Red Not Dead
The mid 20th century County Down housebuilder Joseph Gribben always advocated building in brick, especially the rustic textured variety, and recommended constructing tall chimneys that would allow smoke to blow above the roof ridge. He would appreciate Charlton in south London. High on a hill, the principal buildings circling the summit are all red brick and there are plenty of tall chimneys. Bridget Cherry and Nicholas Pevsner record in their Guide to South London Buildings (1983), “The old centre of the meeting of Charlton Road and Charlton Church Lane is small, and still has some village character, although it is surrounded by later 19th century and 20th century housing on all sides. Apart from the 17th century Church of St Luke, and Charlton House and its outbuildings, no buildings visibly of before the 19th century remain in the village centre although the attractively stuccoed Bugle Horn Inn is of late 17th century origin.”
Ah Charlton House, a miraculous half a millennium survival. It’s even still positioned in a parkland setting. Bridget and Nicholas describe its origins: “Built by Sir Adam Newton, tutor to Henry Prince of Wales, circa 1607 to 1612. Later owners were Sir William Ducie, who made repairs in 1659, Sir William Langhorne, East India merchant, after 1680, and in the 19th century the Maryon-Wilson family, for whom Norman Shaw restored the house and made minor additions in 1877 to 1878. Acquired by the Borough in 1925. Charlton House is the only Jacobean mansion of the first order remaining in the precincts of London. The plan is E shaped with four symmetrical bay windows at the ends of the four wings and two towers in the centres of the two wings, framing the building when seen from the west of east. The building is of three storeys above capacious cellars, built of red brick with pierced open tracery. The towers have ogee roofs. It is of plain and angular, spacious but not at all luxurious, with the exception of the west frontispiece, that is, the door surround and the bay window above which suddenly breaks out into the most exuberant and undisciplined ornament – the work of a mason probably who possessed a copy of Wendel Dietterlin’s Architectura of 1593 and a rare case of close imitation.”
And then the writing duo go inside, “The most remarkable feature of the interior is the position of the Hall, just as revolutionary (though not unique in Jacobean architecture) as Inigo Jones’s at the Queen’s House. it is two storeyed, placed at right angles to the front and back, and runs right across the building. Above it on the second floor in the Saloon reached by an elaborately carved staircase, quadrangular with a square open well and the flights of stairs supported by posts which between ground floor and first floor form palm branches in cases. The sloping pilaster balusters progress through the three orders from ground floor to top landing. The plasterwork is Victorian. The saloon has an original plaster ceiling with pendants and a marble fireplace with restrained architectural ornament to the overmantel above finely carved figures of Venus and Vulcan. This is very much in the manner of Nicholas Stone. In the bay window is circa 17th century heraldic glass with the Ducie arms. on the same floor the north wing is taken up entirely by the long gallery, also with a good plaster ceiling. The original panelling has gone except for pilasters by the windows. In these, more heraldic glass with the Ducie arms. The gallery is reached from the saloon by the white drawing room whose stone fireplace with two tiers of caryatids, three dimensional strapwork, and relief scenes makes the marble one in the saloon appear very classical.”
Finally, back to the great outdoors again, “Of outbuildings the stable to the south are contemporaneous with the house, now arranged on two sides of a quadrangle. Remanagements [sic] under Sir William Langhorne are easily discernible. In front of the entrance on the lawn a solitary gateway, plastered, with Corinthian columns and an 18th century cresting. To the northwest of the house, a handsome summerhouse of circa 1630, brick, square, with Tuscan pilasters, and a concave roof. There is no documentary confirmation of the traditional attribution to Inigo Jones, but the complete absence of Jacobean frills at evidently such an early date makes it quite justifiable. Nicholas Stone would also be a possibility.” The ski slope roofed Grade I summerhouse or lodge, a pepper pot pavilion, is now a public convenience (or rather inconvenience – it’s shut).
Armed with the wealth of knowledge Pevsner Guides are so adept at summarising, a decade ago Aimée Felton, Associate at leading architectural conservation practice Donald Insall Associates, led an Irish Georgian Society tour of Charlton House. Here are the highlights. Over to Aimee, “The lodge is widely attributed to Inigo Jones. Of course it is – he did most of Greenwich! Someone once attributed the lodge to him and it stuck.” She is undertaking a conditions survey as part of a long term masterplan of the house and estate. “A variety of historic fabric is remaining. Some in my opinion was later heavily edited by the various occupants. And heavily rebuilt following bomb damage.” This is most obvious in the north wing where the original imperial red brick and whitish grey stone have been patched up with metric red brick and yellow stone. These mid 20th century repairs included placing the sundial upside down.
“It’s the best Jacobean house in London and is of pivotal importance to its era,” Aimée declares. “It displays a full modern appreciation of flow and sequence of rooms. An H plan was so innovative. There are lots of Jacobean Houses of E plan and E without a tail, but not so many H. Charlton is first in its class: to walk in through the front door and see its garden beyond. The axis though the building is what makes it so special. The Kitchen was always on the north side of Jacobean houses to cool dairy produce and meat, with bedrooms above as heat rises. But this house is laid out to take in the views to the north towards the river and to the west to the King in Greenwich. This is a really bold statement and the only Jacobean house with a north facing gallery.”
The first floor Long Gallery stretches the full length of the north elevation. Like much of the house, the Long Gallery is an architectural puzzle. Aimée highlights, “The floor and ceiling are original but the panelling isn’t. Charlton has some of the best fireplaces of the Jacobean era. The Long Gallery marble and slate one is odd but exquisite.” No architect is recorded. “There is incredibly scarce information both on the Jacobean era and Charlton. You’ll notice I say ‘attributed to’ and ‘we suspect that …’ a lot!” At least there’s a keystone dated 1607 on the main block and one dated 1877 on the wing and the staircase is engraved 1612.
Sir Spencer Maryon-Wilson sold the house to Greenwich Council and auctioned the contents in 1920. The house has been used ever since by various community bodies. A public library is now in the former ground floor Dining Room and Chapel and a café occupies the Hall. Donald Insall Associates are tasked with applying a holistic approach to its fabric and future use or uses. Furnishing rooms in the original period like a National Trust house is not an option. “There simply isn’t enough Jacobean furniture,” she says. “Even the V and A wouldn’t have enough and any pieces it has are so special they’re kept in glass cases.”
There’s plenty of pictorial evidence of how the rooms were furnished in the latter Maryon-Wilson years. Aimée smiles, “If you can’t find a decent photo of a country house look in Country Life because someone is always bragging about their home!” Charlton House is no exception. Monochromatic images of the early 1900s show the interior chockablock with traditional brown furniture and taxidermy and tapestries. This eclecticism is reflected in later plasterwork. She points out the ceiling in the Prince Henry Room which isn’t original. “The cornice is beyond wrong! As offensive as the ceiling is, it’s a nice ceiling, but one that’s just not for this house. Just because it’s not right though doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be preserved to show history. Everyone has their oddities and we just move on.” Much more in keeping with the original architecture is the 1877 extension to the south, now a wedding venue. Unsurprising as Bridget and Nicholas record it was designed by that great historically aware Arts and Crafts architect Norman Shaw. Aimée sums up the extension as, “Jacobean with a Shaw twist.”
