Design for the 'very magnificent and imposing' mansion for the Duke of Wellington

Benjamin Dean Wyatt's pantheonic design forms the centre-piece of plans for a 'very magnificent and imposing' mansion commissioned by Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (d.l852) and initiated in l8l4. The Duke's heroic residence, recalling Blenheim Palace's establishment as a reward for 'Military Merit', was to be funded through a Parliamentary Trust as a memorial of the Nations' gratitude for his defeat of the Emperor Napoleon's armies, and as a celebration for the enoblement granted to one of its 'greatest and most successful of heroes' by George, Prince Regent, later George IV. Wyatt's colourful design introduces ancient battle bas-reliefs on the stately staircase of its Ionic-columned Assembly Room; and Grecian 'Nike' victories preside over its Corinthian-columned Rotunda, whose monumental palm-flowered dome recalls the Pantheon. It was this Roman temple that helped establish the reputation of the Wyatt dynasty of architects, following the success of London's pantheonic Assembly Rooms, built by Benjamin Dean's father, the Rome-trained court architect James Wyatt (d.l8l3). In a letter to the Duke concerning this design, Wyatt stressed the 'striking' impression that he hoped to effect 'upon a Spectator, upon his first entrance' to the mansion. Indeed it provides the centre-piece of a group of designs for a neo-classical mansion, that have been described as the most important to be executed in Britain during the early years of the l9th century. The majority of these designs remain at Stratfield Saye, Hampshire in the possession of the present Duke of Wellington.