Audley End House, Essex

The house and park from the E. The circular temple, designed by Robert Adam, and built to commemorate British successes in the Seven Years' War (1756-63), is just visible in the trees on the skyline.

Looking N. across the park from near the E. front of the house, with Lady Portsmouth's column (1774)

View from the E. For history, see set page . Most of this front of the house was rebuilt in the 18th and 19th centuries, following the removal of the E. range which formerly connected the projecting wings and formed a complete courtyard.

W. front from SW. For history, see set page . This front is mostly Jacobean, although the recessed section above the central hall is part of an eighteenth-century link designed to improve the connection between the two sides of the house following the removal of the E. range. The twin porches were probably primarily designed to preserve symmetry while retaining the entrance to the central hall in its traditional position at one end, although it has been suggested that, since the house was designed to accommodate visits from the King and Queen (who maintained separate households at this time), they may have been intended to give separate access to a King's apartment and a Queen's apartment.

Stables from N. List description: britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-406401-audley-end-stables... . Now dated to the early C17, according to the Buildings of England: Essex (2007 edn.), p.105, which compares the windows with St Mark's College (see www.flickr.com/photos/40878011@N07/12010405114 ). The style is less fashionable than that of the house, possibly to create a little "fake history" (cf. Heritage Today , May 2010, 17-18). The building seems to have originated as ancillary domestic accommodation (perhaps for the lower ranks among those accompanying the monarch on progress), but was converted to a stable a few years after its construction, possibly because the now-demolished forecourt of the main house took over its original function. The bay windows, surprisingly, were added as part of the conversion, perhaps to provide space for the owner and his visitors to inspect and discuss horses. Originally they had gables which were removed in 1685. [Paul Drury and Pete Smith, 'The Audley End Stable Block in the 17th Century', English Heritage Historical Review , 5 (2010), pp.44, 64, 68, 73, 79] The lantern may date from the 1860s. [ ibid. , 76]

The twin porches on the W. front, seen from the N. The use of contrasting marble colours for the columns at the corners shows the rather "restless" Jacobean treatment of classicism. The paired porches were probably primarily designed to preserve symmetry while retaining the entrance to the central hall in its traditional position at one end, although it has been suggested that, since the house was designed to accommodate visits from the King and Queen (who maintained separate households at this time), they may have been intended to give separate access to a King's apartment and a Queen's apartment.

Saffron Walden church seen from Audley End park

Detail of the S. side of the more northerly of the two Jacobean porches on the W. front. For history, see set page .

Looking SE across the park towards the Temple of Concord