Page 145 - Wish Stream Year of 2018

appointed Estate Superintendent responsible for, among other things, the planting of trees on the estate.
James Wyatt (architect)
James Wyatt (1746– 1813) was the sixth son of a prosperous farmer, timber mer- chant, and builder from Staffordshire. Most of the sons were employed in the family building firm but, because James showed early artistic talent, he was sent to Italy to study archi-
tecture and antiquity under the patronage of a local wealthy Staffordshire landowner. He spent six years in all in Italy, including studying also in Venice, and became a great admirer of the famous Venetian architect, Andrea Palladio. This Italian sojourn eventually enabled him to become one of the most fashionable architects of the late 18th century in Britain, bringing him to the notice of King George III and much of the British aristocracy.
One of Wyatt’s first major projects, which was to bring him to public attention, was The Pantheon, a place of public entertainment in Oxford Street. Built in the style of the celebrated Pantheon in Rome, it was completed in 1772 and opened to rapturous applause, Horace Walpole calling it ‘the most beautiful edifice in England’. Sadly, it was demolished in 1937. On the site now is Marks & Spencer’s main Oxford Street store!
Wyatt was admitted to the Royal Academy and a rumour that Catherine the Great wanted him to go to St Petersburg as her court architect, encouraged a group of wealthy Englishmen to pay him an annual retainer of £1,200 (around £105,000 in today’s money*) to remain in Lon- don. These included the Dukes of Northumber- land and Devonshire, and the Earl of Burlington. Many commissions were carried out for them by Wyatt. These, together with commissions for other wealthy aristocrats in England and Ireland, formed the ‘country house practice’ of James Wyatt which became the most extensive of the 18th century.
Much of Wyatt’s time was spent in travelling the country, and his coach was fitted like a lit-
Photo 4
Photo 5
tle office with a drawing-board so that he could work on his journeys, an interesting testimony to the great improvement in English roads in the late eighteenth century. Despite the size of his office (he employed many staff) and bursts of intense work, Wyatt was disorganised and a bad businessman: the sheer scale and geographical spread of his practice made it increasingly dif- ficult for him to give proper attention to his indi- vidual clients. He took on far more work than he could manage and lost many jobs as a result.
As well as his extensive private practice, James Wyatt was also appointed to many of the most important public architectural posts in the coun- try. Wyatt owed his official positions to power- ful friends and patrons. Wyatt worked exten- sively for the Crown and Government, as well as Oxford and Cambridge universities. He was appointed Board of Ordnance Architect and designed the new building for the Royal Military Academy Woolwich (photo 04) which enabled the Academy to move out of Woolwich Arsenal in 1806. Wyatt designed the building in Tudor Gothic style in 1796. Shortly after, he began the design for the RMC at Sandhurst (photo 05) in a completely different classical Greek revival style, complete with eight vast Doric columns at the Grand Entrance portico. But Wyatt’s greatest love was as a Gothic revivalist. A good example
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