Three hundred years after Robert Walpole became the first Prime Minister, Peter Sheppard and his partner bought his brother’s Norfolk house
I have owned three homes belonging to government ministers from the 15th to the 20th century.
The earliest was Hales Hall in South Norfolk, which has the largest medieval brick barn in Britain, built by Sir James Hobart, Attorney General to Henry VII in 1475. In the 1990s, I bought Winston Churchill’s duplex apartment in a mansion block in Victoria, overlooking Westminster Cathedral, where he spent his ‘wilderness years’ in the 1930s – and which he left to go to 10 Downing Street.
But the one I now live in with my partner, Keith Day, Wolterton Hall, was built by Horatio Walpole in 1720-30.
He was the brother of Sir Robert Walpole, who, 300 years ago, on 3rd April 1721, became our first Prime Minister.
We hadn’t expected to move from Hales Hall as we had meticulously restored it, spending over a million pounds putting back Tudor chimneys, reopening bricked-up windows and making it all very comfortable. The enormous barn was let out for weddings. We won first prize for the restoration from the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England.
But then a call came from a property agent: ‘You remember you said you wanted an important house of architectural consequence? Well … I’ve got it.’
Keith and I arranged to meet the owners of Wolterton Hall, Lord and Lady Walpole, in Norfolk one October afternoon. When the previous Lord Walpole died, in 1989, his son decided not to move into Wolterton but to remain in their pretty, smaller moated Tudor house just two miles away – so the house hadn’t been occupied for almost 30 years.
Typically we were late, and in the twilight the façade covered with grey lichen looked gloomy and depressing. We entered by a small door to the side of the hall, into a utilitarian little office. As we walked around the hall, shutters would be opened and then closed as we left each room. Indeed, the hall was permanently shuttered – but since that first visit the shutters have hardly been closed.
Lord and Lady Walpole led us up a wide cantilevered stone staircase to the piano nobile of eight double-height state rooms with pedimented classical door cases, deep and elaborate cornices and fabulously carved marble fireplaces attributed to Richard Fisher of York.
Enormous, 17th- and 18th-century Brussels and Antwerp tapestries, a few pieces of gilt furniture and Persian carpets furnished the rooms. Portraits of Walpoles peered down condescendingly everywhere. A green baize door opened into the East Wing with a further 15 rooms.
Another very long flight of stairs took us to the second floor, with another 24 rooms. Many bedrooms had single basins, while bathrooms had matching baths and loos in lemon yellow, baby pink, sky blue and moss green, installed in 1953 along with a new roof after a bad fire. The fire had led to the abandonment of the attic above.
We walked down the steps to the cavernous vaulted basement and into a former kitchen, whose ancient boiler Lord Walpole informed us dated back to 1947. It wasn’t on and the house was very chilly. In fact, it does work and when fired up sounds like a jet engine starting; it has kept us warm since we moved in.
Outside, the landscape designed by Charles Bridgeman in the 18th century with its ten-acre lake had become completely overgrown. The 500-acre estate was full of Victorian favourites such as laurels, rhododendrons and azaleas, which weren’t appropriate for a classical landscape.
Thousands of weed trees had pushed their way between mature ones and completely taken over the horse pond and tennis court. The north and south ha-has were falling down; sheep were roaming round in the garden. The hall’s mile-long drive with mature beech trees was beautiful – but had been barbed-wired up for cattle.
There was a beautiful but dilapidated coach house and clock tower, with original Victorian stables, cottages and a run-down estate yard where woodcutters, carpenters, glaziers and blacksmiths would have worked. There was the old dairy, piggeries, gamekeeper’s cottage, gatehouse and cottages. Keith and I looked at each other: ‘This is it.’
Horatio Walpole, known as Old Horace, used the experienced Thomas Ripley, Comptroller of the King’s Works, as his architect. The result was a Palladian house of which his nephew, Horace Walpole (of Strawberry Hill), said ‘Wolterton is charming. It is all woods and water.’ However, he also said, ‘Wolterton is a good house. If only my uncle had spent an extra 18d in every room, it would be a fine house.’
The grander of the two staircases leads up to the state rooms, with a sort of cupola on the second floor. The other staircase is more modest, cantilevered in Portland stone which takes you up to bedrooms once lived in by the family and now serviced by a creaky old 1950s lift.
Horatio’s family didn’t use the grand Palladian steps on the north façade, which ascended to the Marble Hall and sadly were removed in the 19th century. They seem hardly to have used the state rooms on the piano nobile; these were used only to receive royalty and archdukes.
In the saloon and boudoir are eight tapestries given to Horatio by a grateful Cardinal Fleury, Louis XV’s chief minister. When Fleury had fallen out of favour, Horatio continued to visit him – he had secret information that he would eventually be returned to power.
Their friendship flourished. The Walpoles were determined to keep the peace with France; Robert was more interested in building up Britain’s prosperity and reducing taxes than in fighting useless wars. This period of peace helped Britain’s economy to grow throughout the 18th century.
Robert gained the confidence of George I and George II and Queen Caroline. As George I spoke no English and Robert no German, they conversed in Latin.
Robert used the support he had at court to create an effective working relationship with Parliament, which he dominated for 40 years, the last 20 as Prime Minister – a role he created for himself though he disliked the title.
He knew how to make government work. He knew how to grant sinecures to achieve loyalty, and had the government and the House of Commons within his grip for two decades.
Robert was a peacemaker, a successful Chancellor, restoring Britain’s reputation for fiscal prudence after the South Sea Bubble fiasco, and a great patron of the arts with great taste himself.
Of course, all this had to be paid for, and Robert knew how to manipulate financial reward for himself and his brother.
In Norfolk in the 18th century, many aristocratic families built impressive houses on large estates to enhance their status. They wanted somewhere to entertain their political allies and impress their social superiors, particularly royalty and aristocracy.
Returning to Norfolk after the European Grand Tour, they built houses in the style of Greek temples and Roman state buildings. Robert and Horatio, from the gentry class, learned about Palladio second-hand.
There are four so-called Whig power houses in Norfolk, built by members of Sir Robert’s government at around the same time, using the most talented architects and designers, including William Kent, Colen Campbell and Lord Burlington.
Raynham Hall was started in 1620 and completed some 100 years later by the second Viscount Townshend. Holkham Hall was built by the first Earl of Leicester while Robert built Houghton Hall, both huge houses to rival royal palaces.
Thomas Ripley was the overall project manager of Houghton Hall. His opportunity to design a house to his own specifications came when Horatio asked him to do so after the medieval house burnt down. Wolterton is his only country house and it is a joy to live in. It is large and well laid out; we use every room on every floor.
What is so wonderful about Wolterton is that all the architectural elements are intact: the cornices, the solid walnut doors given by Queen Caroline, the fabulous fireplaces, panelling and floors – all untouched.
After the fire in 1951, the configuration of the bedroom floor was managed so sensitively that we had no arguments about en-suite bathrooms with Historic England or the conservation officer.
We bought most of the contents of Wolterton – the furniture, tapestries and paintings, including a vast portrait of Horatio with his wife and eight children. On the main landing, visitors are confronted by Rysbrack’s marble bust portraying Sir Robert in a toga with Caesar’s curls, looking every bit a Roman emperor.
In the portrait room, we gathered together all 30 portraits – which now line the walls from dado to cornice and include a picture of Sir Robert in his Chancellor’s robes and garter, looking very satisfied with his achievements.
We have nearly completed the restoration of the hall; its 12 bedrooms with bathrooms include the dramatic state bedroom, bathroom and shower room. We’ve put in two kitchens, which we designed; one of them has just won Historic Houses’ Kitchen of the Year award.
The double-height state rooms are hung with 17th- and 18th-century tapestries (digital copies of which can be obtained from Watts of Westminster) and feature Persian carpets, glittering chandeliers, richly framed oil paintings and gilt furniture.
Unlike Horatio, we feel it is important to dominate the house so we use pretty much every room: we often eat in a state room despite the inconvenience, guests pick and choose their favourite bedroom, and all the state rooms come into their own for parties and receptions.
We’ve restored many of the pretty lodges, cottages and houses around the hall; they were falling down but are now comfortably furnished with tapestries, oriental carpets and original artworks and have state-of-the-art kitchens and bathrooms. There’s a range of options for your stay, from the single-bedroom Treasury up to the seven-bedroom East Wing, with its magnificent view over the lake set in the park.
We have rebuilt the ha-has, put up miles of park fencing to keep the sheep at a distance and gradually planted hundreds of beech and oak trees in the wild and natural 500-acre park, which is for the exclusive use of our guests.
Our plan is to make the estate – which once depended on farming – capable of producing income through having people come to stay. We will even allow the main hall to be taken for a big event, so that for a week you can be the proud owner of your own stately home with up to 40 bedrooms.
Have we ever regretted taking on a project of this size? Not for one moment. It has been the most fulfilling episode in our lives. I’m glad that we were inspired by the energy and passion for houses of Robert and Horatio, who continued to expand and embellish their houses until the day they died.
