More Tyntesfield Splendour

Here are some more photos of Tyntesfield, taken around the gravelled forecourt by the entrance of the house. I was waiting for the excellent mobility bus to arrive when I took these.
It must have been a wonderful thing to roll up in a carriage or early motor car for a house party here: the rooms and layout of the place just lend themselves to that sort of thing.

It's very Victorian in that there is a very high level of ornamentation, but here it works very well. There is not a sense of overcrowding or surfeit, rather that there is a careful balance between pattern, texture and colour. Natural materials are used widely - there are quantities of highly skilled stone carvings both inside and out, and superb wood carving within the house. However, colour is restrained and the house has been designed and built to make the best possible use of natural light.

Even on an overcast, damp autumnal day, there was a remarkable amount of natural light in the house. The gardens are lovely, too, but I'll have to explore them on a finer occasion, next year now aas the house closes at the end of the month for the winter, apart from a couple of weekends before Christmas.


When I look closely at the stonework, I am struck by the glorious individuality of hand crafted pattern: there are subtle differences in each little section, rather than mechanised conformity, but it all works so well and has the organic wholeness and cohesiveness of a natural form.