Wollaton Hall [SEP] architect
its construction stretched the resources he mainly obtained from coalmining; the original family home was at the bottom of the hill. Though much re-modelled inside, the "startlingly bold" exterior remains largely intact.
Wollaton Hall was built between 1580 and 1588 for Sir Francis Willoughby and is believed to be designed by the Elizabethan architect, Robert Smythson, who had by then completed Longleat, and was to go on to design Hardwick Hall. The general plan of Wollaton is comparable to these, and was widely adopted for other
had a strong influence on the overall design of the building. In 1580 he moved to his next project—Wollaton Hall. At Wollaton he was clearly more a "surveyor" (the term at that time for an architect) than a stonemason, and was in charge of overall construction.
Smythson's style was more than a fusion of influences; although Renaissance, especially Sebastiano Serlio, Flemish and English Gothic notes can be seen in his work, he produced some ingenious adaptations, resulting in classically detailed, innovative domestic