Robert Smythson

English architect. Trained as a mason, his first recorded work was at Longleat (1568), which he may have designed. His masterpiece was Wollaton Hall, Nottingham (1580–8), a mock mediaeval castle, made up of classical and Flemish Mannerist elements. He developed a new vertical plan, with the great hall set transversely, which revolutionized the spatial possibilities of contemporary buildings. He settled in Wollaton, which has led the nearby country houses, Worksop Manor, Balborough (1585), and Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire (1591–7) to be attributed to him.

Robert Smythson (1535 - 1614) was an English architect. Smythson designed a number of notable houses during the Elizabethan era. Little is known about his birth and upbringing - his first mention in historical records comes in 1556, when he was stonemason for the house at Longleat, built for Sir John Thynne. Smythson was trained as a stone mason, and by the 1560 was travelling England as a master mason leading his own team of masons. In 1568 he moved from London to Wiltshire to commence work on the new hose at Longleat for Sir John Thynne, he worked there for almost eighteen years, carving personally much of the external detail, and he is believed to have had a strong influence on the overall design of the building.

Smythson's style was more than fusion of influences;

Smythson died at Wollaton in 1614; his son John Smythson was also an architect.