Robert Smythson ( – 15 October 1614) was an English architect. Smythson designed a number of notable houses during the

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 Roman symbol of Britannia (a female per ...

era. Little is known about his birth and upbringing—his first mention in historical records comes in 1556, when he was

stonemason Stonemasonry or stonecraft is the creation of buildings, structures, and sculpture using stone as the primary material. Stonemasonry is the craft of shaping and arranging stones, often together with mortar and even the ancient lime mortar ...

for the house at

Longleat Longleat is a stately home about west of Warminster in Wiltshire, England. A leading and early example of the Elizabethan prodigy house, it is a Grade I listed building and the seat of the Marquesses of Bath. Longleat is set in of parkl ...

, built by Sir

John Thynne Sir John Thynne (c. 1515 – 21 May 1580) was the steward to Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset (c. 1506 – 1552), and a member of parliament. He was the builder of Longleat House, and his descendants became Marquess of Bath, Marquesses of ...

(ca. 1512–1580). He later designed

Hardwick Hall Hardwick Hall is an architecturally significant Elizabethan architecture, Elizabethan-era country house in Derbyshire, England. A leading example of the Elizabethan prodigy house, the Renaissance architecture, Renaissance style home was bu ...

Wollaton Hall Wollaton Hall is an Elizabethan country house of the 1580s standing on a small but prominent hill in Wollaton Park, Nottingham, England. The house is now Nottingham Natural History Museum, with Nottingham Industrial Museum in the outbuilding ...

, Burton Agnes Hall, and other significant projects. Historically, a number of other Elizabethan houses, such as

Gawthorpe Hall Gawthorpe Hall is an Elizabethan country house on the banks of the River Calder, in Ightenhill, a civil parish in the Borough of Burnley, Lancashire, England. Its estate extends into Padiham, with the Stockbridge Drive entrance situated there. ...

and

Chastleton House Chastleton House () is a Jacobean country house at Chastleton, Oxfordshire, England, close to Moreton-in-Marsh (). It has been owned by the National Trust since 1991 and is a Grade I listed building. History Chastleton House was built betwee ...

, have been attributed to him on stylistic grounds. In England at this time, the profession of architect was in its most embryonic stage of development. Smythson was trained as a stonemason, and by the 1560s was travelling England as a master mason leading his own team of masons. In 1568 he moved from London to

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

to commence work on the new house at Longleat for Sir John Thynne; he worked there for almost eighteen years, carving personally much of the external detail, and he is believed to have had a strong influence on the overall design of the building. In 1580 he moved to his next project—Wollaton Hall. At Wollaton he was clearly more a "surveyor" (the term at that time for an architect) than a stonemason, and was in charge of overall construction. Smythson's style was more than a fusion of influences; although

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

, especially

Sebastiano Serlio Sebastiano Serlio (6 September 1475 – c. 1554) was an Italian Mannerist architect, who was part of the Italian team building the Palace of Fontainebleau. Serlio helped canonize the classical orders of architecture in his influential treatise ...

Flemish Flemish may refer to: * Flemish, adjective for Flanders, Belgium * Flemish region, one of the three regions of Belgium *Flemish Community, one of the three constitutionally defined language communities of Belgium * Flemish dialects, a Dutch dialec ...

and

English Gothic English Gothic is an architectural style that flourished from the late 12th until the mid-17th century. The style was most prominently used in the construction of cathedrals and churches. Gothic architecture's defining features are pointed a ...

notes can be seen in his work, he produced some ingenious adaptations, resulting in classically detailed, innovative domestic buildings. Hardwick in particular is noted for its use of

glass Glass is an amorphous (non-crystalline solid, non-crystalline) solid. Because it is often transparency and translucency, transparent and chemically inert, glass has found widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in window pane ...

. Smythson died at Wollaton in 1614 and is buried in the parish church there; his memorial includes these words "Architecter (sic) and Surveyor unto the most worthy house of Wollaton with divers others of great account." Mark Girouard, ''Robert Smythson & the Elizabethan Country House'' 1983; pp. 82–83. His son John Smythson (

Bolsover Castle Bolsover Castle is in the town of Bolsover (), in the north-east of the English county of Derbyshire. Built in the early 17th century, the present castle lies on the earthworks and ruins of the 12th-century medieval castle; the first structure ...

) and grandson Huntingdon Smithson (as he spelt the family name) were also architects.

Gallery of architectural works

File:Longleat House 2012.jpg,

Longleat House Longleat is a stately home about west of Warminster in Wiltshire, England. A leading and early example of the Elizabethan prodigy house, it is a Grade I listed building and the seat of the Marquesses of Bath. Longleat is set in of parklan ...

File:Hardwick Hall - geograph.org.uk - 3339472.jpg,

File:Wollaton hall from front.jpg,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smythson, Robert 1535 births 1614 deaths Renaissance architects 16th-century English architects 17th-century English architects People from Wollaton Architects from Nottinghamshire