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Chicheley Hall is a magnificent house built of russet brick dressed with mellow stone. It has a central projecting bay and giant pilasters, it is an excellent example of the graceful Baroque style. The house was built early in the 18th-century to a design by Francis Smith of Warwick, a well known 18th-century architect, but both the owner, Sir John Chester and his friend Burrell Massingberd are thought to have a hand in the design.
Strangely, each side of the house is different, but the highly Baroque doors and windows still retain much original glass and thick glazing bars. The impressive front entrance door is thought to be modelled on Bernini's Chapel of the Holy Crucifix in the Vatican. Once through the door the visitor enters a superb hall in the elegant Palladian style, this was designed by Henry Fitcroft.
History records the house to have had many owners, it was once used as a school, but in 1952 Chicheley Hall was rescued by the 2nd Earl Beatty, who restored it to its former grandeur.
Today, the house remains the private home of the Beatty family with some of the rooms being open to the public on Sundays and Bank Holidays.
It is a house that is well worth seeing, the staircase is particularly fine, made of oak but with treads and handrail inlaid with walnut. Lord Beatty's study shows many relics from his long naval career. The comfortable drawing room and library, with its rich panelling is also on show.
One of the most interesting rooms to see is the Jacobean Room, this houses a number of relics from an earlier house which stood on this site in the 16th-century.
Historically, the 2nd Earl Beatty was the son of the Ist Earl Beatty, a famous naval commander who became First Sea Lord and who is noted for his part in the Battle of Jutland in 1916
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