Rokeby Park

Rokeby Park

Rokeby Park
Rokeby
Barnard Castle
County Durham
DL12 9RZ

Tel: 01609 748 612
E-Mail: enquiries@rokebypark.com

Web: Rokeby Park

About Rokeby Park

Rokeby Park was designed by the talented amateur architect, Sir Thomas Robinson. Constructed between 1725 - 1730 it is an important early example of the (then) new Palladian style. Unlike the conventional Palladian formula of offices linked to the main block by quadrant colonnades, at Rokeby they are placed en 'chelon. Robinson paid great attention in relating the heights and details of the elevations to give maximum emphasis to the central block and so create a striking and noble villa.
Among features of particular interest is the use of ochre coloured stucco on most walls. This is typical of the Vincentine (North Italian) villas from which the design was partly derived. It is probably unique in England. Other such features are the repetition of Palladio's pyramidical roofs and, from a later alteration, the unusual double Venetian window on the west elevation.
The internal layout and decorative schemes have evolved over the years. Only two rooms, the Library with its Tuscan columns and the Music Room with its early egg and dart and Greek key plasterwork and pedimented doorcases survive largely unaltered from the 1730s. The scheme for the spectacular Saloon, 27' x 40' 6' x 27' high, dates from Robinson's alterations of the 1750s.
Of a later period is the 'Print Room'.