Rufford Abbey and Ollerton Hall, Nottinghamshire: Alternative Interpretations

In the previous volume of English Heritage Historical Review Richard Hewlings published 22 newly discovered architectural drawings of Rufford Abbey and Ollerton Hall in Nottinghamshire. These drawings were the remainder of a collection, of which another part had formed the basis of my article on the history of Rufford Abbey in an earlier volume of English Heritage Historical Review. The newly discovered drawings illustrate the two houses at only one period in that history, the period during which they were both owned by Sir George Savile, 8th Baronet. But they show internal arrangements and a principal (west) fac¸ade which appear to date from the 17th century; neither of these had been known at the time of writing my article. Mr Hewlings did not discuss the newly revealed evidence for the internal arrangements, and he concluded that the ornamental features of the west fac¸ade suggested a date in the 1630s. He thought that the drawings were surveys, not proposals, and speculated that they might have been intended for publication.The present article considers the internal arrangements in more depth; it suggests a later date for the west fac¸ade; and it demonstrates that the drawings include proposals for changes to both houses and are therefore not just surveys.