78 Fig 7.1 Kensington Palace, with an early 20th-century statue of William III in the foreground. [Photo by the author] Art historians believe that as a ‘theatrum politi- cum’ the country house needed to be impressive in both size and appearance, built according to the latest rules of architecture and fashionably decorated. While it is true that 17th- and 18th- century country houses often functioned – at least in part – as epicentres of power, the assump- tion that they, for this reason, always had to be big and up-to-date with the latest trends is flawed. It leaves out another significant side to the country house, and that is its function as a Stammschloss (family house), a testimony to the age-old and venerable noble family. Portraits from the 17th and 18th centuries occasionally show a castle or country house in the background, in this way alluding to the antiquity of the noble lineage of the figure depicted in the portrait. 1 The country house as a Stammschloss can also be recognised in the practice of accentuating the actual medieval tower adjoining the more recent country house by significantly heightening it. 2 In the literary tradition, the Dutch and English country house as a Stammschloss is perhaps best represented by country house poems such as Ben Jonson’s To Penshurst (1616) on Sir Robert Sidney’s house in Kent. These poems refer to and praise the ancient roots of the noble family who inhabited the house – in To Penshurst the house is referred to as ‘an ancient pile’. 3 ‘Family trees and allusions to founders and predecessors figure in many country house poems’, situating ‘an owner within the house’s history’. 4 Country house poems, how- ever, emphasis sobriety and familial friendship (extending to the wider household or manorial community), in the present as well as the past. In this way, country house poems shed light on the friction that frequently existed between the country house as a big house versus the country house as a dynastic dwelling; between fashion and tradition, luxury and sobriety. In this paper the country house as a Stammschloss takes centre stage, with the archi- tecture commissioned by William III in England and The Netherlands serving as a case study. These palaces are generally understood in the context of political and cultural competition, as is the case with King Louis XIV’s palaces. The main focus in this paper will be instead on the legacy of William III’s architecture and the extent to which these houses were renovated or preserved by his successors for reasons of either power or remembrance. Kensington Palace and Hampton Court The story of William III at Kensington Palace (Fig 7.1) is well known: fleeing the city of London in 1689, where he suffered bouts of asthma, the recently anointed king bought a house where the air was clean. 5 A series of building projects in the late 1680s and the 1690s, carried out by Christopher Wren and possibly Nicholas Hawksmoor, significantly altered the building. Pavilions were added to the four corners of the Jacobean house, con- taining, among other rooms, the King’s and Queen’s apartments. Two new wings were built, leading to the creation of a new court- yard. Subsequently, a third wing, the queen’s gallery, a new entrance to her apartments and a second courtyard were added. The fire of 1691 prompted further building work. Later still, the king’s apartment was enlarged and modified with the addition of rooms such as the king’s gallery and the king’s royal staircase. William’s other main building project con- cerned Hampton Court (Fig 7.2). 6 In two phases between 1689 and William’s death in 1702, Christopher Wren and William Talman created 7 A sense of heritage: renewal versus preservation in the English and Dutch palaces of William III in the 18th century HANNEKE RONNES 79 A SENSE OF HERITAGE the baroque court that complemented the Tudor palace of Cardinal Wolsey and Henry VIII. The King’s Apartment was arranged as an extensive enfilade, consisting of the great stairs, the guard chamber, presence chamber, privy chamber, drawing room, ante room, great bed- chamber and two closets, the latter connecting the King’s and Queen’s apartments. The famous Cartoon Gallery, parallel to the enfilade, exhib- ited Raphael’s Acts of the Apostles. Antonio Verrio painted various rooms, as well as the ceiling and walls of the King’s Great Staircase. The Queen’s Apartment was never finished in William’s time due to Mary’s early death in 1694. Like the palace, the gardens at Hampton Court were also substantially altered. An impressive line-up of architectural authorities carried out the remodelling, including Daniel Fig 7.2 Hampton Court. The King’s Apartments, including the Cartoon Gallery, are on the left. [© Historic England CC001746]