Colen Campbell (15 June 1676 – 13 September 1729) was a pioneering Scottish architect and architectural writer, credited as a founder of the

Georgian style Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1714 and 1830. It is named after the first four Monarchy of the United Kingdom, British monarchs of the House of Hano ...

. For most of his career, he resided in Italy and England. As well as his architectural designs he is known for ''Vitruvius Britannicus'', three volumes of high-quality engravings showing the great houses of the time.

Early life

A descendant of the

Campbell Campbell may refer to: People Surname * Campbell (surname), includes a list of people with surname Campbell Given name * Campbell Brown (footballer), an Australian rules footballer * Campbell Brown (journalist) (born 1968), American television ne ...

s of

Cawdor Castle Cawdor Castle is a castle in the parish of Cawdor in Nairnshire, Scotland. It is built around a 15th-century tower house, with substantial additions in later centuries. Originally a property of the Calder family, it passed to the Campbells in t ...

, he is believed to be the Colinus Campbell who graduated from the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

in July 1695.page 7, Catalogue of the Drawings Collection of the Royal Institute of British Architects: Colen Campbell, John Harris 1973, Gregg International Publishers Ltd He initially trained as a lawyer, being admitted to the

Faculty of Advocates The Faculty of Advocates is an independent body of lawyers who have been admitted to practise as advocates before the courts of Scotland, especially the Court of Session and the High Court of Justiciary. The Faculty of Advocates is a constitu ...

on 29 July 1702. He travelled in Italy between 1695 and 1702, and is believed to be the Colinus Campbell who signed the visitor's book at the

University of Padua The University of Padua ( it, Università degli Studi di Padova, UNIPD) is an Italian university located in the city of Padua, region of Veneto, northern Italy. The University of Padua was founded in 1222 by a group of students and teachers from B ...

in 1697. He is believed to have trained in and studied architecture under James Smith, a belief strengthened by Campbell owning several drawings of buildings designed by Smith.

''Vitruvius Britannicus''

His major published work, ''Vitruvius Britannicus, or the British Architect...'' appeared in three volumes between 1715 and 1725. This was the first architectural work to originate in England since John Shute's

Elizabethan The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The symbol of Britannia (a female personifi ...

''First Groundes.'' In the

empirical Empirical evidence for a proposition is evidence, i.e. what supports or counters this proposition, that is constituted by or accessible to sense experience or experimental procedure. Empirical evidence is of central importance to the sciences and ...

vein, it was not a

treatise A treatise is a formal and systematic written discourse on some subject, generally longer and treating it in greater depth than an essay, and more concerned with investigating or exposing the principles of the subject and its conclusions."Treat ...

but basically a catalogue of design, containing

engraving Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a Burin (engraving), burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or Glass engraving, glass ...

s of English buildings by

Inigo Jones Inigo Jones (; 15 July 1573 – 21 June 1652) was the first significant architect in England and Wales in the early modern period, and the first to employ Vitruvian rules of proportion and symmetry in his buildings. As the most notable archit ...

and Sir

Christopher Wren Sir Christopher Wren PRS FRS (; – ) was one of the most highly acclaimed English architects in history, as well as an anatomist, astronomer, geometer, and mathematician-physicist. He was accorded responsibility for rebuilding 52 churches ...

, as well as Campbell himself and other prominent architects of the era. In the introduction that he appended and in the brief descriptions, Campbell belaboured the "excesses" of

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

style and declared British independence from foreigners while he dedicated the volume to Hanoverian

George I George I or 1 may refer to: People * Patriarch George I of Alexandria (fl. 621–631) * George I of Constantinople (d. 686) * George I of Antioch (d. 790) * George I of Abkhazia (ruled 872/3–878/9) * George I of Georgia (d. 1027) * Yuri Dolgor ...

. The third volume (1725) has several grand layouts of gardens and parks, with straight allées, for courts and patterned

parterre A ''parterre'' is a part of a formal garden constructed on a level substrate, consisting of symmetrical patterns, made up by plant beds, low hedges or coloured gravels, which are separated and connected by paths. Typically it was the part of ...

s and radiating rides through wooded

plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

s, in a Baroque manner that was rapidly becoming old-fashioned. Buildings were shown in plan, section and elevation, and some in a bird's-eye perspective. The drawings and designs contained in the book were under way before Campbell was drawn into the speculative scheme. The success of the volumes was instrumental in popularising neo-

Palladian architecture Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...

in Great Britain and America during the 18th century. For example, Plate 16 of ''Vitruvius Britannicus'', a rendering of

Somerset House Somerset House is a large Neoclassical complex situated on the south side of the Strand in central London, overlooking the River Thames, just east of Waterloo Bridge. The Georgian era quadrangle was built on the site of a Tudor palace ("O ...

in London, was an inspiration for American architect Peter Harrison when he designed the Brick Market in Newport, Rhode Island, in 1761. Campbell was influenced as a young man by James Smith (ca 1645 – 1731), the pre-eminent Scots architect of his day, and an early neo-Palladian whom Campbell called "the most experienced architect" of Scotland (''Vitruvius Britannicus'', ii). The somewhat promotional volume, with its excellently rendered engravings, came at a propitious moment at the beginning of a boom in

country house An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...

and

villa A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became s ...

building among the Whig

oligarchy Oligarchy (; ) is a conceptual form of power structure in which power rests with a small number of people. These people may or may not be distinguished by one or several characteristics, such as nobility, fame, wealth, education, or corporate, r ...

. Campbell was quickly taken up by

Lord Burlington Earl of Burlington is a title that has been created twice, the first time in the Peerage of England in 1664 and the second in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1831. Since 1858, Earl of Burlington has been a courtesy title used by the duk ...

, who replaced

James Gibbs James Gibbs (23 December 1682 – 5 August 1754) was one of Britain's most influential architects. Born in Aberdeen, he trained as an architect in Rome, and practised mainly in England. He is an important figure whose work spanned the transi ...

with Campbell at

Burlington House Burlington House is a building on Piccadilly in Mayfair, London. It was originally a private Neo-Palladian mansion owned by the Earls of Burlington and was expanded in the mid-19th century after being purchased by the British government. Toda ...

in London and set out to place himself at the centre of English neo-Palladian architecture. In 1718, Campbell was appointed deputy to the amateur gentleman who had replaced

Wren Wrens are a family of brown passerine birds in the predominantly New World family Troglodytidae. The family includes 88 species divided into 19 genera. Only the Eurasian wren occurs in the Old World, where, in Anglophone regions, it is commonly ...

Surveyor General A surveyor general is an official responsible for government surveying in a specific country or territory. Historically, this would often have been a military appointment, but it is now more likely to be a civilian post. The following surveyor ge ...

of the Royal Board of Works, an appointment that Burlington is certain to have pressed, but a short-lived one. When Benson, the new Surveyor was turned out of office, Campbell went with him.

Later volumes

There are later volumes also published under the name ‘Vitruvius Brittanicus’, but they are not connected to Colen Campbell's work. In 1739 a volume was issued by Badeslade and Rocque, described as ‘Volume 4’. However, this had little in common with Campbell, comprising mainly topographical perspective views of houses (54 plates). Between 1765 and 1771, Woolfe and Gandon published their ‘Volumes 4 & 5’ (79 and 75 plates). They discounted Badeslade’s volume, believing their work to be a more correct continuation of Campbell, hence their numbering. The plates are indeed mostly plans and elevations of buildings largely in the Palladian style, most dating from after 1750. The various Volumes are fully described in Harris.

Campbell's main commissions

Wanstead House Wanstead House was a mansion built to replace the earlier Wanstead Hall. It was commissioned in 1715, completed in 1722 and demolished in 1825. Its gardens now form the municipal Wanstead Park in the London Borough of Redbridge. History Construct ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

, c. 1713/4–20 (''illustrated left''). In the first volume of ''Vitruvius Britannicus'', the most influential designs were two alternatives for a palatial Wanstead House, Essex, for the merchant-banker Sir Richard Child, of which the second design was already under way when the volume was published. (Campbell claimed that Wanstead House had Great Britain's first classical

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cult ...

, but this

accolade The accolade (also known as dubbing or adoubement) ( la, benedictio militis) was the central act in the rite of passage ceremonies conferring knighthood in the Middle Ages. From about 1852, the term ''accolade'' was used much more generally to ...

probably belongs to

The Vyne The Vyne is a Grade I listed building, Grade I listed 16th-century country house in the parish of Sherborne St John, near Basingstoke, in Hampshire, England. The house was first built ''circa'' 1500-10 in the Tudor style by William Sandys, 1st ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

.) *

, London, 1717. Remodelled the front and provided an entrance gateway for

Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington and 4th Earl of Cork, (25 April 1694 – 4 December 1753) was a British architect and noble often called the "Apollo of the Arts" and the "Architect Earl". The son of the 2nd Earl of Burlington and 3rd Ea ...

(Remodelled in 1868 and the gateway demolished.) * Stourhead,

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

, 1721–24, as a seat for the London-based banker

Henry Hoare Henry may refer to: People *Henry (given name) * Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...

. Wings were added in the later 18th century, and Campbell's portico was not executed (though to his design) until 1841. The famous landscape garden round a lake, somewhat apart from the house, was developed after Campbell's death, by

Henry Flitcroft Henry Flitcroft (30 August 1697 – 25 February 1769) was a major English architect in the second generation of Palladianism. He came from a simple background: his father was a labourer in the gardens at Hampton Court and he began as a joiner by t ...

Pembroke House Pembroke House, located on Whitehall, was the London residence of the earls of Pembroke. History It was built by the architect earl Henry Herbert in 1723–24 (under Colen Campbell and latterly his assistant Roger Morris), on ground leased by ...

Whitehall Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London. The road forms the first part of the A roads in Zone 3 of the Great Britain numbering scheme, A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea, London, Chelsea. It is the main ...

, London, for

Henry Herbert, 9th Earl of Pembroke Lt.-Gen. Henry Herbert, 9th Earl of Pembroke, 6th Earl of Montgomery (29 January 16939 January 1749) was an English peer and courtier. He was the heir and eldest son of Thomas Herbert, 8th Earl of Pembroke and his first wife Margaret Sawyer. H ...

, 1723, a London house in a prominent location for the heir of Jones'

Wilton House Wilton House is an English country house at Wilton near Salisbury in Wiltshire, which has been the country seat of the Earls of Pembroke for over 400 years. It was built on the site of the medieval Wilton Abbey. Following the dissolution o ...

. It was rebuilt in 1757 and demolished in 1913. Lord Herbert (as he then was) was inspired by it to design the similar Marble Hill at

Twickenham Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the boroug ...

for

Henrietta Howard, Countess of Suffolk Henrietta Howard (born Henrietta Hobart; 168926 July 1767) was a mistress of King George II of Great Britain and the sister of John Hobart, 1st Earl of Buckinghamshire. Biography Henrietta was one of three daughters of Sir Henry Hobart, 4th ...

, the mistress of the future

George II George II or 2 may refer to: People * George II of Antioch (seventh century AD) * George II of Armenia (late ninth century) * George II of Abkhazia (916–960) * Patriarch George II of Alexandria (1021–1051) * George II of Georgia (1072–1089) * ...

. (Marble Hill was a 5-bay palladian villa with central pediment, raised on a high basement, with clumped screens of trees and formal turfed terraces descending to the Thames, ''illustrated right'', that manifest the earliest stages of the

English landscape garden The English landscape garden, also called English landscape park or simply the English garden (french: Jardin à l'anglaise, it, Giardino all'inglese, german: Englischer Landschaftsgarten, pt, Jardim inglês, es, Jardín inglés), is a sty ...

.) *

Houghton Hall Houghton Hall ( ) is a country house in the parish of Houghton in Norfolk, England. It is the residence of David Cholmondeley, 7th Marquess of Cholmondeley. It was commissioned by the ''de facto'' first British Prime Minister, Sir Robert Walp ...

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

, begun 1722, for Sir

Robert Walpole Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford, (26 August 1676 – 18 March 1745; known between 1725 and 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole) was a British statesman and Whig politician who, as First Lord of the Treasury, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Leader ...

, the Whig prime minister. Here Campbell was replaced by Gibbs, who capped the end pavilions with octagonal domes, and by

William Kent William Kent (c. 1685 – 12 April 1748) was an English architect, landscape architect, painter and furniture designer of the early 18th century. He began his career as a painter, and became Principal Painter in Ordinary or court painter, but ...

, who designed the interiors. *

Mereworth Castle Mereworth Castle is a grade I listed Neo-Palladian country house in Mereworth, Kent, England. This source attributes the plasterwork to Francesco Bagutti, but Giovanni Bagutti would appear to be more likely. History Originally the site of ...

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 ...

, 1722–25. Campbell's most overtly palladian design, based on

Villa La Rotonda Villa La Rotonda is a Renaissance villa just outside Vicenza in northern Italy designed by Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio. The villa's correct name is Villa Almerico Capra Valmarana, but it is also known as "La Rotonda", "Villa Rot ...

, capped with a dome with no drum, through which 24 chimney flues pass to the lantern. *

Waverley Abbey House Waverley Abbey was the first Cistercian abbey in England, founded in 1128 by William Giffard, the Bishop of Winchester. Located about southeast of Farnham, Surrey, it is situated on a flood-plain; surrounded by current and previous channel ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

, c. 1723–25, for

John Aislabie John Aislabie or Aslabie (; 4 December 167018 June 1742), of Studley Royal, near Ripon, Yorkshire, was a British politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons from 1695 to 1721. He was of an independent mind, and did not stick r ...

(largely altered). Blue Plaque to Colen Campbell

Vitruvius Britannicus title page volume I

* Nos 76 and 78

Brook Street Brook Street is an axial street in the exclusive central London district of Mayfair. Most of it is leasehold, paying ground rent to and seeking lease renewals from the reversioner, that since before 1800, has been the Grosvenor Estate. Named a ...

, London W1, 1725–26. No. 76, which survives, was Campbell's own house, the designs for its interiors published in his ''Five Orders of architecture,'' (1729). It carries a

blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term i ...

commemorating him. *

Compton Place Compton Place is a mansion house in the parish of Eastbourne, East Sussex, England. It was rebuilt from 1726 by Sir Spencer Compton (later 1st Earl of Wilmington), to the design of the architect Colen Campbell, and was completed after Campbel ...

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the la ...

, Sussex, 1726 onwards, south front and extensive internal rebuilding for Sir Spencer Compton * Plumptre House, Nottingham, 1724–30. Remodelled for John Plumptre MP.

List of architectural works

Source: *Shawfield Mansion,

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

(1712) demolished 1792 *

, Essex (1714–15) demolished 1822 *Hedworth House,

Chester-le-Street Chester-le-Street (), also known as Chester, is a market town and civil parish in County Durham, England, around north of Durham and also close to Sunderland and Newcastle upon Tyne. It is located on the River Wear, which runs out to sea at Sun ...

(1726) *Hotham House,

Beverley Beverley is a market town, market and minster (church), minster town and a civil parishes in England, civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, of which it is the county town. The town centre is located south-east of York's centre ...

(1716–17) demolished c.1766 *

, London, south front, and west wing (1717) subsequently extended and several occasions *Burlington (Ten Acre Close) Estate, London, layout (1717–18) *Burlington House, Great Gate and Street Wall (1718) *Rolls House, Chancery Lane, London (1718), demolished 1895–96 *Ebberston Lodge,

Ebberston Ebberston is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Ebberston and Yedingham in the Ryedale district of North Yorkshire, England, and is east from the county town of Northallerton. In 1961 the parish had a population of 466. ...

, Yorkshire, including cascade (1718) *34 Great Burlington Street, London (1718–19) *33 Great Burlington Street, London (1719–20) *32 Great Burlington Street, London (c.1720); this was Campbell's own house *31 Great Burlington Street, London (1719–24) rebuilt *Burlington Girls' Charity School, Boyle Street, London (1719–21) *

Wimbledon Manor House Wimbledon manor house; the residence of the lord of the manor, was an English country house at Wimbledon, Surrey, now part of Greater London. The manor house was over the centuries exploded, burnt and several times demolished. The first known man ...

, Surrey, for Sir Theodore Janssen (1720); completion uncertain *

Newby Park Queen Mary's School is an independent day and boarding school for girls in Baldersby Park near Topcliffe, between Ripon and Thirsk in North Yorkshire, England. Established in 1921, the school is set on of landscaped grounds and houses approx ...

, (now Baldersby Park), near Topcliffe, Yorkshire (1720–21) *

, Norfolk; one of several architects to work on the building (1721–22) * Stourhead, Wiltshire, the portico part of Campbell's design was only added in 1840 (1721–24); interiors destroyed by fire 1902 *

, Kent (1722–23) *Pembroke Lodge,

, London; executed

's design (c.1724), demolished 1756 *Plumptre House,

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

(1724) *Hall Barn, Buckinghamshire, garden buildings: Great Room (only partially survives), Temple of Venus, Obelisk & Doric Pavilion (1724) *

, Surrey (c.1725), extended 1770, damaged by fire and rebuilt 1833 * Greenwich Hospital, Greenwich, London; additions to Queen Mary block and Queen Anne block (1726–29) *

, Eastbourne, remodelled house (1726–29) *76 Brook Street, London, internal alterations (c.1726); became Campbell's new home *Hackney House, Hackney, London (c.1727), demolished before 1842 *

Althorp Althorp (popularly pronounced ) is a Grade I listed stately home and estate in the civil parish of Althorp, in West Northamptonshire, England of about . By road it is about northwest of the county town of Northampton and about northwest of c ...

, Northamptonshire, new stables, loggia gate (c.1729–33) * Studley Royal Park, Yorkshire, the stables (c.1729) built after his death by Roger Morris

Gallery of architectural work

File:Stourhead 1.gif, Design for Stourhead in Wiltshire, ''Vitruvius Britannicus'' vol. 3, 1725 File:Houghton Hall 01.jpg,

in Norfolk;

added the domes to Campbell's design File:Mereworth Castle Vitruvius Britannicus1.jpg,

in Kent, ''Vitruvius Britannicus'' vol 2, 1720 File:Mereworth Castle Vitruvius Britannicus.jpg, Cross-section, Mereworth Castle, ''Vitruvius Britannicus'' vol 2, 1720 File:Burlington-house-gate.jpg, Gate,

, London, ''Vitruvius Britannicus'' vol 2, 1720 (demolished) File:Wanstead House as built.jpg,

in Essex (demolished) File:Vitruvius Britannicus, The Elevation of General Wade his house in great Burlington Street.jpg, alt=The Elevation of General Wade, his house in great Burlington Street, Vitruvius Britannicus, vol. 3, 1723, ''The Elevation of General Wade, his house in great Burlington Street'', London, ''Vitruvius Britannicus'', vol. 3, 1723. Engraving by Henry Hulsbergh

References

Howard Colvin Sir Howard Montagu Colvin (15 October 1919 – 27 December 2007) was a British architectural historian who produced two of the most outstanding works of scholarship in his field: ''A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects, 1600–1840' ...

, ''A Biographical dictionary of British Architects,'' 3rd edition *Robert Tavernor, ''Palladio and Palladianism'' 1991 {{DEFAULTSORT:Campbell, Colen 1676 births 1729 deaths Anglo-Scots 18th-century Scottish architects 18th-century Scottish writers Scottish architecture writers Campbell, Colin Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Members of the Faculty of Advocates Scottish expatriates in Italy People from Moray