A house 're-edified' - Thomas Sackville and the transformation of Knole 1605-1608

摘要

Thomas Sackville was a courtier and a politician during the reigns of QueenudElizabeth I and King James I. Shortly prior to his death in April 1608, Sackville beganudwork on his largest architectural project, the transformation of the archbishops’ greathouseudat Knole, near Sevenoaks in Kent. The house holds a seminal position in theudlandscape of country houses of the period, and as Sackville’s only surviving house, is anudimportant monument to his ambitions as patron.udHowever, Sackville’s significance as a patron has often been underplayed, in theudsame way that his position as a leading politician and a minister of state has often beenudseen as only a brief interlude between the hegemony of William and Robert Cecil –udSackville’s predecessor and successor as Lord Treasurer respectively. The research ofudthis thesis focuses on Sackville’s transformation of his house at Knole, highlighting theudfact that during his political apogee, Sackville was a leading patron of his day, whoudemployed the finest artisans, craftsmen and artificers available to him.udIn the historiography of English architectural history, Knole is often sidelined,udand seen as the last moment of Elizabethan building practice before the innovations ofudthe Jacobean period. This not only underplays the complexity of the building’suddevelopment, but also detracts from what Thomas Sackville aimed to achieve during hisudcampaign of building at Knole between 1605 and 1608. New evidence has afforded audfuller insight into Thomas Sackville’s role as patron and also the extent to which hisudnumerous intellectual and cultural interests were brought to bear on the transformationudof the house. This evidence suggests that what Sackville achieved at Knole was audremarkable synthesis of what was inherited from the existing fabric and what was newlyudbuilt, and the product of this synthesis was a house that reflected both Sackville’sudintellectual and political ambitions.