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Winslow Hall is a country house, now in the centre of the small town of Winslow, Buckinghamshire, England, built in 1700; it was sited in the centre of the town, with a public front facing the highway and a garden front that still commanded in 2007, due to William Lowndes' gradual purchase of a block of adjacent houses and gardens from 1693 onwards.〔http://www.winslow-history.org.uk/winslow_winslow_hall.shtm; http://www.winslow-history.org.uk/winslow_court1695.shtm〕 The architect of the mansion has been a matter of prolonged architectural debate: the present candidates are Sir Christopher Wren or a draughtsman, whether in the Board of Works, which Wren oversaw, or a talented provincial architect. == Architect == ''"Winslow Hall was built in 1700 by Secretary Lowndes"'' claims Kip and Knyff's ''Britannia Illustrata'', 1708, with no mention of an architect. Winslow Hall was probably designed by Sir Christopher Wren, according to Howard Colvin,〔Colvin 1995, ''s.v.'' Matthew Banckes, Sir Christopher Wren, based on material presented in ''The Wren Society'', xvii, 54-75.〕 who found the case not proved. George Lipscomb was less cautious: he notes the "commodious plain brick edifice with a flight of several steps to the door over which is the date of its erection 1700 and the name of William Lowndes" and adds confidently, "for whom it was designed by Inigo Jones". Inigo Jones died in 1652, and so is unlikely to have designed Winslow. Pevsner too feels the house was in "all probability" designed by Wren.〔Pevsner, p 297〕 Sir Christopher Wren is thoroughly plausible: In a ledger book discovered in the early twentieth century detailing work on the house, scattered among the payments made to stonemasons and bricklayers, and for the carpentry to Matthew Banckes, are alterations in payments to craftsmen, authorised by 'St. Critophr Wren Surveior Gen' The account book is complete and detailed and yet records no payment to Sir Christopher Wren himself. William Lowndes (the owner) and Wren knew each other, they served on a committee together in 1704. Was Wren the architect, or was he merely looking through a friend's building accounts as a favour? All Souls College, Oxford owned a three-volume collection of architectural drawings by Wren, although most pertain to the plans for St Paul's cathedral there are also sketches and plans for his domestic buildings - there is nothing resembling Winslow Hall or anything there to suggest that Wren was the architect.〔''Records of Buckinghamshire'', p 407〕 The master carpenter documented at the house was Matthew Banckes, who had been Master Carpenter in the Office of Works since 1683, and was Master of the Worshipful Company of Carpenters at the time the house was built. Banckes often acted as surveyor at works by Wren, including six of the City churches and at Trinity College Library, Cambridge. There is but one clue in the design of the house, The fireplaces on the ground floor are no longer original, but one room on the first floor retains an original corner fireplace. Corner fireplaces are said to have been a feature of Wren's domestic work. However, they consequently became a fashion at the time. The four massive chimney stacks, dominating the mansion, are not repeated on any house designed by Wren. While in the ledger book is recorded the most menial labourer's name to the highest surveyor's, never once is the architect mentioned. A 1695 engraving of Sarsden House, Sarsden, Oxfordshire, shows a very similar house to Winslow.〔Sarsden House, the seat of Sir John Walter, 3rd Bt. (c 1674—1722), Tory M.P, who succeeded his father in 1694 (David Hayton, Eveline Cruickshanks, Stuart Handley, eds. ''The House of Commons, 1690-1715'', Vol.1, ''s.v.'' "Walter, Sir John, 3rd Bt.") appears in a 1695 engraving by Michael Burgers, illustrated in Colin Platt, ''The Great Rebuildings of Tudor and Stuart England: revolutions in architectural taste'' 1994, p. 161 fig. 68; it is in four ranges round a central court, with wing extensions; its entrance front of seven bays has a slightly projecting three-bay central block under a pediment flanked by attic dormers, with a similar dentilled cornice and similar small-scaled quoins at all corners.〕 As happened the length and breadth of England it is likely that similar projects were copied by a local draughtsman, and in the case of Winslow Hall, Wren kept an eye on the work and the books as a favour to his friend. Whatever the truth, it is doubtful three hundred years later a definite answer to the architect's identity will be found. Thus without stronger evidence, while it is probable Wren was involved, Winslow Hall can only be attributed to Sir Christopher Wren. If the house is by Wren, it is the only surviving example of a substantially unaltered Wren House outside London. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Winslow Hall」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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