The Amazing Adventures of Archibald Esq.
Goodwood’s Doghouse: Historic Hot House for Hounds Now Open
When Lord March took over Goodwood house from his father the Duke of Richmond, he modernised the house, which has over time come to exemplify what is called the ‘new country chic.’
The latest in architectural restoration of the property is the restoration of the kennels. According to Marcus Binneystable blocks and hound kennels were a familiar sight at leading English country houses, but strongly architectural kennels were more unusual.
The renowned architect James Wyatt built the kennels of pale, straw-coloured brick with flint facing - the very same materials he used when refacing Goodwood House. Interestingly, the kennels also had indoor central heating before the big house across the lawn…
Goodwood House is a magnificent Regency mansion set in a wooded parkland at the foot of the South Downs. Built of flint, with copper topped round towers, it is an unusually striking house, which contains a fabulous art collection.
The estate is the seat of the Dukes of Richmond, one of four ducal houses to be descended from the illegitimate children of King Charles II. The 1st Duke of Richmond and Lennox, born 1672, was the son of the King and his beautiful French mistress, Louise de Keroualle, whom he created Duchess of Portsmouth.
In 1697 the 1st Duke purchased the Goodwood estate of 1,000 acres, with a modest early 17th century house which he wanted to use as a hunting lodge. The house was extended by his son, the 2nd Duke, with a classical wing to the south. The 2nd Duke and his wife were equally engrossed with the chase as had been the 1st Duke.
The 2nd Duke built follies and a much smaller hunting lodge in the neighbouring village of Charlton, where the hunt was based. After the 2nd Duke’s sudden death in 1750, his son was away on a prolonged ‘Grand Tour’ and the hunt at Goodwood died out.
The 3rd Duke inherited on his father’s death in 1750. While Ambassador in Paris, he acquired fabulous newly made French furniture, tapestries and porcelain, the latter specially commissioned by him at the Sèvres factory. On his return, the 3rd Duke quickly restarted the hunt, and commissioned George Stubbs to paint him and his brother accompanied by ten pairs of hounds.
George Stubbs’ oil on canvas portrays ‘La Duchesse de Richmond et Lady Louisa Lennox regardant les chevaux de course du Duc de Richmond à l’exercice, 1759-1760.’ This fine painting is held in trust by the Goodwood Collection, Goodwood House, Chichester.
This 3rd Duke engaged Sir William Chambers to build the great stable block and increased the estate to 17,000 acres. He also added a new wing at Goodwood, and then, due to the destruction of his London home by fire, set about increasing the existing house to the scale at which it is now to be seen.
First Sir Chalmers built a magnificent stables; the hounds came later, in 1787. The kennels were designed especially to be a grand eyecatcher when seen from the drawing room. In the kennels, the central block formed a house for the huntsman, while the low wings were divided into hunt lodges for the hounds. These wings opened into a courtyard 30 feet long.
Interestingly, the hounds had full central heating much earlier than the two-leggeds inhabiting the big house. The heating of the kennels was achieved by heating large iron plates from behind with large fires. The Times’ architecture writer describes the kennels as a ‘Canine Ritz’, which included two feeding rooms, breeding rooms, a boiling house and a reservoir underneath the building that was fed by rainwater. This resevoir held 7,000 hogsheads, ensuring an abundant supply of water in all seasons. It was, in short, a kennel “inferior to none of its kind in England.”
The 3rd Duke also introduced horse racing at Goodwood, high up on the Downs, first with a private meeting in 1801 and then a public one in 1802. However his great expenditure proved disastrous: when he died in 1806 the house was unfinished and his estate had debts of £180,000.
The interior was not completed until the 1820s and 30s. In 1836 the 5th Duke received a vast inheritance through his mother, of the Highland estates of the Duke of Gordon. This did much to restore the family fortune.
The 6th Duke was created by Queen Victoria 1st Duke of Gordon of a new creation, since when each Duke has been known as the Duke of Richmond and Gordon.
Golf was introduced at Goodwood with the twice-widowed 7th Duke, who encouraged the game as a family activity for his family of seven children, and laid out a short 18-hole course. Old greens, hidden by undergrowth, have recently been rediscovered.
The 9th Duke was especially famous for founding the Goodwood motor circuit, on the perimeter of the Goodwood wartime airfield. It ran from 1948-1966, and was reopened fifty years later to the day, in September 1998, by his grandson the Earl of March, for historic motor racing.
The estate is now just over 11,000 acres large and plays host to a wide variety of activities, including horseracing and motor racing, as well as flying, shooting and golf. In late July at the Racecourse Glorious Goodwood sees top jockeys, trainers and horses compete on what has been called ‘the most beautiful racecourse in the world’.
In motor racing the Festival of Speed and Revival Meeting are known for their informal and friendly atmosphere and have become firm seasonal fixtures. The hospitality at Goodwood continues to be legendary, and now all sporting activities are linked together for members by their ability to use the Kennels, the newly restored Goodwood Sporting Club.
Restaurantion of the kennels for use as a clubhouse has been carried out by the architect Brian Beardsmore. Interior designer Cindy Leveson said “Lord March wanted it to appear as if it could be his house, avoiding the feel of a club or a hotel.” For example, the hall is intended to feel like a country house hall, not a reception area. The floor is paved in Portland stone and enamel drinking bowls for dogs are provided for dogs, which are very welcome at the kennels, of course!
The clubhouse was inaugurated Monday 5th June 2006, so if you get a chance, make your way to revel for an afternoon in the idyllic Goodwood Hothouse for Hounds.
Awoof! Archie
Posted 22 Jun 06
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