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To what degree can a room within a country house become a palimpsest?
The novelistEvelynWaughsuggestedthe countryhouse wasone of Britain’s ‘chiefnational
artisticachievements’;amanifestationof multiple historiesandarchitectural designrangingfrom
PalladiotoJohnAdams1
.Temple Newsamisatestamenttothis,providinganamalgamationof these
variousartisticfashions.‘The northfrontisJacobeanwithGeorgianandVictorianalterations;the central
part of the westfrontisearlyTudor,but is flankedbyJacobeanwork’2
.Thisanalysisshall inspectthese
ideasingreaterdetail andfocuson the countryhouse roomas a palimpsestusingthe example of the
GeorgianLibraryat Temple Newsam.The waysinwhichspace,architecture andobjectsare represented
inorder to displayfashionsandcreate a multilayeredhistoryshall be discussed.Sassureanconceptsof
signsshall be exploredalongside objectsandsuggesthow they formandreveal hidden, historic
manifestations.
Originally,the GeorgianLibrarywasdesignedasachapel derivingfromthe orderof the knights
Templar;a historythatthe house hasattemptedtoresurrect,mostnoticeablythroughthe attainingof
the title ‘Temple’3
.The house hasalteredthroughrestorationwork;however,originscanbe traced
throughthe house’sgeneral structure.Temple Bruer,notedasthe churchof the KnightsTemplar
headquartersinBritainisshowntobe made up of multipleroomsincludingapresbytery,chapel,aisle
and nave alongwitha porch entrance4
.Temple Newsamseestoadaptthislayout;the entrance isplaced
at the endof the ‘Great Hall’resemblingthe ‘Presbytery’;the ‘aisle’and‘nave’structure have been
alteredinshape resemblingthe chapel of Temple Newsam. The factthatthe libraryis separatedfrom
1 Charles Phillips,C.P. (2011).The Stately Houses, Palaces and Castles of Georgian,Victorian and Modern Britain.
London: Southwater, imprintof Anness PublishingLtd.Pg.7
2 James Lomax, p. b. (n.d.). Temple Newsam. Leeds: Leeds City Council .Pg.6
3 James Lomax, p. b. (n.d.). Temple Newsam. Leeds: Leeds City Council .Pg.2
4 Ralls,K.(2007).Knights Templar Encyclopedia:The essential guideto the people, places,events, and symbols of
the Order of the Temple. USA: The Career Press.Pg.192

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otherroomsby the ‘Great Hall’ signifiesitsimportance.The notionof the ‘GeorgianLibrary’asa
previouslyreligiousspace canalsobe tracedthroughobjects.A bust of cardinal Manning,HenryEdward,
ispositionedinacentral position5
.ForSassure,the bustactsas a ‘sign’withitsvalue decidedbyits
centralizedpositioning;thishasbeendeterminedfromitsrelationshipwith surrounding‘signs’,suchas
the writingtable6
.This‘value’hasbeenpsychologicallyplacedthroughthe ideologiesof the owner.The
bustunitesa ‘conceptanda soundimage’;the conceptdemonstratingthe meaningof the bust,which,
alongside the word‘cardinal’altersthe meaningof the solitaryword‘bust’toone of religious
significance. The soundimage isthe psychological image of the ‘cardinal’sbust’whichiscombinedwith
itsreligiousmeaning;thisformsthe written,linguisticsymbol,‘cardinal’sbust’7
.Assuggesteditis
throughthisthat objectsare valued;affectingpositioningwithinaspace or room and the value placed
on certainobjects.Inthiscase,the bust can be consideredof highervalue due toitscentral positioning
and alludestothe original purpose of the libraryasa chapel,areligiousspace.
It isthroughthe combinationof architecture andobjectsthatthe ‘GeorgianLibrary’becomesa
palimpsest.Tracesof the religiousspace are representedthroughthe cardinal’sbust;the roomdesign
and alsothe organ whichisdescribedasa religious mementofromthe room’soriginalpurpose. In
addition,the organbecomessuccessfullyincorporatedintothe libraryandisplacedbetweenbookcases;
creatinga blendeffect8
.Anemphasis hasbeenplacedonthe classical period;reveredasa periodof
superiorleaningandmorality.Thisstyle hasbeenreplicatedthroughthe use of Corinthianhalf columns
shownto be a designfeature of AndreaPalladio.His‘FourBooksof Architecture’hada majorinfluence
of Georgianfashionsandbecame increasinglyprevalentinthe designsof countryhouses.Due tothe
5 This object is not referred to in the guidebook: James Lomax, p. b. (n.d.). Temple Newsam. Upon visitingTemple
Newsam this object can be found positioned on/behind the central writingtable. This is referenced on the
description provided by the Trust on a plaqueupon entry of the room.
6 Ferdinand de Saussure,e. b. (1959).Course in general linguistics. New York, USA: McGraw-Hill Book Co.Pg.162-3
7 Ferdinand de Saussure,e. b. (1959). Course in general linguistics.Pg.149
8 James Lomax, p. b. Temple Newsam. (Leeds: Leeds City Council,n.d.).Pg.28

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linksmade of classicismandlearning;the librarytendedtoadoptthisformto a greaterextentand
becomesamanifestationsof classical ideology9
.The incorporationof the bustsof classical figures
supports the notionof the classicsbeingseenas‘greatmenof learning’.Thesebustsare positioned
above the columnsas if lookingdownonthe individualsbeneath.Alternatively,the individual canaspire
to the ‘greatman’ and therefore lookuptothemphysicallyaswellasmetaphorically. The busts act as
‘signs’of learningcomparedtothe cardinal’sbustwhichconnotesamore religiouspurpose.Asaresult,
roomscan be saidto presentconflictsof interestwiththe purpose of the libraryandthe chapel tryingto
displace the other.A paintingof StFrancisattributedtoVan Dyck wassaidto be replacedbythe organ.
Initially,thisreplacementrepresented the removalof secularismforlearning;however,the organacts
as a manifestationof bothof these ideologiesandsobecomesapalimpsestobject10
.Itbecomesa
fashionablepiece of musical developmentwithtracesof religiondue toitsusage throughhistorybythe
Church.It is throughconflictthatthe purpose of roomscan adaptintoa thirdlayerwithoutintention;in
thiscase,a reflective space.Thisspace incorporatestracesof all previouspurposes,creatingaworldly
space.The diversityof purpose andarchitectural designissupportedthroughthe presentationof
objects.The central writingtable attributedtoDavidGarett,originatingfromthe USA;the classical
adoptedfromromanantiquityandPalladio andthe secularderivingfromthe earlierpossessionof the
KnightsTemplar.The inclusionof globessupportsthisnotionof aworldlyspace withamulti-layered
identity11
.
The diverse historyof Temple Newsamcreatesapalimpsestentitythatincorporatesmultiple
periodsof historyfrommanyinfluences.The GeorgianLibraryexemplifiesthiswithitsoriginsasa
chapel beingreplacedbythe librarydue tochangesinfashionanda needfora new purpose.Despite
9 Palladio,Andrea (1997).The Four Books on Architecture, translated by Robert Tavernor and Richard Schofield.
Cambridge, Massachusetts:MITPress.
10 James Lomax, p. b. (n.d.). Temple Newsam. Leeds: Leeds City Council .Pg.29
11 James Lomax, p. b. (n.d.). Temple Newsam.Pg.28

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this,the originsof the room as a chapel can be traced throughobjectssuchas the organ and the
connotationsof the cardinal’sbust,aswell asthroughthe structure of the room itself.The roomactsas
a template thathas beencontinuouslywrittenover;eachlayerispreservedratherthanremovedandis
hiddenbeneaththe mostrecentlayer.Itisthroughthisa thirdidentityisformed;inthiscase,the
reflectivespace thatrepresentsacombinedpresence.The palimpsestbecomesanidentityinitsown
rightrather than justa representationandbecomesanintegral partof countryhouse existence through
a constant needforchange.
Bibliography
CharlesPhillips,C.P. TheStately Houses,Palacesand Castlesof Georgian,Victorian and Modern Britain.
(London:Southwater,imprintof AnnessPublishingLtd,2011).
Ferdinand de Saussure,e.b. Coursein general linguistics.(New York,USA: McGraw-Hill BookCo,1959).
JamesLomax,p. b. Temple Newsam. (Leeds:LeedsCityCouncil,n.d.).
Palladio,Andrea. TheFourBookson Architecture,translatedbyRobertTavernorand RichardSchofield.
(Cambridge,Massachusetts:MITPress,1997).
Ralls,K. KnightsTemplarEncyclopedia:The essentialguide to the people,places,events,and symbolsof
the Orderof theTemple. (USA:The CareerPress,2007).
Wheater,W. Temple Newsam:Comprising an Accountof theAncientPreceptory of Knights. (Leeds:
ForgottenBooks,2012).
Worsley,G. England'sLostHouses:fromthe archiveof Country Life. (London:AurumPressLtd2011).