Lady Jane Grey’s Bradgate House

Architectural Image of the Year Award 2019 Finalist

The image was taken early one morning just before sunrise and is looking East towards the West Wing of Bradgate House, a Grade II Listed ruin of a Tudor mansion house and chapel that was the birth place and childhood home of Lady Jane Grey, Queen of England for nine days in 1553.
The West Wing contained the services of the mansion house in its day, however its most striking remaining features are the three imposing towers which are marvellously mostly intact; the two standing at the outer perimeter are polygonal and the intermediate one rectangular.

This image captures the essence of the roots of ‘modern’ architecture and construction methods from which our profession descends, as Bradgate House is one of the earliest brick built country houses in England with its building commencing c1490.
It is testament to the quality of design and construction; the same ethos of which we all still integrate into our projects today, that despite not being inhabited for around 270 years, it remains standing. Due to its national importance it is now a protected Scheduled Ancient Monument yet is still open to the public and accessible to all thereby educating many more generations to come.

There are many photographs of Bradgate House but what makes this image truly special is the quality of the light and the dramatic sky just before sunrise. This is emphasised in the tones and coloration of the stone and brick work and brings back the essence and intense history this house has seen in abundance.