Pembroke Lodge is a Georgian two-storey large house in

Richmond Park Richmond Park, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, is the largest of Royal Parks of London, London's Royal Parks and is of national and international importance for wildlife conservation. It was created by Charles I of England, Cha ...

in the

London Borough of Richmond upon Thames The London Borough of Richmond upon Thames () in south-west Greater London, London, England, forms part of Outer London and is the only London boroughs, London borough on both sides of the River Thames. It was created in 1965 when three smaller ...

. It sits on high ground with views across 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 th ...

valley to

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places *Detroit–Windsor, Michigan-Ontario, USA-Canada, North America; a cross-border metropolitan region Australia New South Wales *Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area Queen ...

, the Chilterns and hills in the

Borough of Runnymede The Borough of Runnymede is a local government district with borough status in Surrey, England. Its council is based in Addlestone and the borough also includes the towns of Chertsey and Egham. The borough is named after Runnymede, a water me ...

. It has of landscaped grounds, including part of King Henry's Mound from which there is a protected view of

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Paul the Apostle, is an Anglican cathedral in London, England, the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London in the Church of Engl ...

in the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

. The grounds also include memorials to the 18th-century poet James Thomson and the 20th-century rock-and-roll singer and lyricist

Ian Dury Ian Robins Dury (12 May 1942 27 March 2000) was an English singer, songwriter and actor who rose to fame in the late 1970s, during the punk rock, punk and new wave music, new wave era of rock music. He was the lead singer and lyricist of Kilburn ...

Grade II-listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

with English Heritage, Pembroke Lodge is of historical interest, having housed British prime minister Lord John (later, Earl) Russell and the childhood home of his grandson, philosopher and logician

Bertrand Russell Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British philosopher, logician, mathematician, and public intellectual. He had influence on mathematics, logic, set theory, and various areas of analytic ...

GHQ Liaison Regiment GHQ Liaison Regiment (known as Phantom) was a special reconnaissance unit of the British Army first formed in 1939 during the early stages of World War II. The regiment's headquarters were at The Richmond Hill Hotel in Richmond, Surrey (now i ...

("Phantom") used the premises during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The lodge is part of the

Crown Estate The Crown Estate is a collection of lands and holdings in the United Kingdom belonging to the British monarch as a corporation sole, making it "the sovereign's public estate", which is neither government property nor part of the monarch's priva ...

and is currently privately run as a catering facility and a conference and wedding venue on a long lease from

The Royal Parks The Royal Parks make up land that was originally used for the recreation, mostly hunting, by the royal family. They are part of the hereditary possessions of The Crown, now managed by The Royal Parks, a charity which manages eight royal pa ...

. It also houses a heritage charity, The Hearsum Collection.

History

The lodge is first mentioned in 1754, when it was a one-roomed cottage occupied by a

molecatcher A molecatcher (also called a mowdy-catcher) is a person who traps or kills mole (animal), moles in places where they are considered a nuisance to crops, lawns, sportsfields or gardens. History of molecatching Roman times Excavations of Ancient ...

. He was employed to eradicate

molehill A molehill (or mole-hill, mole mound) is a conical mound of loose soil raised by small burrowing mammals, including moles, but also similar animals such as mole-rats, and voles. The word is first recorded in the first half of the 15th century. ...

s that were impeding the sport of deer

hunting Hunting is the Human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products (fur/hide (sk ...

. The cottage was enlarged to become a house with four principal rooms and was renamed Hill Lodge. It was granted to

Elizabeth Herbert, Countess of Pembroke and Montgomery Elizabeth Herbert, Countess of Pembroke and Montgomery (born Lady Elizabeth Spencer; January/March 1737 – 30 April 1831) was the second daughter of Charles Spencer, 3rd Duke of Marlborough and Elizabeth Trevor. Biography She was born ''Eli ...

, a "close friend" of

King George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. The Acts of Union 1800 unified Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and ...

, at her request in 1787. Between 1788 and 1796 she extended the building, to a design by

Sir John Soane Sir John Soane (; né Soan; 10 September 1753 – 20 January 1837) was an English architect who specialised in the Neo-Classical style. The son of a bricklayer, he rose to the top of his profession, becoming professor of architecture at the Ro ...

, to form the entire Georgian wing and part of the north wing. She died, aged 93, at Pembroke Lodge in 1831. Malden, H E (ed.) (1911).
Parishes: Richmond (anciently Sheen)"
in ''A History of the County of Surrey: Volume 3'',

British History Online ''British History Online'' is a digital library of primary and secondary sources on medieval and modern history of Great Britain and Ireland. It was created and is managed as a cooperative venture by the Institute of Historical Research, Universit ...

, pp. 533–546. Accessed 14 August 2015. After the Countess of Pembroke's death the Lodge was occupied by

William Hay, 18th Earl of Erroll William George Hay, 18th Earl of Erroll, KT, GCH, PC (21 February 1801 – 19 April 1846), styled Lord Hay between 1815 and 1819, was a Scottish peer and politician. Early life Erroll was the son of William Hay, 17th Earl of Erroll, and h ...

. In 1847,

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

granted the lodge to

Lord John Russell John Russell, 1st Earl Russell (18 August 1792 – 28 May 1878), known as Lord John Russell before 1861, was a British Whig and Liberal statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1846 to 1852 and again from 1865 to 186 ...

, then Prime Minister, who conducted much government business there and entertained Queen Victoria, foreign royalty, aristocrats, writers (

Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by many as the great ...

Thackeray William Makepeace Thackeray ( ; 18 July 1811 – 24 December 1863) was an English novelist and illustrator. He is known for his satirical works, particularly his 1847–1848 novel '' Vanity Fair'', a panoramic portrait of British society, and t ...

Longfellow Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882) was an American poet and educator. His original works include the poems "Paul Revere's Ride", ''The Song of Hiawatha'', and ''Evangeline''. He was the first American to complet ...

Tennyson Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (; 6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's ...

) and other notable people of the time, including

Garibaldi Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi ( , ;In his native Ligurian language, he is known as (). In his particular Niçard dialect of Ligurian, he was known as () or (). 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, revolutionary and republican. H ...

. Lord John was much taken with the Lodge – "an asset that could hardly be equalled, certainly not surpassed in England". Earl Russell (as he had become) died there on 28 May 1878; Fanny, his second wife, in 1898. Their daughter Lady Agatha Russell left the inscribed memorial stone that stands in the rose garden: Lord John Russell's grandson,

, the philosopher, widely quoted source of popular witticisms and mathematician, grew up there between 1876 and 1894. At Pembroke Lodge, he wrote, "I grew accustomed to wide horizons and to an unimpeded view of the sunset". From 1903, until her death there in February 1929, Pembroke Lodge was tenanted by Georgina, Dowager Countess of Dudley, a close friend of

Queen Alexandra Alexandra of Denmark (Alexandra Caroline Marie Charlotte Louise Julia; 1 December 1844 – 20 November 1925) was List of British royal consorts, queen-consort of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, from 22 Januar ...

. There is a headstone in Pembroke Lodge's gardens to the grave of her dog, Boy, who died in 1907. From 1929 to 1938, John Scott Oliver, a wealthy

industrialist A business magnate, also known as an industrialist or tycoon, is a person who is a powerful entrepreneur and investor who controls, through personal enterprise ownership or a dominant shareholding position, a firm or industry whose goods or ser ...

, lived at Pembroke Lodge. During

, the

(also known as Phantom) established its regimental headquarters nearby at The Richmond Hill Hotel, with its base (including the

officers' mess The mess (also called a mess deck aboard ships) is a designated area where military personnel socialize, eat and (in some cases) live. The term is also used to indicate the groups of military personnel who belong to separate messes, such as the o ...

and

billet In European militaries, a billet is a living-quarters to which a soldier is assigned to sleep. In American usage, it refers to a specific personnel position, assignment, or duty station to which a soldier can be assigned. Historically, a billet w ...

) at Pembroke Lodge. Some of the members of the squad went on to become privy councillors,

law lords Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, commonly known as Law Lords, were judges appointed under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 to the British House of Lords, as a committee of the House, effectively to exercise the judicial functions of the House of ...

, judges, MPs, a

commissioner of the Metropolitan Police The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis is the head of London's Metropolitan Police Service. Sir Mark Rowley was appointed to the post on 8 July 2022 after Dame Cressida Dick announced her resignation in February 2022. The rank of Comm ...

(

Sir Robert Mark Sir Robert Mark (13 March 1917 – 30 September 2010) was a senior British police officer who served as Chief Constable of Leicester City Police, and later as Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police from 1972 to 1977. Mark was the first Met ...

) and actors – including

David Niven James David Graham Niven (; 1 March 1910 – 29 July 1983) was an English actor, soldier, raconteur, memoirist and novelist. Niven was known as a handsome and debonair leading man in Classic Hollywood films. His accolades include an Academ ...

, who remarked in a letter, "these were wonderful days which I would not have missed for anything". After World War II, Pembroke Lodge became a government-run tea room.

Current use

In 1997 Daniel Hearsum (1958–2021) took over Pembroke Lodge, then a run-down catering facility, restoring it and developing it into a successful cafe and wedding venue. Pembroke Lodge is open to the public for refreshments, weddings and conferences. Pembroke Lodge is also the home of The Hearsum Collection, a registered charity Charity registration number 1153010 that collects and preserves the heritage of Richmond Park and is seeking to build a new purpose-built heritage centre to provide full public access to its holdings.

Notes and references

External links

Official website: Pembroke Lodge

Pembroke Lodge historyThe Royal Parks: Pembroke Lodge, Richmond ParkOfficial website: The Hearsum Collection

''The Heritage Pavilion'' (video, 2014), The Hearsum CollectionFriends of Richmond Park
{{LB Richmond 18th-century establishments in England Grade II listed buildings in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames Grade II listed houses History of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames Houses in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames John Soane buildings Prime ministerial homes in the United Kingdom Richmond, London Richmond Park Bertrand Russell

History

Current use

Notes and references

Further reading

External links