methods used by the great halls, freeing labor from direct contact with the land. When the industrial revolution got well underway and created a superstructure of industry and work far removed from the tilling of the land, wealth and power shifted away from the gentry: the factory owners, and not the hereditary land owners with their lineages and blood connections, were now vying to be the front runners. The factory owners were technically savvy, and the patrician class of the 18th century with their classical pretensions was in decline. Command of technology and not classics was the badge of the new modernism. The exuberant celebrations of classicism we find in the homes of the gentry became quaint and out of touch. The dynamic and frenetic pace of an accelerating industry with its ever-changing face of technical innovation was leaving behind the ponderous patrician wisdom of a bygone era.
