A “little gothic castle” in southwest London is a bit more gothic now after a long term loan of artworks that helps to restore it closer to how it looked when it was built.
(c) Strawberry Hill House
Strawberry Hill House was built in a fanciful style between 1739-76 as the home of the writer, antiquarian and politician, Horace Walpole. His was one of the first of the gothic revivial buildings, long pre-dating the more famous Victorian buildings.
Apart from the architecture, the whole house was filled with art, but in 1842, the contents of the house were dispersed by his successors in a famous auction, known as the Great Sale of some 6,000 objects and paintings.
A century ago, the building was bought by the Roman Catholic St Mary’s University College, and in 2007 was leased to the Strawberry Hill Trust for restoration, finally opening to the public in 2010.
However, much of the interior, grandly decorated as it is, lacks the art that once adorned the walls.
Until now.
Strawberry Hill House – photo (c) Matt Chung
A long term loan of over 50 Old Master paintings from Dulwich Picture Gallery – and a further eight works from a private English collection will help to recreate the atmosphere of the historic ‘little gothic castle’ as it would have appeared over 250 years ago.
Among the paintings from the latest loan is a set of twenty-six British monarchs, assembled by the founder of Dulwich College, Edward Alleyn. These royal portraits have been hung in the Holbein Chamber, reflecting Walpole’s passion for history and its protagonists, which also influenced the overall arrangement of the artworks throughout the house.
The ceiling in the Holbein Chamber is a copy of the Queen’s Dressing Room in Windsor Castle, while the one in the Library is decorated with heraldic emblems, mythical beasts, coats of arms and images of mounted crusaders, all of which reflective his various interests with the medieval period.
The loans are part of a long-held desire of the Strawberry Hill Trust to bring as many pieces once in Walpole’s collection back to the historic villa in Twickenham.
Strawberry Hill House – photo (c) Matt Chung
Dr Silvia Davoli, Strawberry Hill House Curator says: “Our collaboration with Dulwich Picture Gallery offers us the unique opportunity to borrow a substantial number of paintings that are very similar in style, period and schools to those once collected by Horace Walpole and it is thanks to these artworks that the rooms of Strawberry Hill finally appear to us in all their glory, much as they did in Walpole’s time.”
The paintings will go on display when the House reopens on Sunday 29th January, and will then be open Wed to Sun (closed Mon & Tues) thereafter.
Entry is £14.50 for adults, and free for children and Art Fund members.
It’s about a 10 minute walk from Strawberry Hill railway station, or about 15 minutes walk from Twickenham station – both on the South Western Railway lines.
Strawberry Hill House – photo (c) Matt Chung
THE HOUSE WEB SITE HAS DIFFERENT OPENING DAYS, SHOWING OPEN SUN TO WEDS, SO CLOSED TH, FR, SAT.
If that’s what’s on the website, it doesn’t make good sense. Surely opening from Wed to Sun makes a lot more sense.
They ruined the restoration of this beautiful building by putting a coffee bar in the ground floor, when they could have put it somewhere else, apart from the building.
Did Horace Walpole have a coffee bar?