Charlton House
Charlton House is a mansion in the Jacobean style in London's district of Charlton . It is considered the best-preserved sophisticated building of this architectural style in Greater London . It was built from red bricks with natural stone cladding between 1607 and 1612 and has an "E" floor plan (in honor of Elizabeth I ). Inside there is a knight's hall, chapel, formal dining room, drawing room and gallery.
The house was for Sir Adam Newton , tutor of Prince Henry , son of I. Jacob and brother of the late Charles I built.
The diary writer John Evelyn , who knew the house and was well acquainted with Newton's son Henry, reports that this house was built for Prince Henry. Because of Sir Adam's connections to the court, it is often assumed that the builder of this house was John Thorpe , one of the first professional English architects to act as site manager for the Royal Palace in nearby Greenwich , the Palace of Placentia . Thorpe had left the Office of Works (royal building department) in 1601 to work on his own account. Further links to the royal family can be seen at Charlton House in the form of the Prince of Wales' feathers above the east door to the Great Hall and in the drawing room, where the royal monogram “JR” (for James I) can also be found. The coat of arms of the House of Stuart is seen in the western courtyard and the motto of the Order of the Garter and the Prince of Wales, “I Serve”, is seen in the eastern courtyard.
The garden shed or orangery that was converted into a public toilet is attributed by optimist Inigo Jones , who otherwise has no connection with this house. Apparently lurking behind the orangery is a mulberry tree , which is considered to be the oldest of the species Morus nigra in the country. This venerable tree is said to have been planted in 1608 at the behest of James I.
Another wing was added to Charlton House in 1877 by Norman Shaw . The house and property were used as a hospital during World War I and were acquired by the Metropolitan Borough of Greenwich in 1925 . The chapel was bombed in World War II and subsequently rebuilt, but with bricks that did not match, as they were available immediately after the war. Initially a museum was located in Charlton House, now it serves as the district center. Much of the earlier pleasure grounds were converted into parks, but remnants of the house garden have survived to this day, as has a short section of the Ha-Ha .
The enclosed gardens and part of the perennial garden were re-laid in 2003 and 2004 by landscape gardener Andrew Fisher Tomlin for the Royal Borough of Greenwich . They consist of lawns and an enclosed kitchen garden with three old apple trees. In an empty square, the Amnesty International Peace Garden was also laid out according to plans by Fisher Tomlin.
Individual evidence
- ^ Howard Colvin: A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects, 1600-1840. 3rd edition 1995. Note : Colvin does not mention Charlton House in connection with Jones or Thorpe.
- ↑ Colvin does not even mention this under the dubious attributions.
Web links and sources
- Alan Palmer: Charlton House . Greenwich Guide. Retrieved January 21, 2015.
- Charlton House website . Retrieved January 21, 2015.
Coordinates: 51 ° 28 ′ 50.3 " N , 0 ° 2 ′ 13.5" E