HISTORY AND
ARCHITECTURE
ANNEX A:
1. THE HOUSE
1.1
Castle Goring is described by Nairn as “an
astonishing and unknown house”. It is astonishing because it combines a
Graeco-Palladian south front with a Gothic, castellated north front; it is
unknown because it has never been open to the public, visitors are discouraged
by the present owners, and its history is poorly recorded. Its architectural
quality is indicated by its listing as Grade 1; but its condition reflects
decades of neglect, and it has been on English Heritage’s list of buildings at
risk for the last five years.
1.2
Castle Goring is the only large house in Sussex built by the Shelley family. Its
builder was Sir Bysshe Shelley, grandfather of the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley.
Construction appears to have started in 1793 and continued for 15 or more years.
Although Nairn considered that the house must have been built as one piece, the
available evidence suggests that the Palladian south section was built first,
probably in 1793-96, and the Coade
panels on the façade were added in 1797-98. The Gothic section appears to have
been partially complete externally by 1805, but building continued until about
1810. The interior was still incomplete at that date, and was not finished until
the house was leased to Captain (later Sir George) Petchell in 1825. Petchell
bought the house in 1846, and it passed into the hands of the present owners,
the Somerset family, by marriage to a descendant of Petchell.
1.3
It appears that John Biagio Rebecca was the architect responsible for the Gothic
section of the house. It is not known whether he was responsible for the
Palladian section, whether his father Biagio designed this section, whether they
collaborated, or whether some other architect was responsible for it. Nairn, who
considered that Biagio Rebecca had designed all of the house, though probably in
partnership with someone unknown, considered that “Rebecca’s classical was
far better than his Gothic, a little hard and heartless, but firm and powerful,
and inventive within the limitations of the style”.
He describes the southern front as “an eloquent ramped entrance worthy
of France, with Grecian ironwork and Greek Doric columns underneath the first
floor". After describing the skill with which the internal transition from
classical to gothic is handled, Nairn concludes: “What a splendidly
sophisticated and self-aware end to an age!”
He was probably the last architectural writer to see the interior of the
house; his description is appended to this annex.
1.4
The position of the house, looking down a gentle slope to the coastal plain and
the sea, with the wooded eastern slope of Highdown to the west, added to its
value as a residence. This view has recently been obstructed by a belt of trees,
planted along the boundary between the garden and the park, which was previously
marked by a ha-ha.
1.5
The quality of the architecture of Castle Goring is undoubtedly high, as well as
being almost unique in its combination of styles. (Castleward House in County
Down is the only other house in the UK to combine Palladian and Gothic
styles). Its links to the Shelley family enhance its historical interest; the
poet was close to his grandfather, and familiar enough with the house to express
an opinion on its value after his grandfather’s death.
2.
THE PARK
2.1
There are no known descriptions of the plans for the park of Castle Goring.
The only evidence for its development comes from the early ordnance
survey maps. The survey for the first ordnance survey map (Illustration 1),
undertaken in this area in 1806, shows the park much as it is today. The Roundel
has been formed, and the large walled garden (a Grade 2 listed structure)
already exists.
2.2
The third ordnance survey map of 1909 shows no change from 1806. (Illustration
2). The current condition is shown by the aerial photograph of 1992.
(Illustration 3). Some trees have
gone north of the walled garden and south of Castle Goring Mews since 1909; and
a belt of trees has been planted in front of the house, cutting it off from the
park and from the view to the sea that was one of the attractions of the house.
2.3
The present state of the park is not, therefore, significantly different from
that when the house was built and the park originally laid out. It remains
grassland interspersed with oak trees, flanked by woodland that has been shaped
to enhance its appearance.
1.
Ian Nairn and Nikolaus Pevsner. The Buildings of England: Sussex. Penguin
Books, 1965.
2.
Djabry and A. Hughes. The Shelleys of Field Place.
Horsham Museum, 2001.
3.
The Letters of Bysshe and Timothy Shelley. Edited by
Djabry. Horsham Museum, 2001
4.
Biagio and John Biagio Rebecca: A sketch towards a biography. Michael W.
D. Norman. Privately printed, Shoreham, 2001.
Appendix
1: Extract from Nairn
Appendix
2: Photograph of North Elevation (National Monument Record)
Appendix
3: Photograph of South Elevation (National Monument Record)
Appendix
4: Extract from Surveyor’s Sketchbook,
Ordnance Survey 1806
Appendix
5 Ordnance Survey 1911
Appendix
6: Aerial Photograph of Castle Goring and
Park 1992 (National Monument Record)