Kenwood House | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Type | English country house |
Location | Hampstead Heath, NW3 |
Coordinates | 51°34′17″N0°10′3″W / 51.57139°N 0.16750°W |
Area | London Borough of Camden |
Built | 17th century |
Rebuilt | 1764–1779 |
Architect | Robert Adam (18th century remodelling) |
Architectural style(s) | Georgian and Neoclassical |
Owner | English Heritage |
Listed Building – Grade I | |
Official name | Kenwood House (Iveagh Bequest) |
Designated | 10 June 1954 |
Reference no. | 1379242 |
Listed Building – Grade II* | |
Official name | Service wing and outbuildings to Kenwood House |
Reference no. | 1379244 |
Listed Building – Grade II* | |
Official name | Sham bridge to south of Kenwood House |
Reference no. | 1379245 |
Designated | 1 October 1987 |
Reference no. | 1000142 |
Kenwood House (also known as the Iveagh Bequest) is a former stately home in Hampstead, London, on the northern boundary of Hampstead Heath. The present house, built in the late 17th century, was remodelled in the 18th century for William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield by Scottish architect Robert Adam, serving as a residence for the Earls of Mansfield until the 20th century.
The house and part of the grounds were bought from the 6th Earl of Mansfield in 1925 by Edward Guinness, 1st Earl of Iveagh, and donated to the nation in 1927. The entire estate came under ownership of the London County Council and was open to the public by the end of the 1920s. It remains a popular local tourist attraction.
The house is at the north edge of Hampstead Heath, to the south of Hampstead Lane (the B519). [1] It is in the London Borough of Camden, just south of its boundary with the London Borough of Haringey.
The original house on the property was presumed to have been built around 1616 by the King's Printer, John Bill, and was known as Caen Wood House. [1] [2] It was acquired in 1694 by the Surveyor-General of the Ordnance, William Bridges, who demolished the house and rebuilt it; the original brick structure remains intact under the facade added in the 18th century. [1] The orangery was added in about 1700. [3] Bridges sold the house in 1704, and it went under several owners until 1754, when it was bought by the future Earl of Mansfield, William Murray, who was the Lord Chief Justice. [1]
In 1764, Lord Mansfield commissioned Robert Adam to remodel the house. Adam was given complete freedom to design it as he chose. He added the library, one of his most famous interiors, to balance the orangery, and accommodate Lord Mansfield's extensive book collection. He also designed the Ionic portico at the entrance. [1] [4]
In June 1780, Lord Mansfield's Bloomsbury townhouse was ransacked and destroyed during the Gordon Riots. The Earl and Countess fled, then the rioters targeted Kenwood next due to its proximity. His nephew Lord Stormont wrote to George III that he had ordered light cavalry to be dispatched to Kenwood. To stall the rioters, free ale was given from the Spaniards Inn, assisted by Lord Mansfield's steward using wine from the house. They successfully stalled the mobs until the armed cavalry arrived to protect the house. [5]
Following the 1st Earl's death in 1793, ownership passed to his nephew, David Murray. With his late uncle's approval, He commissioned an extension of the property, initially by Robert Nasmith, then by George Saunders. Saunders added two wings on the north side, one wing for the first permanent dining room at Kenwood, along with the offices, kitchen buildings and brewery (now the restaurant) to the side. [1] A dairy was added at this time to supply Kenwood House with milk and cheese. [6] The main Hampstead–Highgate road was moved to the north between 1793 and 1796 so that it would not run directly alongside the property. [4]
In 1794, George III visited the 2nd Earl of Mansfield at Kenwood House, Queen Charlotte said that the king was curious about the architectural improvements. [7]
The 2nd Earl died in 1796, and ownership passed to his son, David William Murray, 3rd Earl of Mansfield. William Atkinson undertook essential structural reinforcement to the house between 1803 and 1839, ensuring that Kenwood would stand the test of time. [5] The property remained with the Mansfields throughout the rest of the century, [1] but the Mansfields preferred to live at their Scottish seat, Scone Palace.
In July 1835, William IV and Queen Adelaide paid a royal visit to Kenwood, this was attended by 800 of the nobility and gentry, scattered around the Kenwood garden. The Marchioness of Salisbury wrote "The King and Queen and Royalties extremely well pleased: the King trotted about with Lord M. in the most active manner". [8]
The 6th Earl of Mansfield, Alan David Murray, inherited Kenwood from his brother in 1906, but soon decided to sell it. First he leased it, and after two years of negotiations, the house was leased in 1910 to the exiled Grand Duke Michael Mikhailovich of Russia and his morganatic wife, Countess Sophie of Merenberg. [9] In 1914 the couple hosted a dinner and ball attended by European royalty including George V and Queen Mary. [10] The Grand Duke stayed at Kenwood until 1917, followed by American millionairess Nancy Leeds who moved out in 1920. In 1922 Lord Mansfield sold off the contents of the house and its future was uncertain. [11]
Part of the grounds were bought by the Kenwood Preservation Council in 1922, after there had been threats that it would be sold to a building syndicate. This land came under control of the London County Council in 1924 and was opened to the public the following year by King George V. [1] Edward Guinness, 1st Earl of Iveagh, a rich Anglo-Irish businessman and philanthropist of the Guinness family, bought the house and the remaining 74 acres (30 ha) not under public ownership from the Mansfield family in 1925 and left it to the nation upon his death in 1927; it was opened to the public the following year. Since then some furniture sold in 1922 has since been bought back. The paintings are from Iveagh's collection. [1]
Kenwood House was closed at the start of World War II. Following the war, the house came under ownership of the London County Council, and it re-opened in 1950. [1] The late 18th-century extensions by Saunders were restored from 1955 to 1959. [4] Ownership transferred to the Greater London Council (GLC) in 1965; following the GLC's demise in 1986, English Heritage took over responsibility for the estate. [1]
The house was closed for major renovations from 2012 until late 2013, partly funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund. This included repairing the Westmorland slate roof, redisplaying the Iveagh Bequest paintings in the south of the house, and redecorating the structure to closer resemble Adam's original design. [12]
In 2019, 134,238 people visited the house. [13]
There are two drives leading to the house from Hampstead Lane. Each has a gated white-brick lodge. The north, or main entrance front of the house was designed by Robert Adam and is set in Stucco with a central portico. The south front is constructed out of a single Stucco block. It was restored to its original design in 1975. To the east of the house is the service wing, constructed from London stock brick. Opposite this is the brick house, designed as a cold-plunge bath. [1]
The estate has a designed landscape with gardens near the house, probably originally designed by Humphry Repton, contrasting with some surrounding woodland, and the naturalistic Hampstead Heath to the south. [1] There is also a garden designed by Arabella Lennox-Boyd. [14]
The estate is Grade II* listed on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens. [15] One third of the estate is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, particularly the ancient woodlands. These are home to many birds and insects and the largest Pipistrelle bat roost in London.
There are sculptures by Barbara Hepworth, Henry Moore and Eugène Dodeigne in the gardens near the house.
|
Music concerts, originally classical but in more recent years predominantly pop concerts, were held by the lake on Saturday evenings every summer from 1951 until 2006, attracting thousands of people to picnic and enjoy the music, scenery and spectacular fireworks. In February 2007, English Heritage decided to abandon these concerts owing to restrictions placed on them after protests from some local residents. On 19 March 2008, it was announced that the concerts would return to a new location on the Pasture Ground within the Kenwood Estate, with the number of concerts limited to eight per season. [16]
Kenwood House contains a significant number of historic paintings and other works of art, including 63 Old Master paintings. [18] Paintings of note include
Other painters include
Most of the works were acquired by Iveagh in the 1880s–1890s and are mainly Old Master portraits, landscapes and 17th century Dutch and Flemish works and British artists. Others were not part of the Iveagh Bequest but were added to the collection after his death because of a connection with Kenwood House. [19]
There is also a collection of shoe buckles, jewellery and portrait miniatures.
In 2002, a selection of the Suffolk Collection of Stuart portraits was moved to Kenwood from Ranger's House, Greenwich. [20]
In 2012, an exhibition of works from the art collection, Rembrandt, Van Dyck, Gainsborough: The Treasures of Kenwood House, London began a tour of museums in the United States while Kenwood House was undergoing renovations; many of the works had never been outside Britain. The exhibit opened 6 June 2013 in Little Rock, Arkansas at the Arkansas Arts Center. [21] [19]
The house was the subject of a Margaret Calkin James poster in the 1930s, seen by many commuters on the London Underground.
The 1999 British feature film Notting Hill had a scene filmed here.
The 1995 British feature film Sense and Sensibility had scenes filmed here.
Many scenes in the 2013 film Belle , in which William Murray figures as a character, are set in the house or its grounds, although filmed elsewhere. [22]
A scene from the 2016 novel Swing Time by Zadie Smith is set on the grounds of the estate.
Chiswick House is a Neo-Palladian style villa in the Chiswick district of London, England. A "glorious" example of Neo-Palladian architecture in west London, the house was designed and built by Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington (1694–1753), and completed in 1729. The house and garden occupy 26.33 hectares. The garden was created mainly by the architect and landscape designer William Kent, and it is one of the earliest examples of the English landscape garden.
Hampstead Heath is an ancient heath in London, spanning 320 hectares. This grassy public space sits astride a sandy ridge, one of the highest points in London, running from Hampstead to Highgate, which rests on a band of London Clay. The heath is rambling and hilly, embracing ponds, recent and ancient woodlands, a lido, playgrounds, and a training track, and it adjoins the former stately home of Kenwood House and its estate. The south-east part of the heath is Parliament Hill, from which the view over London is protected by law.
Farmleigh is the official Irish state guest house. It was formerly one of the Dublin residences of the Guinness family. It is situated on an elevated position above the River Liffey to the northwest of the Phoenix Park, in Castleknock. The estate of 78 acres (32 ha) consists of extensive private gardens with stands of mature cypress, pine and oak trees, a boating pond, walled garden, sunken garden, out offices and a herd of rare native Kerry cattle. It was purchased by the Government of Ireland from Edward Guinness, 4th Earl of Iveagh in 1999 for €29.2 million. A state body—the Office of Public Works (OPW)—spent in the region of €23 million restoring the house, gardens and curvilinear glasshouses, bringing the total cost to the state to €52.2 million. Farmleigh was opened to the public in July 2001.
Earl of Iveagh is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, created in 1919 for the businessman and philanthropist Edward Guinness, 1st Viscount Iveagh. He was the third son of Sir Benjamin Guinness, 1st Baronet, of Ashford, and the great-grandson of Arthur Guinness, the founder of the Guinness brewery.
David Murray, 2nd Earl of Mansfield, 7th Viscount of Stormont, known as the (7th) Viscount of Stormont from 1748 to 1793, was a British diplomat and politician. He succeeded to both the Mansfield and Stormont lines of the Murray family, inheriting two titles and two fortunes.
David William Murray, 3rd Earl of Mansfield, KT was a British army officer and peer, who served as Lord Lieutenant of Clackmannanshire from 1803 until his death.
Edward Cecil Guinness, 1st Earl of Iveagh, was an Anglo-Irish businessman and philanthropist. A member of the prominent Guinness family, he was the head of the family's eponymous brewing business, making him the richest man in Ireland. A prominent philanthropist, he is best remembered for his provision of affordable housing in London and Dublin through charitable trusts.
Osterley Park is a Georgian country estate in west London, which straddles the London boroughs of Ealing and Hounslow. Originally dating from the 1570s, the estate contains a number of Grade I and II listed buildings, with the park listed as Grade II*. The main building was remodelled by Robert Adam between 1761 and 1765. The National Trust took charge of Osterley in 1991, and the house and park are open to visitors.
Marble Hill House is a Neo-Palladian villa, now Grade I listed, in Twickenham in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. It was built between 1724 and 1729 as the home of Henrietta Howard, Countess of Suffolk, who lived there until her death. The compact design soon became famous and furnished a standard model for the Georgian English villa and for plantation houses in the American colonies.
Friedrich von Amerling was an Austro-Hungarian portrait painter in the court of Franz Josef. He was born in Vienna and was court painter between 1835 and 1880. With Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller, he is one of the outstanding Austrian portrait painters of the 19th century.
The Spaniards Inn is a historic pub on Spaniards Road between Hampstead and Highgate in London, England. It lies on the edge of Hampstead Heath near Kenwood House. It is a Grade II listed building, dating back to the 16th century.
Dido Elizabeth Belle was a British gentlewoman. She was born into slavery and illegitimate; her mother, Maria Belle, was an enslaved Black woman in the British West Indies. Her father was Sir John Lindsay, a British career naval officer who was stationed there; later knighted and promoted to admiral. Lindsay took Dido with him when he returned to England in 1765, entrusting her upbringing to his uncle William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield, and his wife Elizabeth Murray, Countess of Mansfield. The Murrays educated Belle, bringing her up as a free gentlewoman at their Kenwood House, together with another great-niece, Lady Elizabeth Murray, whose mother had died. Lady Elizabeth and Belle were second cousins. Belle lived there for 30 years. In his will of 1793, Lord Mansfield provided an outright sum and an annuity to her.
The Guinness family is an extensive Irish family known for its accomplishments in brewing, banking, politics, and religious ministry. The brewing branch is particularly well known among the general public for producing the dry stout Guinness Beer. The founder of the dynasty, Arthur Guinness, claimed descent from the Viscounts Magennis of Iveagh. Beginning in the late 18th century, they became a prominent part of what is known in Ireland as the Protestant Ascendancy.
Lady Elizabeth Mary Finch-Hatton was a British aristocrat and the subject of a notable painting, once thought to be by Johann Zoffany, now attributed to David Martin.
The Iveagh Gardens is a public park located between Clonmel Street and Upper Hatch Street, near the National Concert Hall in Dublin, Ireland. It is a national, as opposed to a municipal park, and designated as a National Historic Property. The gardens are almost completely surrounded by buildings making them less noticeable and a little hard to find, unlike other green spaces in Dublin.
George Finch-Hatton Esq FRS was an English aristocrat and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1772 to 1784.
Belle is a 2013 British period drama film directed by Amma Asante, written by Misan Sagay and produced by Damian Jones. It stars Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Tom Wilkinson, Miranda Richardson, Penelope Wilton, Sam Reid, Matthew Goode, Emily Watson, Sarah Gadon, Tom Felton, and James Norton.
Thomas Agnew & Sons is a fine arts dealer in London that began as a print and publishing partnership between Thomas Agnew and Vittore Zanetti in Manchester in 1817. Agnew ended the partnership by taking full control of the company in 1835. The firm opened its London gallery in 1860, where it soon established itself as a leading art dealership in Mayfair. Since then, Agnew's has held a pre-eminent position in the world of Old Master paintings. It also had a major role in the massive growth of a market for contemporary British art in the late 19th century. Agnew's closed in 2013. The brand name was sold privately and the gallery is now run by Lord Anthony Crichton-Stuart, a former head of Christie's Old Master paintings department, New York.
Louisa Manners Tollemache, 7th Countess of Dysart was an English peeress. Her father held considerable estates in England largely due to the two marriages of Elizabeth Maitland, Duchess of Lauderdale, earlier Tollemache, née Elizabeth Murray. Her elder brothers left no surviving issue on their deaths which enabled her to enjoy and help to pass on to her descendants the key family settlement properties: Helmingham Hall and Ham House in England.
Two Girls Dressing a Kitten by Candlelight is a "fancy painting" by Joseph Wright of Derby (1734–1797). The painting is displayed at the Kenwood House Public Museum, located in the London Hampstead area.
Citations
Sources