Welcome to Vanbrugh 300

Vanbrugh started life in the wine trade in 1681, but the firm he worked for went bust, so instead he joined the East India Company as a factor (trading agent). He travelled to India in 1683 to make his fortune at their factory in Surat, Gujarat. However, he was unhappy once there and quickly returned home in 1685.

Vanbrugh joined the English army in 1685, the first year of the reign of James II, receiving a commission in the Earl of Huntingdon's Regiment. During his military service, he aligned himself with Whig political interests and became involved in opposition to the new king. Vanbrugh left the army and, in the summer of 1688, he travelled to Holland, where he joined those urging the Protestant William of Orange to invade England and claim the throne.

While travelling in France in 1688, Vanbrugh was arrested in Calais on suspicion of espionage. He spent the next four years imprisoned in France during the early reign of William and Mary, including a period of confinement in the Bastille, before being released in late 1692 as part of a prisoner exchange.

On his return to England in 1693, Vanbrugh moved within a circle of prominent Whig politicians, and he became a member of the Kit-Cat Club, whose gatherings brought together leading politicians and cultural figures. Through the club, Vanbrugh formed connections with influential patrons, many of whom would later commission him to design their country houses.

In 1696, Vanbrugh wrote The Relapse, which was staged at the Theatre Royal later that year to great acclaim. Its success led to the production of The Provoked Wife in 1697, a play written earlier, possibly during his imprisonment. Both comedies were celebrated for their wit and boldness, enhancing Vanbrugh's standing among his Whig peers.

Vanbrugh's first major architectural commission came from his friend and fellow Kit-Cat Club member Charles Howard, 3rd Earl of Carlisle, who entrusted him with the design of Castle Howard in Yorkshire. In the summer of 1699, he toured northern England, visiting recently built country houses, sharing his preliminary drawings, and seeking advice from noble patrons, marking his decisive transition from playwright to architect.

In 1702, Vanbrugh was appointed Comptroller of the Royal Works by Queen Anne, marking his formal entry into royal service. The following year, he began designing the Queen's Theatre (later the King's Theatre) in the Haymarket, London, his first major public building and a significant expansion of his architectural career beyond private country houses.

In 1705, Queen Anne commissioned Vanbrugh to design Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire as a national monument to John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, following his victory at the Battle of Blenheim. Conceived on an unprecedented scale, the project became Vanbrugh's most famous work but also his most contentious, marked by fierce disputes, particularly with the Duchess of Marlborough.

In 1707, after part of Kimbolton Castle collapsed, Vanbrugh and his assistant Nicholas Hawksmoor were asked to redesign the South Front. Vanbrugh proposed an overtly medieval style, giving the building what he called a "castle air" through battlements and austere massing. He later extended this treatment to the rest of the exterior and reorganised the principal rooms.

With the Hanoverian succession in 1714, Vanbrugh was knighted by King George I, becoming the first person to receive the honour in the new reign. The following year, he was appointed Surveyor to the Royal Hospital at Greenwich and Clarenceux King of Arms. In 1715, Robert Bertie invited Vanbrugh to remodel Grimsthorpe Castle.

Vanbrugh designed and built Vanbrugh Castle in Greenwich as his own residence. Conceived as a compact, castellated structure, the house reflects his romantic engagement with medieval forms and his taste for dramatic silhouette.

From 1719, Vanbrugh designed Seaton Delaval Hall in Northumberland, his last great country house, personally overseeing the scheme and visiting the site in 1720 and 1721 while delegating construction to the builder William Etty. At the same time, he advised Viscount Cobham on developments at Stowe House, particularly in the gardens, where he designed a series of temples and monuments.