Editing Harlaxton Manor (section)

===Exterior===
Harlaxton is built to an [[Elizabethan architecture|Elizabethan]] E-plan. The foundation stone of the main central block was laid by Gregory in 1832 and it was complete externally by 1837. All of this is by Anthony Salvin, with Gregory's input.{{sfn|Franklin|1981|pp=174-177}} The main construction materials are [[Ancaster stone]] [[ashlar]] and brick.{{efn|The stone was quarried at [[Ancaster, Lincolnshire|Ancaster]] in Lincolnshire and is also the main building stone used at nearby [[Belton House]], 150 years before Harlaxton.{{sfn|Tinniswood|1999|p=12}}}}<ref name="NHLEHouse"/> Salvin enhanced the drama of the entrance front by making the entry at basement level, the corresponding garden elevation behind opens directly onto a [[parterre]].{{sfn|Franklin|1981|pp=174-177}} The main architectural style is that of an [[Elizabethan era|Elizabethan]] or [[Jacobethan]] [[prodigy house]], such as nearby [[Burghley House|Burghley]] or [[Wollaton Hall]] in Nottinghamshire, although with notable European influences.{{sfn|Hall|2009|pp=26-31}} [[Mark Girouard]], in his 1979 study, ''The Victorian Country House'', records that Gregory had visited "[[Bramshill House|Bramshill]], [[Hardwick Hall|Hardwick]], [[Hatfield House|Hatfield]], [[Knole]], Burghley, Wollaton, [[Kirby Hall|Kirby]] [[Longleat House|Lonleat]], [[Temple Newsam]] and the [[Oxford University|Oxford]] and [[Cambridge University|Cambridge]] colleges " in pursuit of Elizabethan inspiration.{{sfn|Girouard|1979|p=93}} The uniqueness of Harlaxton, however, is the fusion of Elizabethan and Jacobean styles with the architecture and design of the [[Baroque]].{{sfn|Girouard|1979|p=95}} Girouard notes that this blending continues "in varying proportions all through the house"{{sfn|Girouard|1979|p=96}} and suggests [[David Bryce]], William Burn's chief assistant, as a possible source.{{sfn|Girouard|1979|p=98}}

====Entrance front====
[[File:Harlaxton Manor Forecourt (geograph 4596125).jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.4|Forecourt with Burn's gazebo]]
The entrance front consists of a central block with a two-storey [[oriel window]] flanked by three-storey towers with [[bay window]]s and topped by [[cupola]]s. The doorway is framed by two [[pilaster]]s. Behind this there is a square tower, with an octagonal turret containing a clock and again finishing in a cupola.<ref name="NHLEHouse"/> The sources for all of these elements can be traced: the overall impression is of Burghley House; the pilasters are a direct lift from a 16th-century German architectural work, the ''Architectura'' by [[Wendel Dietterlin]], a copy of which Gregory is known to have owned;{{sfn|Franklin|1981|p=49}} the oriel is from [[Hengrave Hall]] in Suffolk. Antram also identifies elements from [[Northumberland House]] and from [[Stonyhurst College|Stonyhurst]].{{sfn|Pevsner|Harris|Antram|2002|p=364}} Girouard writes, "the resulting impression of power, exuberance and abundance is sensational".{{sfn|Girouard|1979|p=96}} To the left is a 
[[Servants' quarters|service wing]] by Burn, which is visually balanced by a [[gazebo]] to the right, drawn from Wollaton Hall.{{sfn|Pevsner|Harris|Antram|2002|p=364}}

====Inner and outer gatehouses====
By the time Gregory came to begin the building of the entrance to the cour d'honneur, Salvin had been dismissed. The reason for this is unclear, but the consensus among architectural historians is that disagreements of Gregory's future plans for the design and decoration of his house led to an estrangement.{{sfn|Franklin|1981|p=48}} After some consultations with Edward Blore, Gregory employed William Burn. [[Historic England]] credits Burn, his assistant David Bryce, and Gregory himself with the design of the gateway.{{efn|Both Antram and Franklin are sceptical that Burn, "a dry and somewhat prosaic designer", could alone be responsible for the designs of the screen and lodges.{{sfn|Pevsner|Harris|Antram|2002|p=364}}{{sfn|Franklin|1981|p=49}}}}<ref name="NHLEGatewayScreen"/> Antram considers the lodges and screen to be unlike anything else in England of that date, and comparable only to the work of [[John Vanbrugh]] at [[Blenheim Palace]].{{sfn|Pevsner|Harris|Antram|2002|p=364}} The central gateway is flanked by two pavilions with pierced archways and larger lodges to each side.<ref name="NHLEGatewayScreen"/> The outer lodges are topped by "scrolled [[Corbel|consoles]] [supporting] [[Sarcophagus|sacrophagi]]...the scale gargantuan".{{sfn|Pevsner|Harris|Antram|2002|p=364}}

The outer gatehouse is earlier and was designed by Salvin in a much more restrained [[Tudor Revival architecture|Tudor Revival]] style.<ref name="NHLEFormerStablesGatehouseNW"/>