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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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Holkham Hall
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(58km/36m NW of Norwich) The greatest and least changed Palladian mansion in Britain. It was commissioned in 1734 by Thomas Coke (1697–1759, earl of Leicester 1744), who had met his architect, William *Kent, when on the *Grand Tour in Italy. Kent's patron *Burlington undoubtedly had an influence on the architecture, but the interiors and furnishings are unique for the time in being designed by Kent himself as part of a unified concept. Many of the rooms contain pictures brought back by Coke from Italy, such as the *Claudes in the Landscape Room. The most spectacular of the interiors is the great entrance, the Marble Hall, intended to suggest a Roman temple of justice. A Norwich architect, Matthew Brettingham (1699–1769), was Kent's assistant and completed the house after his death.
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In the grounds is a very endearing triumphal column, of the same date as Nelson's in Trafalgar Square and almost as tall. It commemorate's Coke's great-nephew, the agriculturalist *Coke of Norfolk. On top stands not the hero himself but a sheaf of wheat, and in place of lions at the base are a Devon ox and some Southdown sheep.
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