Architecture of Aylesbury - 18th Century Architecture

18th Century Architecture

Aylesbury has many public buildings which reflect its position as the county town of Buckinghamshire since the 16th century. In the early 18th century plans were submitted by two architects, Mr. Brandon and Thomas Harris, for a new County Hall. John Vanbrugh selected Harris' plan.

The building was completed in 1740, a red brick building of seven bays and two stories. The windows are round topped on the lower floor and pedimented on the upper. The three central bays are unified under a pediment. The whole style is Palladian with some baroque influences. One feature on the principal facade shows the building's provincial pedigree, Vanbrugh or Wren would have left the facade undecorated, or the windows interspersed by pilasters: here in rural Aylesbury the architect chose to place a humble drainpipe symmetrically between the windows, in London plumbing was discrete or hidden. The interior contained a panelled court room, and a council chamber.

Almost from the moment of the building's completion, the 18th century County Hall was not large enough. As local government became more complex and bureaucratic more office space was required and so Judges's lodgings were constructed in 1849-50 on the back of County Hall. Following the Local Government Act of 1888 the newly established Buckinghamshire County Council based itself here, thus further council rooms, including a Mayor's parlour, were added too.

Ceely House is one of Aylesbury's larger houses. Of medieval origin it was the brotherhood house of the Fraternity of the Virgin Mary. In the mid-18th century it was converted to a private house and given a new classical front, by the Aylesbury lawyer Hugh Barker Bell. Constructed of red brick, its main facade is five bays. The centre bay projects slightly to accentuate the main entrance, which is protected by a porch in a loose palladian style of two unfluted Corinthean columns supporting a pediment. The pitched roof is hidden by an unusual parapet masquerading as an undecorated entablature. As in the case of the Friarage however Ceely House is another example of a much older building with a new front: medieval wall paintings may be found in the upper storeys of the house, which is now part of the Buckinghamshire County Museum.

Joseph Nollekens is said to have designed the large neoclassical Ardenham House for his sister-in-law a "Miss Welch".The daughter of Justice Saunders Welch, (a friend of both Samuel Johnson and Hogarth) Nollekens had married her younger sister Mary in 1772. This means the house can be no earlier than this date. Miss Welch is reported to have been a great intellectual, using Ardenham house as a literary salon. The large square red bricked edifice is of a simple design - a three-bayed front of three floors. The severity of the facade is only alleviated by a porch with tuscan columns, with a tripartite window above, and above that a tripartite lunette window. The roofline is hidden by a broken parapet. The design of this facade is typical of the more simple neoclassical approach to architecture of the late 18th century.