OPEN CITY DAYS: MARLBOROUGH HOUSE

VISITING MARLBOROUGH HOUSE

Walking from Carlton House Terrace along Pall Mall

Schomberg House

This building housed the 3rd Duke of Schomberg in the late 17th century, a General working for King William of Orange. Later the building was divided into three separate residences; it had a varied history, to say the least.

Among the luminaries who lived here were Thomas Gainsborough and fellow artist Richard Cosway.

One of the residences was, for a time, the Temple of Health and Hymen where a Scottish doctor rented out a “celestial bed” said to cure infertility. Eventually closed by police, it was later a draper’s, and eventually part of the War Office, along with other mansions along Pall Mall.

The decorative features of Schomberg House are made of Coade Stone, a popular material for buildings in the early 19th century. Currently, only the facade exists with modern structures behind it.

Another well-known resident lived nearby.

Approaching Marlborough House from the rear:

Marlborough House was built for the Duke of Marlborough in 1709–11 on the site of the St James’s Palace pheasantry. Sir Christopher Wren designed the house, though plans were drawn by his son, Christopher Wren the younger. The red Dutch bricks of the walls were ballast returning on vessels which transported soldiers to Holland to fight under the Duke of Marlborough.

Beginning about 1817, members of the royal family resided here, Edward, Prince of Wales (later Edward VII) and his wife, Alexandra of Denmark moved in in the 1860’s, and the society that assembled around this couple became known as the Marlborough House Set.

In 1959 Marlborough House became the Commonwealth Secretariat and the Commonwealth Foundation. Sadly, no photos were allowed inside, but the central hall can be found on the internet.