He was born in 1620, and entered Magdalen College, Oxford, when he was nineteen; in the following year he became possessed of his father’s property, and three years later, in 1643, he went to travel abroad. He visited France, Italy, Holland, and Flanders, for the purpose, as he states, to “give himself some convenient education”; his tour lasted six years, thus keeping him away from England during the troubled times of the Civil War. This education was evidently in architecture, for although he became a member of the Inner Temple in 1657, there is no record of his having followed the law as a profession. He had rooms in the Temple from the time of his entrance until 1676, and doubtless they enabled him to enjoy congenial society and provided him with a convenient residence during his frequent visits to London. For more than half his tenancy he was a bachelor, for he did not marry until he was forty-eight, when he took to wife, in the year 1668, the eldest daughter of Sir Edward Monins of Kent, a lady of good family—“descended,” as he said, “from ye second best famely in hir county”—who brought him a fortune of £4,000. The same year saw another notable event in his life, the conferring of a knighthood upon him by Charles II.
A year before his marriage he had succeeded to the Ryston estate, and thenceforward he appears to have followed the life of a country gentleman, for we hear no more of him in connection with architecture, save that he designed and built himself a new house at Ryston, which remains to this day, and is the only example of his work left, unless the attribution of Coleshill to Inigo Jones is a mistake. There is no doubt that Roger Pratt had something to do with Coleshill, which was built by a relative of his, Sir Henry Pratt; for he says, in considering the proportions of cornices for ceilings, “all wh. 4 last recited proportions have bin made use of by mee at Sr George Pratt’s at Colsell.” Sir George was the son and successor of Sir Henry.
Most of the gentry at this time, as John Webb tells us, had some knowledge of the theory of architecture, “but nothing of ye practicque.” Roger Pratt bettered his fellows in this respect, for not only had he a wide knowledge of the art, as understood in the seventeenth century—of the architecture, that is, of modern Italy and of Palladio in particular—but he was familiar with the qualities of materials and the routine of building, not to mention tactful methods of accounting for “extras.”
During his stay in Rome he met John Evelyn, who appears to have acquired and preserved a high regard for him. Twenty years later, in writing to Lord Cornbery on 20th January 1665, about his father’s mansion of Clarendon House, Evelyn said that Roger Pratt, his old friend and fellow traveller (co-habitant and contemporary at Rome), had “perfectly acquitted himself.” The turn of events had brought them together about this time, when both of them became commissioners for the repair of St Paul’s Cathedral and for the rebuilding of London after the great fire.
Pratt’s chief works were Horseheath in Cambridgeshire for Lord Allington, and Clarendon House. The former was begun in 1663, and was a magnificent mansion. There are many technical notes relating to it in the note-books, but not much of general interest beyond its dimensions. It was dismantled in 1760, and sold for the value of the materials.
The notes concerning Clarendon House, which was begun in 1664, are more voluminous. They serve to show that Pratt was a practical architect, that he was fully acquainted with the details of the various trades, and was alive to the chances of crooked dealing by the workmen. He deals with the levels of the site and the setting out of the house, which was to be placed central with St James’s Street, truly parallel with the frontage line, and set back 160 ft., whereby a court of that depth and of a width of 214 ft. would be obtained. Another lively touch is given by his instructions to the mason regarding the coat of arms in the tympanum of the “frontispiece,” the central feature of the front. The description which he incidentally gives agrees with what is shown on the engraving. But more interesting and more entertaining are the reasons he adduces in a draft letter of the 13th February 1665 (1666 new style) to the Lord Chancellor for the cost having exceeded his estimate. The foundations were much deeper than was expected, an old pond having been found on one part of the site, and a vast hole the whole length of my lady’s pavilion on another. Severe frost rendered it necessary to take down and rebuild some of the work. My Lord Cornbery caused a foot to be added to the height of the first floor, much increasing, it is true, the nobleness of the effect. The bricks cost more; the Dutch war increased the price of timber, and the carpenter threw up his contract, leaving himself to the mercy of his employer; but the plague had infected the whole town, and workmen everywhere died. It was agreed, therefore, that by fair words and promises the carpenter should be encouraged to persist in his undertaking, which he only consented to do on a fresh basis of pay, whereby his account was increased by at least one-third more than his original price.
In addition to the notes relating to these two houses in particular, there are Notes as to the building of Country Houses, dated 1660, and Rules for the Guidance of Architects, dated 1662. These fill many pages, and would have made a much more useful book, had they been published, than Gerbier’s “Counsel.” Space forbids long extracts, which indeed might prove tedious to all but enthusiastic students of this period; but three matters are worth mentioning. First, it is recommended that a house should be placed so as to take advantage of existing trees in the approach and lay out, and to obtain a fine prospect. This must be one of the earliest expressions of a deliberate liking for natural scenery. Secondly, Pratt advises those about to build a house “to get some ingenious gentleman who hath seen much of that kind abroad and been somewhat versed in the best authors of architecture, viz., Palladio, Scamozzi, Serlio, etc., to doe it for you and give you a design on paper.” This will be far better than trusting to a home-bred architect, who would be inexperienced in such matters, as is daily seen. The paper design having been agreed upon, a model of wood should be made, and as a final precaution, other houses of a suitable kind should be visited and studied.
The third point of interest lies in his references to Inigo Jones’s work. In dealing with fine examples of architecture he says that with us in England there is nothing remarkable but the Banqueting House at Whitehall and the Portico at Paul’s. Elsewhere he cites the Queen’s House at Greenwich. As far as it goes, his testimony appears to confirm the view taken in the text as to Jones’s work.
In addition to these notes on houses, there are others relating to St Paul’s, and to the steps taken for the rebuilding of London after the fire. In relation to the latter, he was asked by the other commissioners to undertake duties which would now devolve upon the Secretary. In regard to St Paul’s, he has a page or two of criticism on the model designed by “Dr. Renne,” 12th July 1673, as it offered itself upon a short and confused view of a quarter of an hour only. In 1673 Wren’s favourite design was approved by the king, who issued a warrant for building in accordance with it on 12th November, and caused a model to be made (illustrated on p. 146). The details of Pratt’s criticism do not apply very aptly to this model, and we seem to be faced with two alternatives: either that his criticisms, written from memory after a hasty examination, were rather wide of the mark; or that they refer to a design different from those which have so far come into prominence from among the numerous drawings prepared by Wren in connection with St Paul’s.
The later note-books are chiefly concerned with estate management, and we gather that after the building of the house at Ryston, Sir Roger Pratt settled down in the country. He died on the 20th February 1684–5, and was buried at Ryston, leaving a widow and three sons. His widow subsequently married again, and survived until 1706.