Chilton Foliat Lodge, Wiltshire

Description

CHILTON LODGE, WILTSHIRE

Published by Vernor, Hood and Sharpe, Poultry July 1, 1811

Drawn by R.W. Pilkington : Engraved by J. Greig

An original copper line engraving PROOF from The Beauties of England and Wales written by John Britton in conjunction with his friend Edward Brayley. Volumes I, II (1801) and V (1814) covered the county of Wiltshire. The print is taken from an original drawing by Redmond William Pilkington, the son of the architect and botanist Sir William Pilkington, who succeeded his father as Surveyor to the Charterhouse in London. John Greig was a landscape artist, engraver and lithographer who worked on many of Britton’s engravings.

Chilton Lodge is situated in the village of Chilton Foliat north-west of Hungerford in Berkshire. Chilton Park was the original house that lay to the east of the present house over the county border in Wiltshire and was owned by the Sheriff of Berkshire, Sir Thomas Hinton. In about 1785, the estate was purchased by John Pearse who had made his fortune in gun cotton (a form of gunpowder) and who commissioned the architect Sir John Soane to demolish and rebuild the C16th house. The new house was built between 1789-93, but Pearse was unhappy with this design and approached Sir William Pilkington (the artist’s father) to build a grander house, east of the previous building and back over the border in Berkshire.

The antique framed print shows a view towards the south side of Pilkington’s new house with five bays and a full height Corinthian portico. The north side had an extensive stable court and the east front had seven bays. Various additions were made in 1891 by Sir William Pearce, including a second storey for servants and a ‘carriage porch – porte cochere‘ on the east side, designed by Sir Arthur Blomfield. The nearby Chilton Lodge estate village of Leverton has a picturesque range of six unique thatched cottages in pepperpot shapes, originally inhabited by the estate workers.

The print is an artist’s PROOF. The print itself is in a very good clean condition and has later hand colouring. It is available presented in an ivory conservation quality mount and framed with a light walnut and gold wood frame with acrylic glazing. Price –£50.00.

Approximate dimensions are:

Mount window: 164 x 124 mm

Frame overall size: 290 x 235 mm