The Grange ,

Ramsgate Ramsgate is a seaside town in the district of Thanet in east Kent, England. It was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century. In 2001 it had a population of about 40,000. In 2011, according to the Census, there was a populati ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, on the coast of southern

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

was designed by the Victorian architect and designer

Augustus Pugin Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin ( ; 1 March 181214 September 1852) was an English architect, designer, artist and critic with French and, ultimately, Swiss origins. He is principally remembered for his pioneering role in the Gothic Revival st ...

for himself. Built between 1843 and 1844, in the

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

style, Pugin intended it both as a home and as a manifesto for his architectural philosophy. Rescued from demolition by the

Landmark Trust The Landmark Trust is a British building conservation charity, founded in 1965 by Sir John and Lady Smith, that rescues buildings of historic interest or architectural merit and then makes them available for holiday rental. The Trust's headqua ...

in 1997, the Grange is a Grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

History

Pugin bought the land for the site at West Cliff, Ramsgate, in 1841. The house was built between 1843 and 1844 by the builder George Myers. Pugin's second wife died in 1844 and it was only after his third marriage to Jane Knill in 1848 that it became a family home. The interior of the house was finally completed in 1850. It is built from the inside out in the sense that the layout of the rooms was considered before the outside of the building. This is in contrast to the Georgian style that preceded it. The style was influential on subsequent English architecture designed by architects like

Edwin Lutyens Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens ( ; 29 March 1869 – 1 January 1944) was an English architect known for imaginatively adapting traditional architectural styles to the requirements of his era. He designed many English country houses, war memor ...

. Pugin died in the house in 1852 at the age of only 40. He is buried in the impressive Pugin chantry chapel in St Augustine's Church, next to the house, which was also designed by him and completed by his eldest son, Edward Pugin, who was also an architect. The house was rescued from demolition by the

in 1997 and restored by them to its condition in Pugin's day with grants from the

Heritage Lottery Fund The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom. History The fund's predecessor bodies were ...

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

Thanet District Council Thanet may refer to: *Isle of Thanet, a former island, now a peninsula, at the most easterly point of Kent, England *Thanet District, a local government district containing the island *Thanet College, former name of East Kent College * Thanet Cana ...

and elsewhere. It was re-opened in 2006 for up to eight temporary residents at a time and visitors by appointment on Wednesdays. In October 2010, The Grange was awarded the Restoration of the Century award (South region) by Country Life magazine. A

Time Team ''Time Team'' is a British television programme that originally aired on Channel 4 from 16 January 1994 to 7 September 2014. It returned online in 2022 for two episodes released on YouTube. Created by television producer Tim ...

special documents the work done and biographs Augustus Pugin's life.

Architecture and description

The Grange is a

Grade I listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

References

Sources

* *

External links

Landmark Trust information

Thanet website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grange, Ramsgate Country houses in Kent Grade I listed houses in Kent Augustus Pugin buildings Ramsgate Houses completed in 1844 Landmark Trust properties in England

History

Architecture and description

See also

References

Sources

External links