.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
The Chiswell family and their descendants lived in Debden, Essex for 150 years. Richard Chiswell, a London merchant, purchased the the estate in 1715. Although there had been a house on the site since the 14th century, major improvements were made to the house by Chiswell's nephew and heir, Richard Muilman Trench Chiswell, who in 1795 appointed Henry Holland to remodel the existing hall.
While the Hall was demolished in 1936, the church at Debden, still stands. Built in the 13th century, it was extensively renovated in 1797 under the direction of R. M. T. Chiswell, who commissioned the antiquarian John Carter to design a private family chapel of white brick. Octagonal in shape, the chapel forms the east end of the church and features on its facade three heraldic plaques in Coade stone (illustrated Alison Kelly, Mrs Coade's Stone, Upton-upon-Severn, 1990, p. 278). Chiswell also commissioned for the interior of the chapel a Perpendicular-style font constructed of Coade stone designed by Holland's cousin, Richard Holland, which served as a model for a related font for St George’s Chapel, Windsor.
The Hall is mentioned in Eleanor Coade's 1799 publication Coade's Gallery. The catalogue was produced as a handbook to accompany her exhibition premises at Westminster Bridge (Pedlar's Acre), which she opened in partnership with her cousin John Sealy. Amongst a describe of the showroom's the layout and exhibits, which included a replica of the Debden Church font, the handbook lists over 400 locations where Coade stone had been employed in the thirty years since the business began.
While the Hall was demolished in 1936, the church at Debden, still stands. Built in the 13th century, it was extensively renovated in 1797 under the direction of R. M. T. Chiswell, who commissioned the antiquarian John Carter to design a private family chapel of white brick. Octagonal in shape, the chapel forms the east end of the church and features on its facade three heraldic plaques in Coade stone (illustrated Alison Kelly, Mrs Coade's Stone, Upton-upon-Severn, 1990, p. 278). Chiswell also commissioned for the interior of the chapel a Perpendicular-style font constructed of Coade stone designed by Holland's cousin, Richard Holland, which served as a model for a related font for St George’s Chapel, Windsor.
The Hall is mentioned in Eleanor Coade's 1799 publication Coade's Gallery. The catalogue was produced as a handbook to accompany her exhibition premises at Westminster Bridge (Pedlar's Acre), which she opened in partnership with her cousin John Sealy. Amongst a describe of the showroom's the layout and exhibits, which included a replica of the Debden Church font, the handbook lists over 400 locations where Coade stone had been employed in the thirty years since the business began.