Orleans House was a

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 ...

villa built by the architect John James in 1710 near the

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

Twickenham Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the boroug ...

, England, for the politician and diplomat James Johnston. It was subsequently named after the Duc d'Orléans who stayed there in the early 19th century. By the early 20th century it was derelict and in 1926 it was mostly demolished. However, parts of the property, including a baroque octagonal room designed by architect

James Gibbs James Gibbs (23 December 1682 – 5 August 1754) was one of Britain's most influential architects. Born in Aberdeen, he trained as an architect in Rome, and practised mainly in England. He is an important figure whose work spanned the transi ...

, were preserved. The octagon room and its service wing are

listed Listed may refer to: * Listed, Bornholm, a fishing village on the Danish island of Bornholm * Listed (MMM program), a television show on MuchMoreMusic * Endangered species in biology * Listed building, in architecture, designation of a historicall ...

Grade I by

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked w ...

and, together, with a converted stable block, are now the Orleans House Gallery, a gallery of art relating to the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames and neighbouring areas of London.

History

18th century

James Johnston settled at

at the end of his political career. Johnston had seen diplomatic service in Germany, first as King's envoy to

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

and later working to secure the

Hanoverian succession The Act of Settlement is an Act of the Parliament of England that settled the succession to the English and Irish crowns to only Protestants, which passed in 1701. More specifically, anyone who became a Roman Catholic, or who married one, bec ...

, and made frequent journeys to

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

. It was said

George I George I or 1 may refer to: People * Patriarch George I of Alexandria (fl. 621–631) * George I of Constantinople (d. 686) * George I of Antioch (d. 790) * George I of Abkhazia (ruled 872/3–878/9) * George I of Georgia (d. 1027) * Yuri Dolgor ...

"often conversed with him very familiarly" and that Johnston was "a great favourite of Queen Caroline, who was much entertained with his humour and pleasantry". It was also said "he keeps out a very great rank, and frequently has Mr. Walpool and the greatest courtiers with him at his country house near London; and the King sometimes does him the honour to dine with him". The King (George I) is also recorded to have been a regular casual visitor to the house. Johnston was one of the first to construct a home on the

in Twickenham during the 18th century. He procured a

lease A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the user (referred to as the ''lessee'') to pay the owner (referred to as the ''lessor'') for the use of an asset. Property, buildings and vehicles are common assets that are leased. Industrial ...

(from the then under-lessee Mrs Davies)Mrs Davies was sister to the 1st Lord Berkeley of Stratton. The manor was vested in

the Crown The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has different ...

from 1541 and usually, for life, in the possession of the Queen consort. In 1675 the King granted a reversionary lease for 41 years after the death of

Catherine of Braganza Catherine of Braganza ( pt, Catarina de Bragança; 25 November 1638 – 31 December 1705) was Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland during her marriage to King Charles II, which lasted from 21 May 1662 until his death on 6 February 1685. She ...

(1638–1705) to John Earl of Rochester. In 1702 James Johnston obtained from the Queen Dowager a lease for 13 years from 1720. By the time of his death in 1737 Johnston had much further extended the lease and (from George II) obtained yet another 13 years to commence in 1774. On Johnston's death it was sold to George Morton Pitt, who obtained an extension to 1815. Pitt's only child married Brownlow Bertie but died aged 18 without surviving issue and in due course it became the residence of Pitt's wife's daughter by a prior marriage, Sophia Drake (died 1767) and her husband, Sir George Pocock (1706–1792).
and commissioned architect John James to plan and erect a mansion – a project which spanned the following 35 years. The grounds were extensive, including the area now known as the Orleans House woodlands. Johnston created a fine garden which "included canals, an icehouse, a kitchen garden, a pleasure garden, a wilderness, a grotto and a fruit garden". A baroque octagonal room, designed by architect James Gibbs, was added in 1720 for entertaining

George II George II or 2 may refer to: People * George II of Antioch (seventh century AD) * George II of Armenia (late ninth century) * George II of Abkhazia (916–960) * Patriarch George II of Alexandria (1021–1051) * George II of Georgia (1072–1089) ...

's Queen Consort, Caroline, who regarded Johnston with great favour.

19th century

Louis-Phillippe, Duc d'Orléans, while in exile, lived in Johnston's house at Twickenham between 1813 and 1815 and the house was later named after him.

20th century

Orleans House was demolished in 1926, and the area formerly occupied by the house used to

quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their envir ...

gravel throughout the 1930s. The outbuildings and octagon room were saved by the efforts of a local figure, the Hon. Nellie Levy, later

Nellie Ionides The HonorableAs she was the daughter of a peer she was entitled to use the honorific "The Honorable" from 1921. Her father, Sir Marcus Samuel, was created 1st Baron Bearsted of Maidstone in the 1921 Birthday Honours; in the 1925 Birthday Honour ...

, who left it and her collection of 18th- and 19th-century pictures to the borough. It became a listed building in 1952 and was converted into an art gallery in 1972. In 1973, at the northern end of the former park were taken as the site of Orleans Park School.

21st century

The buildings and site were refurbished between 2005 and 2008 by architects Patel Taylor to incorporate an education centre and a cafe.

Orleans House Gallery

Orleans House Gallery, which opened in 1972, displays material from the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames' art collection. This includes a portrait of James Johnston by

Thomas Gibson Thomas Ellis Gibson (born July 3, 1962) is an American actor and director. He is best known for his television roles as Daniel Nyland on ''Chicago Hope'' (1994–1997), Greg Montgomery on ''Dharma & Greg'' (1997–2002) and Aaron Hotchner on ''C ...

, paintings of Orleans House by Arthur Vickers and several other artists, and the Burton Collection, which includes artwork, personal effects and photographs of the explorer

Richard Francis Burton Sir Richard Francis Burton (; 19 March 1821 – 20 October 1890) was a British explorer, writer, orientalist scholar,and soldier. He was famed for his travels and explorations in Asia, Africa, and the Americas, as well as his extraordinary kn ...

. Orleans House Gallery is also the site of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames' arts service and provides educational workshops for a wide variety of ages, using the converted stables and coach house as educational spaces. The gallery can also be hired as a wedding venue and for functions. The gallery reopened in March 2018 after a 17-month restoration project costing £3.7 million, which was partly funded by the

Heritage Lottery Fund The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom. History The fund's predecessor bodies were ...

through a £1.8m grant. The Octagon Room has been restored, facilities improved and the upper floor extended to provide additional space. The painting of Queen Caroline has been relocated outside the Octagon Room.

Exhibitions

The gallery's previous exhibitions have included

watercolours Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to ...

and sketches by

Richard Dadd Richard Dadd (1 August 1817 – 7 January 1886) was an English painter of the Victorian era, noted for his depictions of fairies and other supernatural subjects, Orientalism, Orientalist scenes, and enigmatic genre works, genre scenes, rendered w ...

and, in 2003, the first major retrospective of Stephen Wiltshire's works. The gallery's exhibition ''Capability Now'' (from February to June 2016) marked the 300th anniversary of the birth of Capability Brown.

Gallery

File:Adolphe Jean-Baptiste Bayot04.jpg, Johnston's Twickenham house in 1844 File:Joseph Nickolls - Orleans House, Twickenham - Google Art Project.jpg, Painting of ''Orleans House, Twickenham'' by British artist Joseph Nickolls (1689–1789), circa 1750, held at the

Yale Center for British Art Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the worl ...

Note

References

Bibliography

* Patricia Astley Cooper, ''The History of Orleans House, Twickenham'', Twickenham 1984
Miranda Stearn and Mark De Novellis, ''Orleans House – a history'', Twickenham 2002: free download''Orleans House and The Octagon'', Local History Notes, Richmond Libraries’ Local Studies Collection
London Borough of Richmond upon Thames

External links

Official website: Orleans House Gallery

Twickenham Museum: Orleans House

Richmond upon Thames Borough Art Collection on Art UK
{{DEFAULTSORT:Orleans House 1710 establishments in England Houses completed in 1710 Art museums and galleries in London Art museums established in 1972 Buildings and structures on the River Thames Country houses in London Grade I listed buildings in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames Grade I listed houses in London History of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames History of Middlesex James Gibbs buildings Middlesex Museums in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames Museums on the River Thames Palladian architecture in England Twickenham Louis Philippe I