No, the scaffolding currently around the north-west corner of Knebworth House is not because we are about to the build the extension in this drawing. No, the scaffolding is up for much more familiar and predicable reasons. It is necessary because the north-western turret, which looks splendid and upright in the drawing (to the right of the flag), is today breaking away from the rest of the building. Large cracks have developed all around it, and if it was let be, it would soon be pointing, like the leaning tower of Pisa, towards Hitchin.
The reasons are two-fold. One, its Victorian foundations are not as substantial as the Tudor foundations deeper within the house. The Victorians were more interested in spending money on decoration than foundation. Two, the extreme weather patterns of recent years – alternating between extremely hot & dry and extremely wet – has contracted and separated the earth below. Already we have dug around the tower and set large blocks of concrete below, to stabilise the building. Now we begin the process of pinning, and re-stuccoing, above ground. We also have to repair windows cavities that are now larger than the windows and lintels that were made for them.
I could show you photos of this damage – alarming photos of cracking walls and broken lintels – but there is too much other gloom in the world today. So instead, let’s celebrate the imagination of the Victorians. The fantasy and wackiness of Knebworth House is such a big part of what we cherish about it today. As we scramble and scrape to preserve it, let’s salute the imagination and vision behind it, and treasure what remains.
Henry Lytton Cobbold
@HenryCobboldKH