Editing Harlaxton Manor

{{short description|Manor house located in Harlaxton, Lincolnshire, England}}
{{For|the heritage house in Queensland, Australia|Harlaxton House}}
{{Use British English|date=April 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox historic site
| name = Harlaxton Manor
| native_name =
| native_language =
| image = Harlaxton Manor - University of Evansville College near Grantham, UK.jpg
| image_size = 300px
| caption = 
| alt = Rear view of the house from the garden
| type = 
| locmapin = Lincolnshire
| coordinates = {{coord|52.8806|-0.671|display=inline,title}}
| location = [[Harlaxton]], [[Lincolnshire]], England
| area =
| built = 
| built_for = Gregory Gregory
| original_use = [[English country house|Country house]]
| architect = [[Anthony Salvin]], [[William Burn]]
| architecture = [[Jacobethan]]
| governing_body = [[University of Evansville]]
| owner = 
| designation1 = Historic garden
| designation1_offname = Harlaxton Manor park and garden
| designation1_date = 24 June 1985
| designation1_number = 1000982
| designation2 = Grade I
| designation2_offname = Harlaxton Manor
| designation2_date = 19 February 1952
| designation2_number = 1298440
| designation3 = Grade I
| designation3_offname = Forecourt gateway and screen
| designation3_date = 19 February 1952
| designation3_number =  1236557
| designation4 = Grade II*
| designation4_offname = Harlaxton Manor bridge
| designation4_date = 24 September 1979
| designation4_number = 1187968
| designation5 = Grade II*
| designation5_offname = Harlaxton Manor Gatehouse
| designation5_date = 24 September 1979
| designation5_number = 1236606
}}
'''Harlaxton Manor''' is a [[Victorian era|Victorian]] [[English country house|country house]] in [[Harlaxton]], [[Lincolnshire]], England. The house was built for Gregory Gregory, a local squire and businessman. Gregory employed two of the leading architects of Victorian England, [[Anthony Salvin]] and [[William Burn]] and consulted a third, [[Edward Blore]], during its construction. Its architecture, which combines elements of [[Jacobean architecture|Jacobean]] and [[Elizabethan architecture|Elizabethan]] styles with [[Baroque architecture|Baroque]] decoration, makes it unique among England's [[Jacobethan]] houses. Harlaxton is a [[Listed building|Grade I listed building]] on the [[National Heritage List for England]], and many other structures on the estate are also listed. The surrounding park and gardens are listed Grade II* on the [[Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of special historic interest in England|Register of Historic Parks and Gardens]]. It is now the British campus of the [[University of Evansville]].

==History==
Harlaxton is first recorded in the ''[[Domesday Book]]'' as Harleston. The current [[mansion]] is the second Harlaxton Manor. The first was built on a different site during the 14th century and was used as a [[Hunting and shooting in the United Kingdom#Hunting lodge|hunting lodge]] by [[John of Gaunt]]. By 1619, Sir Daniel de Ligne purchased the [[Manorialism|manor]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/data/gb3454-gre/gre/2|title=Gregory family history – Harlaxton Manor – Miscellaneous papers relating to Harlaxton Manor and Gregory and De Ligne families – Archives Hub|website=archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk}}</ref> The original house was deserted after 1780; it was inherited by Gregory Gregory, and was torn down in 1857.

===Gregory family===
Gregory Gregory (1786–1854) was born Gregory Williams, adopting the surname Gregory when he inherited his uncle's estates. His father was William Gregory Williams (1742–1814) and his mother Olivia Preston (1758–1835). In 1822 Gregory inherited Harlaxton Manor and other property from his uncle George de Ligne Gregory (1740–1822).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://harlaxtonmanorarchives.wordpress.com/timeline/gregory-gregory/|title=Harlaxton Manor archive: Gregory Gregory|publisher=University of Evansville|date=9 May 2014}}</ref> The original Harlaxton Manor was an ancient building in need of repair so Gregory did not move to the house, living at the nearby Hungerton Hall. In 1831 he commissioned the architect [[Anthony Salvin]] to build his mansion, a process which took 20 years. Unmarried, childless, with no interest in traditional country pursuits, and averse to socialising and entertaining, the building of Harlaxton, and the acquisition of architectural elements, paintings, furniture and glass to fit it out, became Gregory's all-consuming passion.{{sfn|Hall|2009|pp=27-31}} The diarist [[Charles Greville (diarist)|Charles Greville]], visiting during the house's construction in the 1830s, recorded Gregory's obsessive approach, [see box].

{{quote box|width=25em|align=Left|quote="To-day we went to see the house Mr. Gregory is building, five miles from here. He is a gentleman who has a fancy to build a magnificent house in the Elizabethan style, and he is now in the middle of his work, all the shell being finished except one wing. Nothing can be more perfect than it is, both as to the architecture and the ornaments. Many years ago, when he first conceived this design he began to amass money and lived for no other object. He travelled into all parts of Europe collecting objects of curiosity, useful or ornamental, for his projected palace, and he did not begin to build until he had accumulated money enough to complete his design. The grandeur of it is such, and such the tardiness of its progress, that it is about as much as he will do to live till its completion. It is the means and not the end to which he looks for gratification. He says that it is his amusement, as hunting or shooting or feasting may be the objects of other people and as the pursuit leads him into all parts of the world, and to mix with every variety of nation and character, besides engendering tastes."|source=—The Greville Memoirs<ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/grevillememoirsj04grevuoft/page/44/mode/2up?view=theater|title=The Greville Memoirs|first=Charles|last=Greville|publisher=Longmans|date=1896}}</ref>}}

In 1851 Gregory moved into the completed manor with a staff of fourteen servants including a butler, a house keeper, three footmen, seven domestic maids and two grooms. By 1854 he was dead.{{sfn|Jenkins|2003|pp=438-440}} The house was inherited by his cousin, George Gregory. Gregory had loathed his distant relation and attempted to bequeath Harlaxton to a friend but was unable to break the [[entail]] on the estate.{{sfn|Hall|2009|p=30}} George Gregory (1775–1860) had been born in [[London]], son of Daniel Gregory (1747–1819). George did not follow his father's occupation as a merchant and instead bought an estate in Lincolnshire. In 1825 at the age of 50, he married Elizabeth Price, twenty years his junior.{{sfn|Nicholl|1866|p=597}} They moved to Harlaxton after he received his inheritance.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sOUNAAAAQAAJ&dq=%22george+gregory%22+harlaxton&pg=PA112|title=Post Office Directory of Lincolnshire|year=1855|publisher=Kelly's Directories|access-date=16 January 2022}}</ref> With other owners of large houses in the area, George decided to open the house to visitors. George died in 1860 at the manor and another distant relative, John Sherwin Gregory, inherited the house.{{sfn|Wainright|Beard|Rowlands|2000|p=25}}

John Sherwin Gregory (1803–1869) was born John Sherwin Longden. His father was John Longden and his mother was Charlotte Mettam. His father had inherited Bramcote Manor in Nottinghamshire. When his father died in 1818, John received the Bramcote property, changing his surname to Sherwin, becoming John Sherwin Sherwin. In 1829 he married Catherine Holden.{{sfn|Walford|1869|p=431}} The couple lived at Bramcote<ref>{{cite web|url=https://bramcotehistory.org.uk/village-history/bramcote-hills-house|title=Bramcote Hills House|publisher=Bramcote History Group|access-date=17 January 2022}}</ref> until inheriting Harlaxton in 1860, at which point Sherwin again changed his surname, becoming John Sherwin Gregory.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thedicamillo.com/house/harlaxton-manor/|title=Harlaxton Manor - House, family and collections history|publisher=DiCamillo|access-date=21 January 2022}}</ref>

John died in 1869 and Catherine continued to live at Harlaxton Manor until her death in 1892 at the age of 86. Her obituary recorded that she was highly regarded as a benefactor, both of the church at Harlaxton and of the sick and poor of the parish.{{sfn|Wainright|Beard|Rowlands|2000|p=25}} When she died in 1892, Thomas Sherwin Pearson, who was the second cousin and godson of John Sherwin Gregory, inherited the manor.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/94717be6-170c-47bb-8009-530003726ef4|title=Notes on the descent of the Gregory estate|publisher=The National Archive|access-date=17 January 2022}}</ref> Thomas added Gregory to his surname, becoming [[Thomas Pearson-Gregory|Thomas Sherwin Pearson Gregory]] (1851–1935). He was born in [[Barwell]], [[Leicestershire]], son of General Thomas Hooke Pearson and Francis Elizabeth Ashby Mettam.{{sfn|Crisp|1902|p=74}} Thomas' grandfather the Reverend George Metttam was the brother of John Sherwin Gregory's mother Charlotte Mettam and was John's second cousin. Thomas was educated at [[Rugby School|Rugby]] and the [[University of Oxford]], becoming a first-class cricketer.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.espncricinfo.com/player/thomas-pearson-18860|title=Thomas Pearson profile and biography|publisher=CricInfo|access-date=18 January 2022}}</ref> In 1885 he married Mabel Laura Payne and, in his inheritance in 1892, moved to Harlaxton with his wife and their son [[Philip Pearson-Gregory|Philip John Sherwin Pearson-Gregory]] (1888–1955), who himself inherited the estate in 1935. Philip decided not to live in the house and, following an auction of the contents which lasted three days, it was sold in 1937.<ref name="auto">{{cite web|url= https://www.countrylife.co.uk/architecture/harlaxton-manor-lincolnshire-an-american-evolution-178042 |first=John|last=Goodall|title=Harlaxton Manor, Lincolnshire: An American evolution|publisher=Country Life|date=17 May 2018}}</ref>

===20th century===
[[Violet Van der Elst]], a businesswoman and inventor, made her money from developing the first brushless [[shaving cream]] and made her name by campaigning against [[capital punishment]].{{sfn|Jenkins|2003|pp=438-440}}  She restored the house, having renamed it Grantham Castle, and had it wired for electricity, before losing almost all of her fortune in "obsessive litigation".{{sfn|Jenkins|2003|pp=438-440}} During the Second World War, Harlaxton was requisitioned by the [[Royal Air Force]] as the officers' mess for [[RAF Harlaxton]] and later to house a company of the [[1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom)|1st Airborne Division]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.lincolnshirelive.co.uk/news/history/story-remarkable-lincolnshire-manor-man-5460139|first=Gurjeet|last=Nanrah|title=The story of this remarkable Lincolnshire Manor and the man who envisaged its impressive design|publisher=Lincolnshire Live|date=28 May 2021}}</ref> In 1948, Harlaxton was purchased by the [[Jesuits|Society of Jesus]], who used it as a [[novitiate]].{{sfn|Jenkins|2003|pp=438-440}} [[Stanford University]] leased Harlaxton Manor from the Jesuits in 1965, and with only 80 students in its first year, it was the first American university in Great Britain. Students attended classes from Monday to Thursday, often travelling on the weekends, similar to the Harlaxton schedule today. Stanford used the manor as part of its British study abroad programme. But the relative isolation of the house made it unpopular and the programme relocated to [[Cliveden]] in Berkshire in 1969.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/data/gb3454-sta|title=Harlaxton Manor|publisher=Stanford University Archives |website=archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk|access-date=18 January 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://archives.stanforddaily.com/1969/04/18?page=5|title=British campus moves - Students occupy new home|publisher=Stanford Daily Archives|date=18 April 1969}}</ref>

===University of Evansville===
[[File:Harlaxton College.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Harlaxton College, side view]]
Harlaxton is now owned by the [[University of Evansville]], operating as Harlaxton College, and is the base for their study-abroad programme.{{sfn|Jenkins|2003|pp=438-440}} A number of other American universities also use the estate. Evansville began using the property in 1971 as its British campus, but it was bought personally by William Ridgway, a trustee of the university, and held by him until he donated it to the university in 1986.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.granthammatters.co.uk/ridgway-william-put-harlaxton-on-a-world-educational-map/|title=William L. Ridgway (1920-2013) obituary|publisher=Gratham Matters|date=25 August 2014}}</ref> Immediately after the purchase the university began renovating the entire facility.{{efn|The renovations continued into the 1990s, and included extensive restoration of the grounds.<ref name="auto"/>}}<ref name="auto"/> Since 1984, Harlaxton Manor has also been the site of the annual Harlaxton Medieval Symposium, an interdisciplinary symposium on medieval art, literature and architecture.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://harlaxton.org.uk/|title=Harlaxton Medieval Symposium|publisher=University of Evansville|access-date=16 January 2022}}</ref> The house and gardens are occasionally opened for public tours.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://harlaxton.co.uk/house-and-gardens/|title=Harlaxton House and gardens|publisher=University of Evansville|access-date=22 January 2022}}</ref>

====WUEV  Harlaxton Bureau at Harlaxton College====

On 30 July 1997, 91.5 FM [[WUEV]] opened the Harlaxton Bureau at Harlaxton College, Lincolnshire, England. Shortly thereafter, Harlaxton Bureau correspondents covered the death of [[Princess Diana]] and were subsequently recognized by the Indiana Society of Professional Journalists. This made the [[University of Evansville]] the first American university project to have a student-run news bureau on a foreign campus.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.newswise.com/articles/university-radio-station-launches-student-run-foreign-bureau|title = University Radio Station Launches Student-Run Foreign Bureau}}</ref>

====Media appearances====
The manor is a popular location for filming. Exterior and interior shots have featured in ''[[The Ruling Class (film)|The Ruling Class]]'',<ref name="auto1">{{cite web|url=https://www.reelstreets.com/films/ruling-class-the/|title=The Ruling Class|publisher=Reelstreets.com|access-date=22 January 2022}}</ref> ''[[The Last Days of Patton]]'',<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.granthamjournal.co.uk/lifestyle/memory-lane-harlaxton-manor-was-location-for-1980s-patton-movie-1-6737627/|title=Harlaxton Manor was location for 1980s Patton movie|publisher=Grantham Journal|date=11 May 2015}}</ref> ''[[The Lady and the Highwayman]]'', ''[[The Haunting (1999 film)|The Haunting]]'',<ref name="auto1"/> ''[[The Young Visiters]]''<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.reelstreets.com/films/the-young-visiters/|title=The Young Visiters|publisher=Reelstreets.com|access-date=22 January 2022}}</ref> and ''[[The Secret Garden (2020 film)|The Secret Garden]]''.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Whitlock |first=Cathy |title=The Fantastical Reimagining of The Secret Garden |journal=Architectural Digest |date=5 August 2020 |url=https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/the-fantastical-reimagining-of-the-secret-garden |access-date=15 October 2020}}</ref>

==Architecture and description==
[[File:Harlaxton Manor, front view (40892900702).jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.5|The entrance front]]
Nicholas Antram, in his revised ''Lincolnshire'' volume of the [[Pevsner Architectural Guides|Pevsner ''Buildings of England'']] published in 2002, describes the approach to Harlaxton Manor as a "crescendo of effects".{{sfn|Pevsner|Harris|Antram|2002|p=363}} From the entrance gates on the [[A607 road|A607]], just outside of the village of [[Harlaxton]], the drive descends into a valley before crossing a serpentine lake by way of a five-arch bridge.<ref name="NHLEBridge">{{NHLE|num=1187968|desc=Bridge 800 metres north west of Harlaxton Manor|access-date=17 January 2022}}</ref> It then passes the [[Kitchen garden|Kitchen Gardens]]<ref name="NHLEKitchenWalls">{{NHLE|num=1298389|desc=Kitchen garden walls and gardeners house 500 metres north west of Harlaxton Manor|access-date=17 January 2022}}</ref> before going through an outer [[gatehouse]].<ref name="NHLEFormerStablesGatehouseNW">{{NHLE|num=1236606|desc=Gatehouse 400 metres north west of Harlaxton Manor and attached boundary walls|access-date=17 January 2022}}</ref> It continues past the stables before entering the [[Cour d'honneur]] through a second, double, gatehouse, described by Antram as a "[[pyrotechnic]] display".{{sfn|Pevsner|Harris|Antram|2002|p=363}}<ref name="NHLEGatewayScreen">{{NHLE|num=1298442|desc=Gateway and screen wall 1200 metres north west of Harlaxton Manor|access-date=17 January 2022}}</ref> The visitor is then confronted by the "towering façade" of the main house. Gregory employed three of the major architects of the [[Victorian era]] to achieve his effects; [[Anthony Salvin]] was responsible for the majority of the exterior work,{{efn|Salvin was 31 when Gregory first consulted him in June 1831. Still relatively young, he had nonetheless already built two major houses in the newly-popular [[Tudor Revival architecture|Tudor Revival style]], [[Mamhead House]] in Devon and [[Moreby Hall]] in Yorkshire.{{sfn|Allibone|1988|p=29}}}} [[Edward Blore]] was consulted, and [[William Burn]] undertook the conservatory and the kitchen range. There is debate among architectural historians as to who was responsible of the design of the interiors. Salvin had been dismissed by the time of their fitting out, and Burn seems unlikely. [[Historic England]] suggests that Gregory "acted largely as his own architect"<ref name="NHLEHouse">{{NHLE|num=1298440|desc=Harlaxton Manor|access-date=17 January 2022}}</ref> and Antram and [[Mark Girouard]] agree that Gregory must have made a major contribution.{{sfn|Pevsner|Harris|Antram|2002|p=363}}{{sfn|Girouard|1979|p=93}} But [[Jill Allibone]], Salvin's biographer, is certain that Gregory alone could not have been responsible for the extraordinary designs.{{sfn|Allibone|1988|p=50}}

The house cost Gregory in the region of £100,000, (£{{formatnum:{{Inflation|UK|100000|1838|r=-4}}}} in {{Inflation/year|UK}} adjusted for inflation){{inflation-fn|UK|df=y}} a significant sum for a landowner with an annual income of £12,000, but as it had been over 30 years in the planning and as building was undertaken at a leisurely pace, the sum was affordable from his income.{{efn|[[Mark Girouard]] records the total expenditure on building and fitting out as traditionally being said to have been £200,000.{{sfn|Girouard|1979|p=93}}}}{{sfn|Hall|2009|p=26}}

===Exterior===
Harlaxton is built to an [[Elizabethan architecture|Elizabethan]] E-plan. The foundation stone of the main central block was laid by Gregory in 1832 and it was complete externally by 1837. All of this is by Anthony Salvin, with Gregory's input.{{sfn|Franklin|1981|pp=174-177}} The main construction materials are [[Ancaster stone]] [[ashlar]] and brick.{{efn|The stone was quarried at [[Ancaster, Lincolnshire|Ancaster]] in Lincolnshire and is also the main building stone used at nearby [[Belton House]], 150 years before Harlaxton.{{sfn|Tinniswood|1999|p=12}}}}<ref name="NHLEHouse"/> Salvin enhanced the drama of the entrance front by making the entry at basement level, the corresponding garden elevation behind opens directly onto a [[parterre]].{{sfn|Franklin|1981|pp=174-177}} The main architectural style is that of an [[Elizabethan era|Elizabethan]] or [[Jacobethan]] [[prodigy house]], such as nearby [[Burghley House|Burghley]] or [[Wollaton Hall]] in Nottinghamshire, although with notable European influences.{{sfn|Hall|2009|pp=26-31}} [[Mark Girouard]], in his 1979 study, ''The Victorian Country House'', records that Gregory had visited "[[Bramshill House|Bramshill]], [[Hardwick Hall|Hardwick]], [[Hatfield House|Hatfield]], [[Knole]], Burghley, Wollaton, [[Kirby Hall|Kirby]] [[Longleat House|Lonleat]], [[Temple Newsam]] and the [[Oxford University|Oxford]] and [[Cambridge University|Cambridge]] colleges " in pursuit of Elizabethan inspiration.{{sfn|Girouard|1979|p=93}} The uniqueness of Harlaxton, however, is the fusion of Elizabethan and Jacobean styles with the architecture and design of the [[Baroque]].{{sfn|Girouard|1979|p=95}} Girouard notes that this blending continues "in varying proportions all through the house"{{sfn|Girouard|1979|p=96}} and suggests [[David Bryce]], William Burn's chief assistant, as a possible source.{{sfn|Girouard|1979|p=98}}

====Entrance front====
[[File:Harlaxton Manor Forecourt (geograph 4596125).jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.4|Forecourt with Burn's gazebo]]
The entrance front consists of a central block with a two-storey [[oriel window]] flanked by three-storey towers with [[bay window]]s and topped by [[cupola]]s. The doorway is framed by two [[pilaster]]s. Behind this there is a square tower, with an octagonal turret containing a clock and again finishing in a cupola.<ref name="NHLEHouse"/> The sources for all of these elements can be traced: the overall impression is of Burghley House; the pilasters are a direct lift from a 16th-century German architectural work, the ''Architectura'' by [[Wendel Dietterlin]], a copy of which Gregory is known to have owned;{{sfn|Franklin|1981|p=49}} the oriel is from [[Hengrave Hall]] in Suffolk. Antram also identifies elements from [[Northumberland House]] and from [[Stonyhurst College|Stonyhurst]].{{sfn|Pevsner|Harris|Antram|2002|p=364}} Girouard writes, "the resulting impression of power, exuberance and abundance is sensational".{{sfn|Girouard|1979|p=96}} To the left is a 
[[Servants' quarters|service wing]] by Burn, which is visually balanced by a [[gazebo]] to the right, drawn from Wollaton Hall.{{sfn|Pevsner|Harris|Antram|2002|p=364}}

====Inner and outer gatehouses====
By the time Gregory came to begin the building of the entrance to the cour d'honneur, Salvin had been dismissed. The reason for this is unclear, but the consensus among architectural historians is that disagreements of Gregory's future plans for the design and decoration of his house led to an estrangement.{{sfn|Franklin|1981|p=48}} After some consultations with Edward Blore, Gregory employed William Burn. [[Historic England]] credits Burn, his assistant David Bryce, and Gregory himself with the design of the gateway.{{efn|Both Antram and Franklin are sceptical that Burn, "a dry and somewhat prosaic designer", could alone be responsible for the designs of the screen and lodges.{{sfn|Pevsner|Harris|Antram|2002|p=364}}{{sfn|Franklin|1981|p=49}}}}<ref name="NHLEGatewayScreen"/> Antram considers the lodges and screen to be unlike anything else in England of that date, and comparable only to the work of [[John Vanbrugh]] at [[Blenheim Palace]].{{sfn|Pevsner|Harris|Antram|2002|p=364}} The central gateway is flanked by two pavilions with pierced archways and larger lodges to each side.<ref name="NHLEGatewayScreen"/> The outer lodges are topped by "scrolled [[Corbel|consoles]] [supporting] [[Sarcophagus|sacrophagi]]...the scale gargantuan".{{sfn|Pevsner|Harris|Antram|2002|p=364}}

The outer gatehouse is earlier and was designed by Salvin in a much more restrained [[Tudor Revival architecture|Tudor Revival]] style.<ref name="NHLEFormerStablesGatehouseNW"/>

===Interior===
[[File:Harlaxton Manor, Great Hall (27063814128).jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.0|The Great Hall]] 
The interiors at Harlaxton have been described as "a prodigious display of decorative virtuosity unparalleled in 19th century England". The designers are an uncertain mixture of Salvin, Burn, Bryce and possibly others, all influenced by Gregory himself. Jill Franklin, in her 1981 study, ''The Gentleman's Country House and its plan 1835-1914'', writes of the unusual nature of the interior layout of Harlaxton. Noting that there is no easy means of circulation, and that the entrance hall, the only public space at the front ground floor level, leads up via flights of stairs to two awkwardly placed landings, through which entrance is made into the main entertaining rooms of the house by concealed jib doors, she suggests that the house was always in fact designed for show, rather than for living; "a guided tour, with the visitor giving delighted cries of surprise as each door is flung open".{{sfn|Franklin|1981|p=177}}

In the early 19th century, Gregory is believed to have held a post at the [[Embassy of the United Kingdom, Paris|British Embassy in Paris]]. While there, and taking advantage of the cheap prices occasioned by the end of the [[Napoleonic Wars]], he embarked on a spending spree purchasing, "panelling, chimneypieces, furniture and tapestries in great quantity".{{sfn|Hall|2009|p=29}} He also travelled extensively, "as far as [[Constantinople]] and the [[Crimea]]", taking particular interest in the [[Baroque architecture|Baroque design]] of Germany and Austria.{{sfn|Girouard|1979|p=93}} The wood carver William Gibbs Rogers, who visited the house in the 1860s when Gregory's collection was still intact, recorded his impressions; "[[marble]]s, [[jasper]]s, [[Cabinetry|cabinets]], [[porcelain]] of fabulous value, [[Boulle work|Buhl]], rare sculptures, delicate carvings, furniture, tapestries, all in glorious and unreadable confusion".{{efn|William Gibbs Ro(d)gers (1792–1875) was a highly successful wood carver who worked at [[Chatsworth House|Chatsworth]], [[Keele Hall]] and the [[House of Lords]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://bifmo.history.ac.uk/entry/rogers-william-gibbs-1835-39|title=William Gibbs Rogers|publisher=British and Irish Furniture Makers Online|access-date=21 January 2022}}</ref>}}{{efn|Jill Allibone notes that Gregory was primarily interested in art works for their contribution to the overall design and decoration of his house, "He does not seem to have owned many pictures of any quality, although he did have a seascape in [[Oil painting|oils]] by [[Richard Parkes Bonington]]”.{{sfn|Allibone|1988|p=41}}}}{{sfn|Allibone|1988|p=52}}

The house was technologically advanced; a miniature railway, originally used to transport brick from Gregory's kilns to the house, and subsequently used to move coal, was run into the house on a [[viaduct]] and continued into the roof spaces to supply the internal coal bunkers.{{efn|As an indicator of Gregory's long-term planning for Harlaxton, he leased a kiln to a brickmaker in 1826 on a six-year contract, with a requirement for the supply of 400,000 bricks each building season.{{sfn|Allibone|1988|p=42}}}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://victorianweb.org/technology/domestic/palmerwest.html|first=George P.|last=Landow|title="Unashamedly Archaeological" - a review of Marilyn Palmer and Ian West's 'Technology in the Country House'|publisher=The Victorian Web|access-date=20 January 2022}}</ref>
 
====Great Hall====
Entry to the house is through Salvin's entrance hall, set at basement level. Stairs rise to the first floor where the [[Great hall|Great Hall]] is entered through a stone screens passage. The main inspiration for what Gregory called The Barons' Hall, is that at [[Audley End House]] in Essex, but the design and decoration has decidedly Baroque elements such as the "muscular [[Atlas (architecture)|atlantes]]" supporting the roof trusses.{{sfn|Hall|2009|p=30}} Other decorative elements are more traditional, the stained glass in the window is by [[Thomas Willement]] and depicts Gregory's [[heraldry]] and ancestry.{{efn|[[Thomas Willement]] is also recorded as having restored fragments of original stained glass from the earlier Harlaxton Manor for installation in Gregory's new house, but nothing of this remains.{{sfn|Wainright|Beard|Rowlands|2000|p=15}}}}{{sfn|Wainright|Beard|Rowlands|2000|p=15}} The chandelier is a later introduction, bought by Mrs Van Elst, when its transportation to the intended destination, a palace in Madrid, was interrupted by the [[Spanish Civil War]].{{sfn|Wainright|Beard|Rowlands|2000|p=27}}

====Gold Drawing Room====
[[Louis XV style]] in decoration, as are most of the state rooms, this drawing room may have been created to emulate the Elizabeth Saloon at nearby [[Belvoir Castle]].{{sfn|Jenkins|2003|pp=438-440}} The decoration may be by [[John Gregory Crace (designer)|John Crace]].{{sfn|Pevsner|Harris|Antram|2002|p=367}}

====Cedar Staircase====
[[File:Harlaxton Manor, looking up the Cedar Staircase (26061998577).jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.4|The Cedar Staircase]] 
The Cedar Staircase is placed within a tower that is invisible externally.{{sfn|Franklin|1981|p=177}} It appears to rise three full storeys in what Michael Hall, in his 2009 study, ''The Victorian Country House'' calls an, "astonishingly theatrical ''tour de force''".{{sfn|Hall|2009|p=30}} This is in fact a ''[[trompe-l'œil]]'' illusion, as the upper storey is merely a decorative device and leads nowhere, culminating in a fake sky. The decoration is entirely Baroque; "[[Festoon|swagged]] curtains interlaced with thriving [[Putto|putti]] blowing trumpets and supporting huge [[scallop]] shells".{{sfn|Pevsner|Harris|Antram|2002|p=366}} Franklin notes that the style would amaze in a German church but is extraordinary in an English country house.{{sfn|Franklin|1981|p=177}} The plasterwork, here and elsewhere in the house, is possibly by the firm of [[Francis Bernasconi|Bernasconi]], a London-based firm of Italian origin.{{sfn|Jenkins|2003|pp=438-440}} An alternative theory is that Salvin, who is known to have visited [[Kingdom of Bavaria|Bavaria]] in 1835, brought back local German craftsmen to undertake the work,{{sfn|Allibone|1988|p=50}} but architectural historians favour the former suggestion. The Bernasconi Company certainly had the necessary experience, having been employed at both [[Buckingham Palace]] and [[Windsor Castle]].{{sfn|Wainright|Beard|Rowlands|2000|p=19}}

===Listing designations===
The manor is listed at Grade I<ref name="NHLEHouse"/> while the gardens and park are listed at Grade II* on the [[Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of special historic interest in England|Register of Historic Parks and Gardens]].<ref name=NHLEGarden>{{NHLE|num=1000982|desc=Harlaxton Manor (garden)|access-date=17 January 2022}}</ref> To the north-west of Harlaxton Manor, the bridge 800 metres from the house is listed Grade II*, as is the gatehouse 400 metres away and its attached boundary walls.<ref name="NHLEBridge"/><ref name="NHLEFormerStablesGatehouseNW"/> The kitchen's garden walls and the gardener's house 500 metres to the north-west are listed Grade II* and the stables 70 metres from the house with their adjoining screen wall are listed Grade II.<ref name="NHLEKitchenWalls"/><ref name=NHLEFormerStables>{{NHLE|num=1298441|desc=Former stables 70 metres north west of Harlaxton Manor and adjoining screen wall|access-date=17 January 2022}}</ref> The gateway and screen wall 1,200 metres north-west of the manor are listed Grade II.<ref name="NHLEGatewayScreen"/>

The walls, steps, and [[gazebo]]s to the south-west of the forecourt are listed Grade I.<ref name=NHLEWallsSW>{{NHLE|num=1187969|desc=Walls steps and gazebos to south west of forecourt at Harlaxton Manor|access-date=17 January 2022}}</ref> The statue at the head of the ornamental garden steps 50 metres south-west of the manor and the twelve stone benches in the garden to the south-west of the forecourt are both listed Grade II.<ref name=NHLEStatue>{{NHLE|num=1194948|desc=Statue at head of ornamental garden steps 50 metres south west of Harlaxton Manor|access-date=17 January 2022}}</ref><ref name=NHLEBenches>{{NHLE|num=1236577|desc=Twelve stone benches in garden to south west of forecourt of Harlaxton Manor|access-date=17 January 2022}}</ref> The ornamental garden steps 50 metres south-west of the manor are listed Grade II*.<ref name=NHLEStepsSW>{{NHLE|num=1236717|desc=Ornamental garden steps 50 metres south west of Harlaxton Manor|access-date=17 January 2022}}</ref>

To the south of Harlaxton Manor, the garden [[loggia]] and the loggia's steps and trough 90 metres to the south of the house are listed Grade II.<ref name=NHLELoggia>{{NHLE|num=1187970|desc=Garden loggia steps and trough 90 metres south of Harlaxton Manor|access-date=17 January 2022}}</ref><ref name=NHLELoggiaSouth>{{NHLE|num=1264520|desc=Garden loggia 90 metres south of Harlaxton Manor|access-date=17 January 2022}}</ref> The gazebo 80 metres south of the manor is listed Grade II*.<ref name=NHLEGazeboSouth>{{NHLE|num=1298388|desc=Gazebo 80 metres south of Harlaxton Manor|access-date=17 January 2022}}</ref> The steps to the east and the west of the gazebo 80 metres south of the manor are listed Grade II.<ref name=NHLEStepsEast>{{NHLE|num=1194946|desc=Steps east of gazebo 80 metres south of Harlaxton Manor|access-date=17 January 2022}}</ref><ref name=NHLEStepsWest>{{NHLE|num=1194947|desc=Steps to west of gazebo 80 metres south of Harlaxton Manor|access-date=17 January 2022}}</ref> The Baroque terrace fountain and statues 25 metres south-east of the manor are listed Grade II*.<ref name=NHLEFountain>{{NHLE|num=1236526|desc=Baroque terrace fountain and statues 25 metres south east of Harlaxton Manor|access-date=17 January 2022}}</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery widths="180px" heights="180px">
ExpoLight-Harlaxton-Manor-0009C (Sample Proof-Photography.jpg|Entrance gate, frontage
Harlaxton Manor Forecourt (geograph 4596122).jpg|The inner gates onto the forecourt
Gateway lodge on road to Harlaxton College (geograph 6279044).jpg|Salvin's [[Tudor Revival architecture|Tudor]] outer gatehouse
Harlaxton Manor, The Cedar Staircase (26061813217).jpg|The Cedar Staircase
Harlaxton Manor, Father Time (27063837848).jpg|Father Time, at the top of the Cedar Stair, holding a plan of Harlaxton
Harlaxton Manor ceiling (27064127588).jpg|Ceiling to the Gold Drawing Room
Harlaxton Manor, Ceiling of Ante Room (26061801407).jpg|Ceiling to the Ante Room
Harlaxton Manor, south west panorama (26062059087).jpg|The garden front
Conservatory from the south west (geograph 3595801).jpg|Burn's conservatory
Service viaduct - geograph.org.uk - 2005453.jpg|The service viaduct which carries the miniature railway into the house
Lion portrait - 3 (geograph 3595793).jpg|One of the "Harlaxton lions" - introduced by Violet Van der Elst
Harlaxton Manor at sunset.jpg|Harlaxton Manor at sunset
</gallery>

==Notes==
{{notes}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
* {{cite book
 | last1 = Allibone | first1 = Jill
 | author-link = Jill Allibone
 | title = Anthony Salvin: Pioneer of Gothic Revival Architecture
 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=8SJQAAAAMAAJ&q=Anthony+salvin
 | year = 1988
 | publisher = Lutterworth Press
 |location=Cambridge
 | isbn = 0-7188-2707-4
}}
* {{cite book
| title = Visitation of England and Wales
| editor = Frederick Arthur Crisp
| url = https://archive.org/details/cu31924029781857/page/n97/mode/2up
| year = 1902
| location = London
| publisher = Privately printed
| oclc = 83221880
| ref = {{sfnRef|Crisp|1902}}
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Franklin | first = Jill
| title = The Gentleman's Country House and its Plan 1835–1914
| url = https://archive.org/details/gentlemanscountr00fran
| url-access = registration 
| location = London
| publisher = [[Routledge|Routledge & Kegan Paul]]
| year = 1981
| isbn = 978-0-7100-0622-6
}}
* {{cite book
|last = Girouard | first = Mark
|author-link=Mark Girouard
|title=The Victorian Country House
|url=https://archive.org/details/victoriancountry0000giro
|url-access = registration |quote = The Victorian Country House.
|year=1979
|publisher=[[Yale University Press]]
|location=New Haven, US and London
|isbn=9-780300-02390-9
}}
* {{cite book
|last = Hall | first = Michael
|title=The Victorian Country House
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pHJJAQAAIAAJ&q=The+Victorian+Country+House+Michael+Hall
|year=2009
|publisher=[[Aurum Press]]
|location=London, UK
|isbn=978-1-84513-457-0
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Jenkins | first = Simon
| author-link = Simon Jenkins
| title = England's Thousand Best Houses
| location = London
| publisher = [[Penguin Books]]
| year = 2003
| isbn = 978-0-7139-9596-1
| oclc = 813876627
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Nicholl | first = John
| title = Some Account of the Worshipful Company of Ironmongers
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=5bI-AQAAMAAJ&dq=%22george+gregory%22+sprotlands&pg=PA597
| year = 1866
| location = London
| publisher = Privately printed
| oclc = 249155046
}}
* {{cite book
 | last1 = Pevsner | first1 = Nikolaus
 | last2 = Harris | first2 = John
 | last3 = Antram | first3 = Nicholas
 | author-link1 = Nikolaus Pevsner
 | title = Lincolnshire
 | series = The Buildings of England
 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=tQqV7kdX1Y0C&q=Lincolnshire
 | year = 2002
 | publisher = Yale University Press
 | location = New Haven and London
 | isbn = 0-300-09620-8
}}
* {{cite book
 | last = Tinniswood
 | first = Adrian
 | author-link = Adrian Tinniswood
 | year = 1999
 | orig-date = 1992
 | title = Belton House
 | publisher = The National Trust
 | isbn = 0-7078-0113-3
 | url-access = registration
 | url = https://archive.org/details/beltonhouselinco00adri
}}
* {{cite book
| last1 = Wainright| first1= Clive
| last2 = Beard | first2=Geoffrey
| last3 = Rowlands| first3= Graddon
| editor = University of Evansville
| title = Harlaxton Manor Guidebook
| year = 2000
| location = Norwich
| publisher= Jarrold Publishing
| oclc = 	729582866
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Walford | first = Edward
| title = The County Families of the United Kingdom
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=C9EkzFlBgz0C&dq=george+de+ligne+gregory+%22john+sherwin%22&pg=PA431
| year = 1869
| location = London
| publisher=R Hardwicke
|oclc = 	912971264
}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Harlaxton Manor}}
* {{Official|http://www.harlaxton.co.uk/}}
* [http://www.harlaxton.ac.uk/ Harlaxton College website]
* [https://archive.today/20130118154601/http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=37171 Archive newsreel of Harlaxton Manor interior and exterior – 1939]
* [https://www.flickr.com/search/?q=Harlaxton+Manor Flickr photos tagged Harlaxton Manor]
* [https://www.geograph.org.uk/search.php?i=3821125 Photos of Harlaxton Manor and surrounding area on geograph]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070118005738/http://web.harlaxton.ac.uk/harlaxton/history/index.cfm History and Heritage]
* [http://harlaxton.org.uk Harlaxton Medieval Symposium]

{{University of Evansville}}
{{Former Jesuit Places in Britain}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harlaxton Manor}}
[[Category:Anthony Salvin buildings]]
[[Category:Country houses in Lincolnshire]]
[[Category:Education in Lincolnshire]]
[[Category:Gardens in Lincolnshire]]
[[Category:Grade I listed buildings in Lincolnshire]]
[[Category:Grade I listed houses]]
[[Category:Grade II* listed buildings in Lincolnshire]]
[[Category:Grade II* listed parks and gardens in Lincolnshire]]
[[Category:Higher education colleges in England]]
[[Category:Houses completed in 1837]]
[[Category:Jacobethan architecture]]
[[Category:South Kesteven District]]
[[Category:University of Evansville]]
[[Category:1837 establishments in England]]