Turner at Eastnor Castle
27th October '15
Chelsea Lighting Design has recently undertaken the lighting of pictures at the impressive Eastnor Castle, in the Malvern Hills.
Eastnor Castle is a Grade 1 listed mock castle built on the estate that was first established in the late 16th century when the Cocks family purchased land in the area. It is designed to look like one of the medieval castles guarding the Welsh borders but in fact was built in 19th century by John Cocks, 1st Earl Somers as his stately home. His descendants have continued to inhabit the home since then and currently in residence is the family of Mr James Hervey-Bathurst , the grandson of Arthur Somers-Cocks, 6th Baron Somers.
The castle was built to the designs of Robert Smirke in 1812-20 and A.W.N Pugin made some contributions to internal alterations. Smirke was a pioneer in the use of concrete and cast iron in building and one of his first major works was the re-building of the Covent Garden Theatre and the main front of the British Museum.
Following a period of neglect as a result of various circumstances, including a huge tax burden imposed on the death of Lord Somers, the parents of the present owner moved into the castle in 1949 and began the slow process of re-inhabiting rooms and dealing with a huge backlog of repairs.
As a result of damage during the 1976 hurricane the first government grant was received for repairs.
James Hervey-Bathurst and his family came to live in Eastnor in 1988 and as a result the restoration and internal repair of the castle accelerated, partly through grants but also through diversification into tourism, corporate entertaining and functions.
Chelsea Lighting Design was delighted therefore, to be invited by Mr Hervey Bathurst to present proposals for lighting pictures in the State Dining Room that include some from the 17th century collection of the Lord Chancellor Somers, together with portraits of family members.
We visited Eastnor in early November and with the help of in-house staff we completed the installation within a day.
Of particular significance and interest was one of the pictures on loan from the Lonsdale collection. The picture by J M W Turner was of Lowther Castle, the country house in Westmorland that belonged to the Lowther family, latterly the Earls of Lonsdale.
The painting has a prominent hanging at the centre of the end wall and the challenge was to illuminate this and the other pictures with localised lighting and to elevate the presentation to the highest level befitting their quality.
The individual subjects required a refined and distinctive treatment while maintaining the balance of the whole display within the room.
Principles of conservation were also paramount as always and the result ensured carefully managed levels of light, low heat radiation and improved maintenance and running costs.
