Number One London

WHAT MAKES A CASTLE A CASTLE?

*CAVEAT FOR THIS SERIES OF POSTS*

This series of posts will endeavor to explain the different categories and names given to the various historical homes in England. There are specific criteria that define each type of home by the reasons for which it was built and the purpose it served in the lives of those who lived there. However, these designations are not written in stone (pun not really intended,) and they often changed over time based on additions made to them, renovations, architectural design alterations, and changes of ownership. So a manor house could become a stately home or a country house. A castle could become a manor house. A stately home could be called a castle—just ask Castle Howard. Add to that the names by which these homes were known—Chatsworth House, Lyme Park, Shugborough Hall and it can all be a bit confusing. The purpose of this series of posts is to give the reader a sort of guide from which to start when identifying the historic homes of England and perhaps to understand why and when they came to be. Names are important, especially to living, breathing beings, and these marvelous places are indeed very much alive.

What is a castle?

One would think the answer to that question would be fairly obvious. A castle is…well, a castle! Something like the one pictured above – Warwick Castle. Towers, turrets, drawbridges, big, imposing, and made of stone. In truth there is far more to a castle than that. However, for the purposes of basic architectural identification for a building to be deemed a castle there are a few things to consider.

When was it built?

Generally speaking castles in the UK were built between the 11th and 17th centuries. Sort of. There are several candidates for the oldest castle in the UK. If one counts fortresses built from or on the ruins of Roman forts an entirely separate group of edifices is included in the count. Some of the oldest castles in the UK include:

The Tower of London – Built in the 1070s by William the Conqueror the Tower is considered the oldest intact castle in the UK.

Porchester Castle – Built in the 3rd century portions of this castle are still inhabitable, which is another criterion to consider when labeling a building a castle.

Porchester Castle

Beeston Castle – Begun in the 1220s by Ranulf, Earl of Chester, one of the greatest barons of Henry III’s England, this castle was built on a site that was occupied and used as a fortress since the Bronze Age. The best-preserved part of the castle, the inner bailey, commands extensive views across eight counties, from the Welsh Mountains to the west to the Pennines in the east.

Pevensey Castle – Built in 280 on the ruins of a Roman Saxon fort.

The Oldest Castles in England

Rank	Castle Name	Year Constructed	Location
1	Berkhamsted Castle	1067	Berkhamsted
2	Norwich Castle	1067	Norwich
3	Warwick Castle	1068	Warwick
4	Lincoln Castle	1068	Lincoln
5	Colchester Castle	1069	Colchester
6	Windsor Castle	1070	Windsor
7	Richmond Castle	1071	Richmond
8	Hedingham Castle	1086	Castle Hedingham
9	Carlisle Castle	1122	Carlisle
10	Rochester Castle	1127	Rochester
11	Newcastle Castle	1172	Newcastle upon Tyne
12	Oakham Castle	1180	Oakham, Rutland
13	York Castle	1265	York, Yorkshire
14	Dover Castle	11th Century; exact date unknown	Dover
15	Portchester Castle	11th Century; exact date unknown	Portchester
16	Lancaster Castle	11th Century; exact date unknown	Lancaster

You get the picture. Castles in the UK were and are buildings built before the first manor houses and definitely before the first stately homes and palaces. Are there older castles and palaces in the world? Of course. But this post is about those that can be found in England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. Most of the castles were built after the arrival of William the Conqueror and were built as the center of the feudal government he established.

What was its purpose?

In the previous post we discussed the purpose of a stately home (showing off) and the purpose of a manor house (a house for the master and a seat of local government.) A castle served two basic purposes – a home for the lord (or laird in Scotland) and its primary purpose – a place that offered security, protection and a base of military operations.

Now as the home of the lord a castle might also serve as the seat of local government for the lord’s fiefdom. However, the main purpose of a castle was as a place of safety and security for the lord, his family, his entourage and army, and the people of his fiefdom – in that order. During the heyday of castles and the feudal system a great deal of fighting went on between the various lords, between the various factions under the reign of the king, and between families and clans that just didn’t get along. A castle offered a place to withdraw and fight it out.

And therein lies the main criterion for the designation castle. A castle was a building originally built fortified against attack with thick walls, battlements, towers, and often a moat. More often than not the windows, when there were windows, were slits through which one might fire an arrow, but not much more.

Of course there is more to an actual castle than that, but we will save the dissection of the parts of a British castle for another post.

But…what about those places that don’t look even remotely like a castle but are called castle?

Well these “castles” came to be called castle for one or both of two reasons.

Castles that aren’t suited for battle are called castles because they were built on top of an old castle.
Any castle rebuild or renovation in the UK after the 18^th century had the sole purpose of making something grand and fancy. And after the beatifications the owners chose to keep the name “castle.”

In other words, if one has the money, and one builds a house grand enough, one can pretty much call said house whatever one wants. Within reason. Are you going to tell the guy whose house looks like this:

he cannot call his house a castle? I think not !

In our next post we will discuss When Is a Palace Not a Palace?

Louisa

SYON HOUSE

by Victoria Hinshaw

The Percy family, now dukes of Northumberland, have lived at Syon House for many years. To follow the fortunes of the Percy family is to travel the twists and turns of British history. From their arrival with William the Conqueror in the 11th century, they held a stronghold at Alnwick Castle in far Northumberland and frequently ran into conflicts with the English kings. Because of their support for Mary Queen of Scots, they were commanded to live in the south, at their property at Petworth in Sussex. There were many periods of imprisonment in the Tower for various earls over the centuries.

In its first few centuries, Syon seemed to exist under a dark cloud. Lord Somerset died on the scaffold before it was finished; Lady Jane Grey resided here; it served as a prison for the children of Charles I for a time.

Syon came to the Percy family through the marriage of Henry Percy (1564- 1632) to Lady Dorothy Devereux (d. 1619), a sister of Robert, Earl of Essex, a favorite of Elizabeth I. From a previous marriage, Lady Dorothy owned the lease to the valuable Syon estate. When James I came to the throne, he gave Syon outright to Henry Percy, 9th Earl of Northumberland. In 1605 the 9th earl himself landed in the Tower, where he lived for sixteen years, improving his estates and studying scientific topics from his prison. He was known as the Wizard Earl for his many interests in science and the occult. His wife Dorothy regularly sent him baskets of fruits from the Syon orchards.

By 1764, Syon was still basically a Tudor mansion, looking much as it had when first built in 1547, a courtyard house that offered many challenges to bring up to current taste. The 3rd duke, who succeeded in 1817, rebuilt the walls of the house in Bath stone, and built the conservatory. He entertained “lavishly” at Syon during the reign of William IV and was succeeded by his brother Algernon in 1847. Their descendants today still live at Syon, the family of the 11th Duke, Henry Alan Walter Richard Percy.

From the website: Robert Adam and ‘Capability’ Brown

“The 7th Duke of Somerset died in 1750, and Hugh and Elizabeth, who were to become the 1st Duke and Duchess of Northumberland, inherited the estates. They were leading figures in contemporary society, and would have inherited a house with dated interiors, surrounded by an unfashionable formal landscape. Gardens and House were both in a poor condition.

“The solution was a complete redesign of Syon. In one of his first major commissions, the landscape architect Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown swept away the formal landscape to the south and west of the House, replacing it with the open views characteristic of the English Landscape movement. Over the course of twenty years he extended this to the north and west, incorporating farmland to the west into the new park, and creating Pleasure Grounds to the north, both centred on large new ornamental lakes. In the House the Scottish architect Robert Adam was commissioned to create a series of striking classical interiors, filled with antiquities shipped from Italy. Adam was not able to change the interior layout of the House, and so used a number of architectural devices to create a suitable impression.”

Following a carefully designed route through Capability Brown’s Park, then through a monumental portico, one enters the Great Hall.

The visitor experiences a dramatic contrast when stepping into the Ante-Room after the subdued serenity of the Hall.

The floor is scagliola (composition of ground marble, plaster and glue often seen on tabletops) in brilliant colors, perfectly preserved and highly polished. Some of the marble columns were found in the Tiber River in Rome and brought to Syon. Others are copies, also made of scagliola. The columns serve to square off the room size and to provide bases for the gilded statues, all reproductions of ancient figures. It is difficult to underestimate the dazzling effect of standing in this room, which I am tempted to describe as gaudy, though it also has a unity of color and beauty that actually give it a different but equally impressive dignity as the Great Hall.

After the brilliant colors of the ante room, the dining room is almost restrained in its gilded elegance. From the Ante-Room, on the corner of the house, one steps into the ivory and gold magnificence of the Dining Room, a perfect example of classic Adam style. Columns, apses, antique statues, and gilt combine with the rich wooden flooring in a pleasing pattern. Adam rarely used soft materials in his eating rooms because carpets, curtains, tapestries and other hangings could absorb food odors. Cleverly concealed in the doorways are compartments holding the dining tables, which were set up for meals and removed for dancing or other activities, while some of the statue bases conceal chamberpots.

The Red Drawing Room was described by Adam as a buffer to the real Withdrawing Room for the ladies, which was in the next chamber, the Gallery, now the Library. The walls are of red Spitalfields silk, while diamonds and octagons on the ceiling contrast with the painted medallions with gilded banding.

The Long Gallery was intended by Adam for the use of the ladies. The Tudor room is 136 feet long with a width and height of only 14 feet. Adam solved the size and shape problem by softening the colors to pastel mauves and greens, installing shallow bookcases and clustering the tapestry-upholstered furniture in what we would call conversation groups. There is a unity of design elements as well, with decorative swags on the walls, flat pilasters separating the bookshelves, and a pleasing pattern of geometric shapes, as in the ceiling. When I visited this room, I found it astonishingly beautiful, yet comfortable. As I gazed at the titles on the shelves, the Duke himself came by, showing the collection to a visitor.

At the far end of the library, there is a little closet, once the site of the corner spiral staircase, now long gone. In this little room, decorated in delicate pinks and grays, hangs a birdcage holding a mechanical bird which spreads his wings and warbles on the hour. The bottom of the cage is the clock’s face, not a particularly practical place to put it, if you ask me. It is known as one of Adam’s conceits. Nevertheless, the “closet” serves the role of early closets for kings and dukes — a private room holding favorite collections and offering the closest thing to privacy a great personage could experience. Ah, the trials and tribulations of fame and fortune!

Syon Park and House are on the itinerary of Number One London’s Town and Country House Tour in May 2024. You can find further details and the complete itinerary here.

HORWOOD’S MAP OF REGENCY LONDON

Do you know about Richard Horwood’s map of London? Completed in 1799, it was the most detailed map of the City to date, displaying the footprint of houses, public buildings and parks, even down to contemporary house numbers. A description of the map reads as follows –

Richard Horwood’s PLAN of the Cities of LONDON and WESTMINSTER the Borough of SOUTHWARK, and PARTS adjoining Shewing every HOUSE was produced between 1792 and 1799. It consists of thirty-two printed sheets displaying an area stretching from the middle of Hyde Park in the west to Limehouse in the east and from the southern edge of Islington in the north to the southern fringes of Kennington and Walworth in the south, a zone six miles across and three miles and three furlongs from north to south. Each individual sheet is 19 3/4 inches across and 21 5/8 of an inch high; when assembled, the full map is more than thirteen feet (or four metres) across and over seven feet (2.2 metres) high. Horwood’s was the first map of London to attempt to show every individual property in every street in London, so it’s extremely detailed, even including contemporary house numbers.

Now, you can purchase a copy of the sections of Horwood’s map pertaining to the areas of fashionable London. The two large, blueprint sized sheets (30″ x 44″) show the area from Brompton Row and Southampton Row in the west to Somerset House in the east, and from Bedford Square in the north to Hans Place and Stangate Street in the south.

To order, send $34 via PayPal Friends and Family to london20@aol.com – Price includes the map (two blueprint sized sheets) and shipping. Don’t forget to provide your mailing address when ordering.

A STEP BACK IN TIME: INTERIORS OF THE ROYAL PAVILION AND CARLTON HOUSE

Anyone interested in Regency London will want to know about the work of British photographer Ashley Hicks, the son of Lady Pamela Hicks and the legendary interior designer David Hicks, who was granted ten days to shoot the opulent drawing rooms, halls, and corridors of Buckingham Palace. His photos afterwards appeared in his lavish 2018 book, below.

Hicks also filmed a three part documentary, Buckingham Palace: The Interiors, which likewise features many of his photos. While there have been many documentaries about Buck House, what sets this one apart and above others is Ashley Hicks. You should really watch all three parts of the documentary – Hicks’s insider knowledge and passion for the Palace’s interiors shine through and his narrative is engaging and filled with historical tidbits.

Part III will especially appeal to Regency aficianados (linked below), as it deals with the parts of the Palace interiors that have connections to both the Royal Pavilion at Brighton and to Carlton House. Hicks’s photographs of George IV’s furniture, musical instruments and objet d’art are presented side by side with contemporary drawings of the interiors of both the Pavilion and Carlton House, giving the viewer the opportunity to virtually revisit both buildings, whilst historic anecdotes abound as Hicks provides background to each of the items. Enjoy!

A Visit to Regency London

Victoria here, inviting you to come with me to Regency London! Do not forget to don your special eyeglasses, the ones that will eliminate all evidence of city development after 1820 or so, including Victorian remodeling, post-Blitz reconstruction, contemporary skyscrapers, autos and buses, and modern clothing.

Substitute for horns, diesel engines and ever-present sirens the clip clop of hooves, the squeaking of cart-wheels and the cries of peddlers and hawkers of milk, eel pies, fresh buns: “Who will buy my ….”

We shall start at the old address, No. 1 London (above), the site of Apsley House, home of the Duke of Wellington. The original Adam house was re-faced in Bath stone; the Duke entertained here, particularly at the Battle of Waterloo annual anniversary banquet, beginning in the appropriately named Waterloo Gallery.

I will not go into raptures over Apsley and its treasures — we have done that before on this blog. In fact, several times, and you’ll find the website here. But keep in mind that neither the exterior nor the interior are original. While the exterior was remodeled before 1820, the interiors reflect more of the tastes from the Victorian era.

Here is the entrance, as it was refaced in Bath Stone after the Duke purchased Apsley House from his brother Richard, Marquess of Wellesley, in 1817. Originally the house was smaller and finished in red brick.

The map below shows the route we will take on this visit to Regency London. We start at Apsley House, approximately at A on the map, which is the tube stop just outside of Apsley House. The layout of the streets in 2011 is quite different from 1811. Today the broad boulevard of Park Lane (in green) connects with Piccadilly and other streets in a dizzying traffic circle. Apsley House is entirely cut off from the other streets, and the buildings that stood beside it were long ago demolished. The rather dark picture above shows how Apsley House stands isolated behind all the traffic.

Today it sits in the eastern most part of Hyde Park. From Apsley, we will walk in a generally easterly direction toward B on the map, which is Piccadilly Circus, also non-existent in 1811. Along Piccadilly, we will see a few remnants of the Regency Era and just before we get lost in Piccadilly Circus, we will retrace our steps to the top of St. James Street (on the map a tiny bit to the right of the Green Park tube sign) and walk down (southerly) St. James Street until it ends at — what else? — St. James Palace, beyond Pall Mall.

On the south, or right side of Piccadilly (as you head toward today’s Piccadilly Circus) is Green Park, open space which resembles the way it looked in 1811. On the north, or left hand side of Piccadilly are solid banks of buildings most dating from later than the early 19th century, with a few exceptions. Gone is Devonshire House which once welcomed London’s aristocracy and royalty. It was demolished in 1924. Below is a picture from The Queen in 1896.

Above is a photo from Wikipedia taken in 2010, more recent than any of mine, of the gates of Devonshire House which now serve as an entrance to Green Park, almost across Piccadilly from their original location.

Above is a building variously known as Cambridge House and the former In and Out Club. This imposing house was built in the mid 18th c. for the 2nd Earl of Egremont. It was later owned by the 1st Marquess of Cholmondeley and then by Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge. From 1855 to 1865, it was known as Palmerston House, where Lord Palmerston, Prime Minister, and his wife, Emily, Lady Palmerston (nee Lamb, formerly Countess Cowper) entertained and conducted much of the business of the government. In the 20th century, it became the Naval and Military Club, often called the In and Out Club, after the large signs on the pillars in front of the courtyard. In 1996, the Naval and Military Club moved to different premises in St. James Square. The building then stood empty and sadly neglected until last year, when construction began on what will be yet another hotel. In fact, the whole of the area around Apsley House will soon be comprised of hotels before too much longer.

Moving eastward, and also on the north side of the street, we arrive at Burlington House, now the home of the Royal Academy of Art. There are remnants of the Regency era building here, but the exterior and much of the interior are greatly altered, not to mention the artwork in the courtyard.

The house and its grounds were remodeled by the same Lord Burlington that designed and built Chiswick House in grand Palladian Style. Like many of the mansions on Piccadilly and in Mayfair, it used to have gardens, extensive courtyards, stable blocks, all the accouterments of country mansions — which they once were. As the West End became more and more desirable, these gardens and most of the courtyards were built over.

Above are the John Madejski Fine Rooms in the Royal Academy, which have been restored close to their appearance in the 18th century. These rooms are often open without charge to visitors and display portraits of RA members such as Reynolds and Gainsborough. The other galleries have been greatly altered from the original and house changing exhibitions.

Next door, we find Albany where so many famous Regency gentlemen (not to mention numerous fictional heroes) lived. The house was once the home of Lord and Lady Melbourne, then the Duke of York, before it was converted to apartments. Byron had rooms here, as did (much later) Georgette Heyer. Below, two views of Albany, from the front and the side. Across Piccadilly is Hatchard’s Book Shop.

Hatchards Book Store, 187 Piccadilly, Est. 1797

A bit farther east on Piccadilly (assuming you can tear yourself away from all the tempting titles at Hatchards) is St. James Church, 197 Piccadilly, built in 1684 and designed by Sir Christopher Wren. Its interior has many carvings by Grinling Gibbons, and despite some renovations in the 19th and 20th centuries, it is much as it appeared during the Regency.

Now retrace your steps past Hatchards and walk to Fortnum and Mason, on the corner of Piccadilly and Duke Street. Although it began in 1707 in St. James Market, the large building is modern. Nevertheless, you may want to sample one of the restaurants or at least take home a catalogue of their mail-order wares. Visit the website here.

Fortnum and Mason, 181 Piccadilly, est. 1707

Proceed westerly to the corner of St. James Street and turn left, or south. At the bottom, you will see St. James Palace, as I photographed it from a distance.

Charming print of cherry seller outside St. James Palace, c. 1811

Today’s view of St. James

From Ackermann’s Microcosm of London, the scene at a drawing room in St. James Palace in 1808. St. James Palace was the official residence of the King. Even today, foreign ambassadors serve at the Court of St. James, though they are received by the Queen at Buckingham Palace.

On your walk from Piccadilly to St. James Palace, most of the buildings you pass were constructed later than the Regency, but not all, for here are several of the famous men’s clubs of St. James and several shops with roots in the era.

Whites Club

Brooks Club

Boodles Club

Berry Bros. and Rudd, Wine Merchants, est. 1698

Lock and Co. Hatters, est.1676

A walk around Regency London with tour guide Kristine Hughes is included on the itinerary for Number One London’s Town & Country House tour in May 2024. Complete itinerary and details can be found here.

The Oldest Castles in England

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