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Northumberland House (also known as Suffolk House when owned by the Earls of Suffolk) was a large Jacobean townhouse in London, so-called because it was, for most of its history, the London residence of the
Percy family The English surname Percy is of Norman origin, coming from Normandy to England, United Kingdom. It was from the House of Percy, Norman lords of Northumberland, derives from the village of Percy-en-Auge in Normandy. From there, it came into use ...
, who were the Earls and later
Dukes of Northumberland Duke of Northumberland is a noble title that has been created three times in English and British history, twice in the Peerage of England and once in the Peerage of Great Britain. The current holder of this title is Ralph Percy, 12th Duke o ...
and one of England's richest and most prominent aristocratic dynasties for many centuries. It stood at the far western end of the
Strand Strand may refer to: Topography *The flat area of land bordering a body of water, a: ** Beach ** Shoreline * Strand swamp, a type of swamp habitat in Florida Places Africa * Strand, Western Cape, a seaside town in South Africa * Strand Street ...
from around 1605 until it was demolished in 1874. In its later years it overlooked
Trafalgar Square Trafalgar Square ( ) is a public square in the City of Westminster, Central London, laid out in the early 19th century around the area formerly known as Charing Cross. At its centre is a high column bearing a statue of Admiral Nelson commemo ...
.


Background

In the 16th century the Strand, which connects the
City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...
with the royal centre of
Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...
, was lined with the mansions of some of England's richest
prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'pref ...
s and
noblemen Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The characterist ...
. Most of the grandest houses were on the southern side of the road and had gardens stretching down to the
River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...
e.g. Durham House.


Construction

In around 1605
Henry Howard, 1st Earl of Northampton Henry Howard, Earl of Northampton, KG (25 February 154015 June 1614), was an important English aristocrat and courtier. He was suspect as a crypto-Catholic throughout his life, and went through periods of royal disfavour, in which his reputati ...
cleared a site at
Charing Cross Charing Cross ( ) is a junction in Westminster, London, England, where six routes meet. Clockwise from north these are: the east side of Trafalgar Square leading to St Martin's Place and then Charing Cross Road; the Strand leading to the City; ...
on the site of a convent and built himself a mansion, at first known as Northampton House. The Strand facade was 162 feet (49 m) wide and the house's depth was marginally greater. It had a single central courtyard and turrets in each corner. The layout reflected
medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...
traditions, with a
great hall A great hall is the main room of a royal palace, castle or a large manor house or hall house in the Middle Ages, and continued to be built in the country houses of the 16th and early 17th centuries, although by then the family used the great ...
as the principal room. It had separate apartments for members of the household, who would still at that time have included gentlemen attendants such as Jassintour Rozea, French Master Chef, who arranged sumptuous banquets for the Duke, Charles Seymour, one of London's wealthiest aristocrats. Many of the apartments were reached from external doors in the courtyard, in the manner still seen at
Oxbridge Oxbridge is a portmanteau of Oxford and Cambridge, the two oldest, wealthiest, and most famous universities in the United Kingdom. The term is used to refer to them collectively, in contrast to other British universities, and more broadly to de ...
colleges. The exterior was embellished with classical ornament in the loose way of ambitious Jacobean buildings. The Strand's most striking external feature was its elaborate four-storey carved stone gateway. During the funeral of
Anne of Denmark Anne of Denmark (; 12 December 1574 – 2 March 1619) was the wife of King James VI and I; as such, she was Queen of Scotland The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the constitutional fo ...
in May 1619, a large stone letter 'S' fell from the battlements of the gatehouse onto spectators of the procession, killing one William Appleyard. According to Nathaniel Brent, the stone was part of a motto and was "thrust down by a gentlewoman who put her foot against it, not thinking it had been so brickle rittle. The garden was wide and over long, but unlike those of neighbouring mansions to the east, it did not reach all the way down to the river.


Seventeenth and eighteenth centuries

The house passed from Lord Northampton to the Earls of Suffolk, another branch of the powerful Howard family headed by the
Dukes of Norfolk Duke of Norfolk is a title in the peerage of England. The seat of the Duke of Norfolk is Arundel Castle in Sussex, although the title refers to the county of Norfolk. The current duke is Edward Fitzalan-Howard, 18th Duke of Norfolk. The dukes ...
. In the 1640s it was sold to the
Earl of Northumberland The title of Earl of Northumberland has been created several times in the Peerage of England and of Great Britain, succeeding the title Earl of Northumbria. Its most famous holders are the House of Percy (''alias'' Perci), who were the most po ...
, at the discounted price of £15,000, as part of the marriage settlement when he married a Howard. Regular alterations were made over the next two centuries in response to fashion and to make the layout more convenient for the lifestyle of the day. John Webb was employed from 1657 to 1660 to relocate the family's living accommodation from the Strand front to the garden front. In the 1740s and 1750s the Strand front was largely reconstructed and two wings were added which projected from the ends of the garden front at right angles. These were over long, in late
palladian Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...
style, and contained a ballroom and a picture gallery, the latter itself 106 feet (32 m) long. The architects were
Daniel Garrett Daniel Garrett (died 1753) was a British architect who worked on the Burlington Estate, Culloden Tower, Raby Castle, and Banqueting House. History Garrett started as a clerk of works, then in 1735 set up his own practice in the North of Eng ...
, until his death in 1753; and then the better known James Paine. In the mid-1760s Robert Mylne was employed to reface the courtyard in stone; he may also have been responsible for extensions to the two garden wings which were made at that time. In the 1770s
Robert Adam Robert Adam (3 July 17283 March 1792) was a British neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. He was the son of William Adam (1689–1748), Scotland's foremost architect of the time, and trained under him. With his o ...
was commissioned to redecorate the state rooms on the garden front, and the Glass Drawing Room at Northumberland House was one of his most celebrated interiors. Part of the Strand front had to be rebuilt after a fire in 1780.


Nineteenth century

In 1819 Thomas Cundy was employed to rebuild the Garden (South) Front, which had become unstable, moving it south; he subsequently added the final main staircase. By the end of the mid-19th century the other mansions on the Strand had been demolished. The area was largely commercial and its entertainment industry had grown, meaning it was no longer a fashionable place for aristocracy to live. The current Duke of Northumberland was reluctant to leave his generations-held home, although he was pressured to do so by the
Metropolitan Board of Works The Metropolitan Board of Works (MBW) was the principal instrument of local government in a wide area of Middlesex, Surrey, and Kent, defined by the Metropolis Management Act 1855, from December 1855 until the establishment of the London County ...
, which wished to build a road through the middle of the site to connect to the new roads by the Embankment. After a fire which caused substantial damage, the Duke accepted an offer of £500,000 in 1874 (). Northumberland House was demolished and
Northumberland Avenue Northumberland Avenue is a street in the City of Westminster, Central London, running from Trafalgar Square in the west to the Thames Embankment in the east. The road was built on the site of Northumberland House, the London home of the House ...
, including its buildings fronting, was built in its place.


Northumberland Avenue

One of the largest buildings on the newly built Northumberland Avenue was the 500-bedroom Hotel Victoria, which in its arched entrance, and oriel window above it, imitated Northumberland House. During the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
it was taken over by the Ministry of Defence and renamed Northumberland House. It is now known as No. 8 Northumberland Avenue.


Remains

An archway from Northumberland House, designed by
William Kent William Kent (c. 1685 – 12 April 1748) was an English architect, landscape architect, painter and furniture designer of the early 18th century. He began his career as a painter, and became Principal Painter in Ordinary or court painter, but ...
, was sold for the entrance to the garden of Tudor House, which formerly stood in
Bromley-by-Bow Bromley, commonly known as Bromley-by- Bow, is a district in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in East London, located on the western banks of the River Lea, in the Lower Lea Valley in East London. The area is distinct from Bow, which l ...
. It was moved in 1998 to form the principal entrance to the
Bromley by Bow Centre The Bromley by Bow Centre is a community centre in Bromley-by-Bow, in the East End of London. It was founded by Andrew Mawson, Baron Mawson, Andrew Mawson in 1984 alongside community members such as Chilean artist Santiago Bell, with the aim of t ...
.


See also

*
Alnwick Castle Alnwick Castle () is a castle and country house in Alnwick in the English county of Northumberland. It is the seat of the 12th Duke of Northumberland, built following the Norman conquest and renovated and remodelled a number of times. It is a G ...
– the Percy family's main seat. *
List of demolished buildings and structures in London This list of demolished buildings and structures in London includes buildings, structures and urban scenes of particular architectural and historical interest, scenic buildings which are preserved in old photographs, prints and paintings, but whic ...
* Syon House – the Percy family's west London residence.


Notes, references and sources

;Notes and references ;Sources *''London's Mansions'' David Pearce (BT Batsford Ltd., 1986)


External links


Northumberland House
at the ''
Survey of London The Survey of London is a research project to produce a comprehensive architectural survey of central London and its suburbs, or the area formerly administered by the London County Council. It was founded in 1894 by Charles Robert Ashbee, an A ...
'' online
Northumberland House and its associations
– section of Old and New London Volume 3 (1878) {{Trafalgar Square 1605 establishments in England Houses completed in 1605 1874 disestablishments in England Buildings and structures demolished in 1874 Former houses in the City of Westminster Percy family residences + Demolished buildings and structures in London Strand, London