The Gold Bedroom
A chamber in the Elizabethan house, the Gold Bedroom takes its name from the embossed Edwardian wallpaper. The marble chimneypiece is early Victorian and was designed by J. Browne of London, whose initial design for the work survives in the collection. The handsome gilt-wood tester bed with elaborate foliate cresting was supplied to William Constable by Edward Elwick ( fl .1771-87) of Wakefield in 1773 for the State Bedroom. The horseshoe dressing table of ‘black rosewood neatly inlaid with other woods' was supplied by Chippendale, Haig & Co in 1772 at a cost of 10 guineas, with a ‘damask leather cover' for an additional 18 shillings.
The State Rooms
The State Rooms occupy the space which originally contained the Great Chamber. It is likely that this series of ‘best apartments' was created in the 1760s when William Constable carried out extensive remodelling of the house. The rooms were sumptuously furnished in 1773 by Edward Elwick. 452 yards of ‘fine Verditer Blue Paper' covered the walls of all three rooms, together with a gilded wooden border. The chimneypiece in the State Dressing Room was designed by Timothy Lightoler with the scagliola inlay by Domenico Bartoli. In the nineteenth century this suite of rooms was redecorated with pale yellow walls and elaborate wallpaper borders.
Of particular interest is the jib door in the Gentleman's Dressing Room, which leads down a steep stair into the north-wing apartments, thus providing the discreet means of entry deemed appropriate for the Victorian country-house servant.
Registered Charity No.1010121 Registered Museum No. 604
