£52.50 (Non JG member)
Overview
There has been a manor house at Quex since 1449, at that time, owned by John Quekes. The house we see today is located in a different area of the property and is a fairly modern renovation of the 1816 design by Thomas Hardwick (commissioned by John Powell). The Powell-Cottons continued renovations to make Quex House a comfortable family home. The rooms are mostly dressed to reflect historic photographs, showing how they would have been used between 1900 and 1940. Natural History Galleries. The Powell-Cotton Museum dioramas include the oldest intact large-scale habitat dioramas in the UK, and among the oldest and best preserved in the world. They contain over 300 animals from more than 150 species, in sculpted and painted settings of astounding detail. Built between 1896 and 1939, these displays are of enormous historical importance in themselves. The specimens within the dioramas are of huge scientific value, as they include examples of animals that are now critically endangered, such as the northern white rhino. The gardens were designed to be viewed from the main withdrawing room on the first floor of the house, from where lawns radiate around a central vista ending in the far distance with the Gun Tower, one of three follies in the grounds. The established parkland within Quex Gardens contains numerous ornamental specimen trees and a sunken fountain garden.