Listed Building record MDR2761 - Ednaston Manor, Ashbourne-Derby road, Ednaston
Type and Period (1)
- COUNTRY HOUSE (Early 20th Century - 1912 AD to 1919 AD)
Protected Status/Designation
Full Description
Ednaston Manor (NAT). (1)
Ednaston Manor, Brailsford, is an outstanding Neo-Georgian house built in 1912-14. It is an H-shaped, Queen Anne style brick building of two storeys. (2)
Ednaston Manor is a Grade I listed building. This small country house was built in Queen Anne style by Edwin Lutyens in 1912-19 for W G Player. It is constructed of reddish brown Bedfordshire brick laid in Flemish bond, with sandstone dressings and has steeply pitched, plain tile, hipped roofs with a massive central brick stack and four massive brick ridge stacks. The house has two storeys and attics, and single storey angle pavilions. Ednaston Manor was described by Lutyens biographer, A G S Butler, as "perhaps the most perfect country house that Lutyens designed". (3)
The house and small estate passed, on W G Players death, to Stephen Dane Player, his fourth son who died in 1979 when the house and 70 acres was sold to Lionel V Pickering a local pioneer of unsolicited newspapers. The remaining land is still in the hands of James Player. (4)
A building survey and historical analysis of Ednaston Manor was carried out in 2007 as part of proposals to replace the present, modern billiard room extension with an extended north-west wing. Ednaston Manor was built at a time when Lutyens had a keen interest in achieving symmetry in his more grand designs, but it appears that his commission at Ednaston ended before the project was completed. The plan for the house shows almost perfect symmetry on two axes but the north-west corner of the house seems to have remained unbuilt. Following the recollection by a surviving relative of the original client, William Player, that there had once been abortive foundations work, the lawn was lifted and excavation revealed fairly extensive brick footings. These were interpreted as the remains of a building, possibly a billiard room, that was never completed and which was undertaken at a slightly later date under the supervision of an architect other than Sir Edwin Lutyens. (5)
The manor of Ednaston belonged, after the Norman conquests, to the Ferrers family. At the Dissolution the manor went to Sir John Gifford who conveyed it in 1542 to Francis Shirley. (7)
Sources/Archives (7)
- <1> SDR11951 Map: Ordnance Survey (OS). 1980. Scale 1:10000.
- <2> SDR12891 Bibliographic reference: Pevsner, N. 1979. The Buildings of England: Derbyshire. 2nd ed., revised. p 207.
- <3> SDR5489 Bibliographic reference: Department of the Environment. 1985. DOE(HHR) District of West Derbyshire, Derby, July 1985.
- <4> SDR4297 Bibliographic reference: Craven, M & Stanley, M. 1991. The Derbyshire Country House. pp 78-80.
- <5> SDR20190 Unpublished document: Edwards, F & Edwards, M. 2007. Ednaston Manor, Brailsford: Building Survey and Historical Analysis, and Excavation. SMR Doc. No. 1021.
- <6> SDR17313 Bibliographic reference: English Heritage. Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England. Part 10: Derbyshire. PG1669.
- <7> SDR23543 Unpublished document: The Victorian Society. 1985. A Day Tour of the Peak.
Map
Location
| Grid reference | Centred SK 2384 4228 (35m by 30m) Centre |
|---|---|
| Civil Parish | BRAILSFORD, DERBYSHIRE DALES, DERBYSHIRE |
Related Monuments/Buildings (0)
Related Events/Activities (2)
- EDR2427
- EDR2426
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External Links (0)
Record last edited
Nov 6 2023 6:09PM