Category: London

Location

Apsley House, London

English Heritage.
Apsley House was originally designed and built by Robert Adam between 1771 and 1778 for Baron Apsley. Later, it was owned by Richard Wellesley and then by his younger brother Arthur Wellesley – the Duke of Wellington. Wellington is best known for defeating Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo, but he was also a major politician, who rose to become Prime Minister in 1828. Apsley House was redesigned to reflect Wellesley’s rising status, and its dazzling interiors are prime examples of British grandeur in the Regency style. Inside Apsley House are many objects relating to the Duke’s life and work, including his art collection, some of it collected on campaign, a giant statue of Napoleon, a huge silver-gilt dining table centerpiece, and a whole room full of trophies donated by grateful nations.

With all that opulence on display, there is plenty to look at inside Apsley House. It’s more of a palace than a house, in fact. The exhibitions in some of the rooms are quite informative about Wellesley’s career.

Hyde Park Corner underground station is adjacent to the house. Don’t even think of trying to go there by car. On the traffic island in front of the house is the Wellington Arch (see separate entry), and an assortment of statues and monuments which are worth a look while you’re there.
While here, I also visited the actual Marble Arch, reached by a bracing walk along the edge of Hyde Park. This three-arch white marble monument is worth a look, but you can’t go inside.

Osterley Park, London

National Trust.
Osterley Park stands on the site of an Elizabethan mansion which was radically reworked by Robert Adam from 1761 onwards. A grand double portico added by Adam closes the courtyard and provides an imposing entrance. Adam created many grand rooms with décor evoking the world of Greece and Rome. Noteworthy are a grand hall and the Etruscan Dressing Room.
Outside is a large park with trees and a lake.
There is quite a lot to see at Osterley Park.
When I visited, my sat-nav delivered me to a lane leading to a back entrance to the park, but I didn’t have to pay any parking charges there. Official entrance & parking are at Jersey Road. Osterley tube station is a mile from the Park.

2 Willow Road, London

National Trust.
This unique Modernist home was designed by architect Erno Goldfinger in 1939 for himself and his family. The house has surprising design details that were groundbreaking at the time and still look fresh today. By comparison, the average estate house of today looks timid and boring. The house also contains the Goldfingers’ impressive collection of modern art, intriguing personal possessions and innovative furniture.
As a fan of good modern architecture, I found the visit most interesting. By the way, the houses at each end of the short terrace were built at the same time but do not belong to the Trust. As I left, I noticed that one of them has an application posted seeking to replace the Goldfinger windows with UPVC. (I hope the planners told this philistine where to get off.)
The terrace with no. 2 does look a bit like a small commercial block, but is not unattractive. Goldfinger had great trouble getting his design passed by the local planners, who wanted something more in keeping with the rest of the street. Unfortunately for their case, the nearest pre-existing Victorian houses are oversized and ugly.
Entry before 3pm is by timed guided tour. An introductory film is shown at regular intervals.
The house is about ¼ mile from Hampstead tube station – No.2 is at the far end of Willow Road. If you have to drive, you might find parking at East Heath Road or at parking meters.

Fenton House, London

National Trust.
This 17th-century merchant’s house has remained largely unaltered during more than 300 yars of continuous occupation. Inside, there are notable collections of furniture, pictures and porcelain. In almost every room stand early keyboard instruments collected by Major Benton Fletcher. The walled garden has terrace walks framing a lawn and sunken brick-paved rose garden. On the other side of a high wall is an orchard and vegetable garden.
The house and contents are well worth a visit, as is the garden. It’s an easy walk up from Hampstead tube station, through some interesting streets. Driving and parking here looks like a no-no.

Syon Park, London

Syon anteroom
Syon anteroom
The house, square, white, and with obviously ornamental crenllations,, was remodelled in the 18th century by Robert Adam. Five main rooms on the west, south and east sides of the House, from the Great Hall to the Long Gallery were refurbished in the Neo-classical style. Syon House is recognised as an early Adam masterpiece. Outside are extensive gardens and the Great Conservatory. A courtyard of old farm buildings is re-used for commercial purposes.
Despite its expansive setting, the house, vaguely reminiscent of a toy-box white fort with ornamental crenellations on top, is not particularly attractive. Inside, however, it’s a different matter. The main entrance opens into Adam’s impressive Roman-inspired hall, all monochrome stucco with black and white checkered flooring. Next is the Ante-room, still Roman but a riot of colour, with a famous scagliola floor, black marble columns, gilded statues and elaborate ceiling. An inconspicuous doorway in the outer corner leads down to viewable rooms in the basement. Next is the State Dining Room, all white and gold, with statuary, bare of any textiles that might retain the smell of food. The Red Drawing Room, besides scarlet silk-hung walls, has a remarkable coved ceiling painted with 239 medallions, and portraits of the Stuart royal family. In the 136ft. Long Gallery, there is elaborate pale plasterwork on the walls and ceiling. When I saw it, the room retained ancient grime but some sampled areas had been cleaned. One visits more fine rooms with more recent interiors, before reaching the main staircase where one can ascend to visit some interesting bedrooms (around to the left at the top of the stairs) passing a collection of portraits IIRC. Before leaving the house one can enter the attractive central courtyard around which one has just walked. In the basement are structural relics of the religious building of conjectural size which once stood on the site.
Outside, one can visit the Great Conservatory, an unique structure of glass and metal, with a dome topping a central block, and curving wings, resembling a great palace, or maybe St Peter’s in Rome. It’s under-used for plants today, either because the expense of heating it would be hideous, or because it makes a promising function room. There are 200 acres of formal garden and informal parkland to explore, and the interested visitor con find bits of the old Syon Park farm embedded in the garden centre and café areas.
It’s possible to reach Syon Park by train, if you don’t mind a train/bus interchange or a tedious walk. Now, visitors will have to avoid confusing Syon Park with the London Syon Park luxury hotel, which opened in the park in early 2011. (pics from Syon Park official download).
Syon House
Syon House
Syon conservatory dome
Conservatory dome

Marble Hill House, London

English Heritage.
This elegant white Palladian house overlooking the Thames was built for Henrietta Howard, mistress of King George II when he was Prince of Wales. She was also friend of some of the cleverest men in England. It retains its 66 acres of riverside parkland, while the interior has been restored, and some of its dispersed original contents bought back. There are exhibits downstairs, while upstairs the principal saloon has been finely restored and hung with large paintings. Worth a visit.
It appears that the house is now open only on Sat, Sun & bank holiday Mondays, and is by a 1½ hour guided tour once or twice daily.

Ham House, London

National Trust.
A great red-brick palace by the Thames, largely created in its present form by Elizabeth, Countess of Dysart, in the 17th century. There are lavish interiors and many paintings and objets d’art. Outside, the formal seventeenth-century layout of the gardens, in which the garden is devised as a series of contrasting compartments, is being re-created. Typically, the treed ‘wilderness’area is actually designed with walks and hornbeam hedges, and four little summerhouses. East of the house a period kitchen garden is being restored, and used to grow vegetables. There is an orangery and other outhouses.
There is plenty for the visitor to look at, both inside and out. A half-day visit is suggested, and a ferry ride across the river is Marble Hill House (EH).

Cutty Sark, Greenwich, London

Forget it for 2011 – it’s under restoration, complicated by a serious fire, and even if you are outside the site you can’t see anything. For the curious, there is a restoration website.
In 2002 I visited the original Cutty Sark, and found it a most interesting visit. While the planking is timber, the ribs are of iron, and looked surprisingly small in section. What you will be able to see next year will be jolly fine, but it will be heavily restored.

Royal Observatory, Greenwich

An interesting visit for astronomy buffs, as there are displays of historic instruments and the original buildings. There is now an admission charge, to the considerable annoyance of visitors who just want to be photographed standing on the Greenwich Meridian.
If you are in or around the park at noon GMT or 1pm Summer Time, watch the ball on top of the Observatory, which is slowly raised and then suddenly dropped at exactly noon GMT. It’s a traditional time signal to shipping in the Thames.
There are several other places to visit in and around the Greenwich Park, and some of those are free. (National Maritime Museum, Queens House, Royal Naval College, Rangers’ House, etc)

HMS Belfast, London

It’s a while since I visited HMS Belfast, but I remember it was an interesting visit. It’s one of the few surviving British WWII warships of any size, and most parts of the ship are accessible, including the command and control spaces, the engine and boiler rooms, and the insides of the gun turrets. The 6” guns were aimed at the London Gateway M1 service area on the outskirts of London :-).
During the war, the ship saw active service in a number of campaigns, and also saw active service in the Korean war.
The ship is moored on the Thames near London Bridge. It is in the care of the Imperial War Museum.
A cautionary note: warships have lots of steep ladders and narrow spaces.