Winslow Hall

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 22acre in 2007, due to William Lowndes' gradual purchase of a block of adjacent houses and gardens from 1693 onwards. 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, 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.

Tags: Landmark & Historical Place