The Vyne facts for kids
Quick facts for kids The Vyne |
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The north front
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| Type | Country House |
| Location | Sherborne St John |
| OS grid reference | SU 63627 56816 |
| Area | Hampshire |
| Built | 1500–1520 |
| Rebuilt | 17th, 18th and 19th centuries |
| Architect | John Webb |
| Owner | National Trust |
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Listed Building – Grade I
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| Official name: The Vyne | |
| Designated | 26 April 1957 |
| Reference no. | 1296972 |
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The Vyne is a beautiful old country house in Hampshire, England. It was built a long time ago, in the 1500s, during the Tudor period. The house was first owned by William Sandys, 1st Baron Sandys, who was an important helper to King Henry VIII.
Over the years, The Vyne changed its look. In the 1600s, it was made to look more like a grand classical mansion. Even today, it still has its original Tudor chapel with amazing stained glass windows. A special front entrance, called a portico, was added in 1654. This was designed by John Webb, who learned from a famous architect named Inigo Jones. This portico was the very first of its kind on a house in England!
Later, in the 1700s, the house belonged to John Chaloner Chute. He was good friends with Horace Walpole, who helped design the main staircase inside. In 1958, The Vyne was given to the National Trust, which means it's now looked after for everyone to enjoy.
Contents
What's in a Name?
The Vyne is built on the spot where an even older house with the same name once stood. The name "The Vyne" has been around since at least 1268, but no one is completely sure where it came from.
One idea is that it might be linked to an old Roman road stop called Vindomis. Another idea is that it was a place where the first grapevines were grown in England. In the past, the house and its area were sometimes called "The Vyne Green." This might be because the original small house, its chapel, and other buildings were set up around a square, like a village green. Over time, these separate buildings were connected to form the larger house we see today.
A Look at The Vyne's Past
In the 1300s, the house on this spot was called Sherborne Cowdray. It was owned by the Fyffhide family. After Sir William Fyffhide passed away, the house was rented out. In 1370, it was described as having a main hall, rooms next to it, and a chapel.
The house then passed through different families by marriage. In 1386, it went to the Sandys family. Then in 1420, it went to the Brocas family, but in 1488, it returned to the Sandys family. The Sandys family is very important to The Vyne's early story.
The Sandys Family and Royalty
The Sandys family became very important during the time of King Henry VIII. William Sandys, 1st Baron Sandys was a royal helper and served as the King's Lord Chamberlain from 1526 until he died in 1540. He changed the old medieval house into a huge mansion to show his high position.
Later, William Sandys, 3rd Baron Sandys (who died in 1623) welcomed Queen Elizabeth I to The Vyne twice, in 1569 and 1601. However, the Sandys family's luck changed. During the English Civil War, the house was home to Colonel Henry Sandys, who supported the King. After a nearby Royalist fort fell, The Vyne was taken over by Parliament's soldiers. Colonel Sandys was hurt in a battle and died. Nine years later, in 1653, his son William sold The Vyne to Chaloner Chute, a rich lawyer and future Member of Parliament.
The Chute Family's Changes
The Chute family owned The Vyne from 1653 until the mid-1900s. They are mostly responsible for how the house looks today. Chaloner Chute, who bought the house, decided to tear down much of the old Tudor mansion and make what was left into a smaller, more classical house.
He chose John Webb, who had been a student of the famous architect Inigo Jones, to help him. It's interesting because this style of building was not very popular at the time, especially for someone who supported Parliament.
In the 1700s, Chaloner's relative, John Chute, made more big changes. He redid the chapel's inside, built a special tomb area, and put in the famous staircase. John Chute was inspired by his friend Horace Walpole, who was known for his romantic Gothic style.
John Chute didn't have any children, so when he died in 1776, the house went to his cousin, Thomas Lobb, who then took the name Chute. Thomas also didn't have children, so in 1837, the house went to another cousin, William Wiggett, who also took the name Chute. William focused on improving the farm and the roof, not so much the inside of the house.
In 1888, Chaloner W. Chute wrote a book called A History of The Vyne, which told the story of the house and its owners. The house stayed with the Chute family until 1956, when Sir Charles Chute gave it to the National Trust. This gift included the house, everything inside it, and a large amount of land.
How The Vyne Was Built
1500s: The Tudor Mansion
We don't have all the exact details about William Sandys' new house at The Vyne. But recent studies suggest it was a huge mansion with four courtyards, spreading out from the current house. This would have been similar to other big houses owned by important Tudor people. Some experts even think it might have been as grand as Hampton Court Palace, which belonged to King Henry VIII's friend, Cardinal Wolsey. A writer from the 1500s, John Leland, called it "one of the most princely houses in goodly building in all Hampshire."
Building started around 1500. By 1510, The Vyne was likely a large and comfortable home, because King Henry VIII visited it that year. A list from 1541 describes the house as having 57 "named rooms," meaning there were many more unnamed ones! Among the known rooms was a long gallery, which was one of the first of its kind in an English house. The house also had many small private rooms, which was unusual for Tudor times. Much of the beautiful wooden paneling, called linenfold, from these rooms is still in the oldest parts of the house today.
1600s: A Classical Makeover
As soon as Chaloner Chute bought The Vyne, he started a big redesign. He removed much of the old Sandys' Tudor mansion, especially the parts to the north where the lawns and lake are now. He only kept one wing of the Sandys' house, which had the Long Gallery, the main hall, and other rooms.
The old Tudor windows were replaced with new, rectangular stone-framed windows. These were placed evenly to make the house look more balanced. At the center of the north side, John Webb created a portico, which was the first one ever on a private house in England. This made the house look like the classical style called Palladianism.
Even though Webb tried to make it look classical, it wasn't a perfect Palladian house. It was hard to make a Tudor house truly symmetrical. For example, the blue patterns in the red Tudor brickwork, called diapering, didn't match the new windows.
Webb's portico is made of brick covered in plaster, with fancy Corinthian tops on its columns, made from Burford stone. Some parts of its design are a bit odd, which makes some people think it wasn't finished exactly as Webb planned. But no matter what, it's important because it was the first portico on an English house. To make the house look even more symmetrical, trees were planted to hide the chapel wing on the east side until the 1800s.
1700s: Adding Gothic Style
Chaloner Chute didn't live to see his rebuilding finished. A hundred years later, his relative, John Chute, started adding "Gothic" features. He was influenced by his friend Horace Walpole, who had created a new romantic Gothic style at his own home, Strawberry Hill.
Many of the changes John Chute made, with Walpole's advice, replaced old Tudor parts that had been removed earlier. The main changes were to the chapel and the creation of a "tomb house" next to it. Even though no one was buried there, this tomb house was designed to make the chapel and house feel more mysterious and Gothic. Walpole was a leader in good taste, but he didn't get to control all the changes at The Vyne, and some of his ideas weren't used.
1800s: Small Updates
During the 1800s, The Vyne had only small changes. Bay windows were added to the two wings on the south side, which made the house look more balanced. Here, Walpole's ideas had a stronger impact. Towers were replaced by gables. In 1842, William Wiggett, who wanted to keep the house's history alive, bought furniture and paintings that belonged to John Chute from Horace Walpole's estate sale.
The famous writer Jane Austen's brothers, including James Austen, were friends with the Chute family. They sometimes visited The Vyne.
Inside The Vyne
Ground Floor
The Chapel
The antechapel is one of the rooms that still looks like it did in medieval times. It has a painting of the Last Supper by Giovanni Domenico Ferretti. This room also holds pieces of stained glass from William Sandys' old chapel in Basingstoke. The Tomb Chamber, a separate room next to the chapel, was the biggest Gothic change John Chute made. It has a monument to Chaloner Chute, designed in a classical style by Thomas Carter. The chapel itself was built by William Sandys and still has its ribbed ceilings and beautifully carved pews from the 1500s.
The Stone Gallery
The Stone Gallery is located directly below the long gallery. Some historians think this gallery was originally an open area, like a porch, used in summer instead of the indoor gallery above. If it was open, it would have been one of the first of its kind in England. We know for sure it was an enclosed gallery by the 1700s. Its Tudor-style ceiling and its stone and marble floor are believed to be from the 1700s.
A special feature of the Stone Gallery is a terracotta medallion of the Emperor Probus, set above the fireplace. This medallion was made in Italy and is one of the oldest such pieces in Britain. Similar medallions were used to decorate houses during the short English Renaissance, like at Hampton Court Palace. While it's possible this medallion was part of the original Sandys mansion, there's no clear proof. It's not listed in an inventory from 1754, and some people think John Chute might have bought it after a part of Whitehall Palace was torn down.
First Floor
The first floor is reached by an imperial staircase. This staircase is in the center of the house, where a hall used to be in the original Tudor building. It was built between 1769 and 1771. Horace Walpole suggested adding a staircase, but John Chute decided against Walpole's Gothic style and designed his own Palladian-style staircase.
The stairs are considered one of the house's most amazing features. Even though the space is small, a single flight goes up to a half-landing, from which four shorter flights lead to more landings and galleries. The whole effect is very dramatic, playing with light, space, and how things look from different angles.
The Oak Gallery has been called one of the most famous rooms in England. It's special because it's believed to be one of the earliest long galleries in England, probably built in the 1520s as part of the Sandys mansion. Within a few years, most important Tudor houses had such a room. These galleries were used for entertaining, exercising, and showing off. Their length became a competition, and The Vyne's long gallery was soon outdone by others. The early date of this gallery, and its purpose just for exercise, is clear because it doesn't lead anywhere else – you enter at one end and have to leave by the same door. Later galleries in other houses had rooms leading off them or connected different parts of the house.
The room is covered from floor to ceiling with over 400 pieces of linenfold paneling, decorated with badges and symbols. However, the Sandys family didn't display as much wealth in their long gallery as some others. A list from 1547 says the room had no pictures and very little furniture.
The original windows were replaced with classical ones, but the changes to the paneling are hard to see. In the 1800s, the paneling was covered with a material called gesso and painted brown, which some people thought was a terrible idea. In the 1900s, trying to remove the paint was found to be too expensive and might damage the paneling. In the mid-1800s, the room was made a bit longer by adding a bay window at the south end. At the same time, the gallery got a new floor, and the rope-patterned plaster on the ceiling was made to stand out more with painted details.
Outside The Vyne
In the 1700s, the land around The Vyne was designed to look like a natural park, a style made popular by famous landscape designers like Capability Brown. A small stream near the house was blocked to create a beautiful lake.
See Also
In Spanish: The Vyne para niños
