Editing Harlaxton Manor (section)

===Interior===
[[File:Harlaxton Manor, Great Hall (27063814128).jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.0|The Great Hall]] 
The interiors at Harlaxton have been described as "a prodigious display of decorative virtuosity unparalleled in 19th century England". The designers are an uncertain mixture of Salvin, Burn, Bryce and possibly others, all influenced by Gregory himself. Jill Franklin, in her 1981 study, ''The Gentleman's Country House and its plan 1835-1914'', writes of the unusual nature of the interior layout of Harlaxton. Noting that there is no easy means of circulation, and that the entrance hall, the only public space at the front ground floor level, leads up via flights of stairs to two awkwardly placed landings, through which entrance is made into the main entertaining rooms of the house by concealed jib doors, she suggests that the house was always in fact designed for show, rather than for living; "a guided tour, with the visitor giving delighted cries of surprise as each door is flung open".{{sfn|Franklin|1981|p=177}}

In the early 19th century, Gregory is believed to have held a post at the [[Embassy of the United Kingdom, Paris|British Embassy in Paris]]. While there, and taking advantage of the cheap prices occasioned by the end of the [[Napoleonic Wars]], he embarked on a spending spree purchasing, "panelling, chimneypieces, furniture and tapestries in great quantity".{{sfn|Hall|2009|p=29}} He also travelled extensively, "as far as [[Constantinople]] and the [[Crimea]]", taking particular interest in the [[Baroque architecture|Baroque design]] of Germany and Austria.{{sfn|Girouard|1979|p=93}} The wood carver William Gibbs Rogers, who visited the house in the 1860s when Gregory's collection was still intact, recorded his impressions; "[[marble]]s, [[jasper]]s, [[Cabinetry|cabinets]], [[porcelain]] of fabulous value, [[Boulle work|Buhl]], rare sculptures, delicate carvings, furniture, tapestries, all in glorious and unreadable confusion".{{efn|William Gibbs Ro(d)gers (1792–1875) was a highly successful wood carver who worked at [[Chatsworth House|Chatsworth]], [[Keele Hall]] and the [[House of Lords]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://bifmo.history.ac.uk/entry/rogers-william-gibbs-1835-39|title=William Gibbs Rogers|publisher=British and Irish Furniture Makers Online|access-date=21 January 2022}}</ref>}}{{efn|Jill Allibone notes that Gregory was primarily interested in art works for their contribution to the overall design and decoration of his house, "He does not seem to have owned many pictures of any quality, although he did have a seascape in [[Oil painting|oils]] by [[Richard Parkes Bonington]]”.{{sfn|Allibone|1988|p=41}}}}{{sfn|Allibone|1988|p=52}}

The house was technologically advanced; a miniature railway, originally used to transport brick from Gregory's kilns to the house, and subsequently used to move coal, was run into the house on a [[viaduct]] and continued into the roof spaces to supply the internal coal bunkers.{{efn|As an indicator of Gregory's long-term planning for Harlaxton, he leased a kiln to a brickmaker in 1826 on a six-year contract, with a requirement for the supply of 400,000 bricks each building season.{{sfn|Allibone|1988|p=42}}}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://victorianweb.org/technology/domestic/palmerwest.html|first=George P.|last=Landow|title="Unashamedly Archaeological" - a review of Marilyn Palmer and Ian West's 'Technology in the Country House'|publisher=The Victorian Web|access-date=20 January 2022}}</ref>
 
====Great Hall====
Entry to the house is through Salvin's entrance hall, set at basement level. Stairs rise to the first floor where the [[Great hall|Great Hall]] is entered through a stone screens passage. The main inspiration for what Gregory called The Barons' Hall, is that at [[Audley End House]] in Essex, but the design and decoration has decidedly Baroque elements such as the "muscular [[Atlas (architecture)|atlantes]]" supporting the roof trusses.{{sfn|Hall|2009|p=30}} Other decorative elements are more traditional, the stained glass in the window is by [[Thomas Willement]] and depicts Gregory's [[heraldry]] and ancestry.{{efn|[[Thomas Willement]] is also recorded as having restored fragments of original stained glass from the earlier Harlaxton Manor for installation in Gregory's new house, but nothing of this remains.{{sfn|Wainright|Beard|Rowlands|2000|p=15}}}}{{sfn|Wainright|Beard|Rowlands|2000|p=15}} The chandelier is a later introduction, bought by Mrs Van Elst, when its transportation to the intended destination, a palace in Madrid, was interrupted by the [[Spanish Civil War]].{{sfn|Wainright|Beard|Rowlands|2000|p=27}}

====Gold Drawing Room====
[[Louis XV style]] in decoration, as are most of the state rooms, this drawing room may have been created to emulate the Elizabeth Saloon at nearby [[Belvoir Castle]].{{sfn|Jenkins|2003|pp=438-440}} The decoration may be by [[John Gregory Crace (designer)|John Crace]].{{sfn|Pevsner|Harris|Antram|2002|p=367}}

====Cedar Staircase====
[[File:Harlaxton Manor, looking up the Cedar Staircase (26061998577).jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.4|The Cedar Staircase]] 
The Cedar Staircase is placed within a tower that is invisible externally.{{sfn|Franklin|1981|p=177}} It appears to rise three full storeys in what Michael Hall, in his 2009 study, ''The Victorian Country House'' calls an, "astonishingly theatrical ''tour de force''".{{sfn|Hall|2009|p=30}} This is in fact a ''[[trompe-l'œil]]'' illusion, as the upper storey is merely a decorative device and leads nowhere, culminating in a fake sky. The decoration is entirely Baroque; "[[Festoon|swagged]] curtains interlaced with thriving [[Putto|putti]] blowing trumpets and supporting huge [[scallop]] shells".{{sfn|Pevsner|Harris|Antram|2002|p=366}} Franklin notes that the style would amaze in a German church but is extraordinary in an English country house.{{sfn|Franklin|1981|p=177}} The plasterwork, here and elsewhere in the house, is possibly by the firm of [[Francis Bernasconi|Bernasconi]], a London-based firm of Italian origin.{{sfn|Jenkins|2003|pp=438-440}} An alternative theory is that Salvin, who is known to have visited [[Kingdom of Bavaria|Bavaria]] in 1835, brought back local German craftsmen to undertake the work,{{sfn|Allibone|1988|p=50}} but architectural historians favour the former suggestion. The Bernasconi Company certainly had the necessary experience, having been employed at both [[Buckingham Palace]] and [[Windsor Castle]].{{sfn|Wainright|Beard|Rowlands|2000|p=19}}