York House, Strand
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York House (formerly Norwich Palace or Norwich Place) was one of a series of grand
mansion A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word ''manse'' originally defined a property l ...
s that formerly stood on the Strand, the principal route from 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 ...
to the
Palace of Westminster The Palace of Westminster is the meeting place of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is located in London, England. It is commonly called the Houses of Parliament after the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two legislative ch ...
.


Norwich Palace

The residence was originally known as Norwich Palace when it was built as the London bishop's palace of the Bishops of Norwich not later than 1237. On 4 February 1536 it was given by King
Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...
to his
favourite A favourite was the intimate companion of a ruler or other important person. In Post-classical Europe, post-classical and Early modern Europe, early-modern Europe, among other times and places, the term was used of individuals delegated signifi ...
, Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk, in exchange for Suffolk House in
Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...
, the Bishop of Norwich having been provided with a new residence at Cannon Row in Westminster.


York House

The residence was subsequently known as York House after it was granted to the
Archbishop of York The archbishop of York is a senior bishop in the Church of England, second only to the archbishop of Canterbury. The archbishop is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and the metropolitan bishop of the province of York, which covers the ...
in 1556, and it retained that name for the rest of its existence. Its neighbour to the west was Suffolk House (later
Northumberland House Northumberland House (also known as Suffolk House when owned by the Earls of Suffolk) was a large Jacobean architecture, Jacobean Townhouse (Great Britain), townhouse in London, so-called because it was, for most of its history, the London re ...
), the London
townhouse A townhouse, townhome, town house, or town home, is a type of Terraced house, terraced housing. A modern townhouse is often one with a small footprint on multiple floors. In a different British usage, the term originally referred to any type o ...
of the Earls of Suffolk (a branch of the
Howard family The Howard family is an English noble family Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy (class), aristocracy. It is normally appointed by and ranked immediately below Royal family, royalty. Nobility has of ...
headed by the
Dukes of Norfolk Duke of Norfolk is a title in the peerage of England. The premier non-royal peer, the Duke of Norfolk is additionally the premier duke and earl in the English peerage. The seat of the Duke of Norfolk is Arundel Castle in Sussex, although the t ...
), which was sold in the 1640s to
Algernon Percy, 10th Earl of Northumberland Algernon may refer to: * Algernon (name), a given name (includes a list of people and characters with the name) * Algernon Township, Custer County, Nebraska See also * Treaty of Algeron, an agreement signed by the United Federation of Planets a ...
. Its neighbour to the east was Durham House, the London residence of the
Bishop of Durham The bishop of Durham is head of the diocese of Durham in the province of York. The diocese is one of the oldest in England and its bishop is a member of the House of Lords. Paul Butler (bishop), Paul Butler was the most recent bishop of Durham u ...
. The
Bishop of York The archbishop of York is a senior bishop in the Church of England, second only to the archbishop of Canterbury. The archbishop is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and the metropolitan bishop of the province of York, which covers t ...
was by tradition Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of England and for about seventy years from 1558 the house was leased to various secular holders of that high office, including Nicholas Bacon, Thomas Egerton and
Francis Bacon Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626) was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England under King James I. Bacon argued for the importance of nat ...
. In the 1620s York House was acquired by the royal favourite
George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham ( ; 20 August 1592 – 23 August 1628), was an English courtier, statesman, and patron of the arts. He was a favourite and self-described "lover" of King James VI and I. Buckingham remained at the heigh ...
. After an interlude during the
English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...
it was returned to
George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, 19th Baron de Ros (30 January 1628 – 16 April 1687) was an English statesman and poet who exerted considerable political power during the reign of Charles II of England. A Royalist during the Engl ...
, who sold it to developers for £30,000 in 1672. He made it a condition of the sale that his name and full title should be commemorated by George Street, Villiers Street, Duke Street, Of Alley, and Buckingham Street. Some of these street names are extant, but Of Alley has been renamed York Place, Duke Street is now John Adam Street, and George Street is now York Buildings. Villiers Street runs along the eastern side of
Charing Cross railway station Charing Cross railway station (also known as London Charing Cross) is a London station group, central London railway terminus between the Strand, London, Strand and Hungerford Bridge in the City of Westminster. It is the terminus of the South ...
.


Riverside setting

The mansions facing in the Strand were built there partly because they had direct access from their rear gardens 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, s ...
, then a much-used transport artery. The surviving York Watergate (also known as ''Buckingham Watergate''), built by
George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham ( ; 20 August 1592 – 23 August 1628), was an English courtier, statesman, and patron of the arts. He was a favourite and self-described "lover" of King James VI and I. Buckingham remained at the heigh ...
in about 1626 as a ceremonial landing stage on the river, is now marooned from the river, within the Embankment Gardens, due to substantial riverside land reclamation following the construction of the
Thames Embankment The Thames Embankment was built as part of the London Main Drainage (1859-1875) by the Metropolitan Board of Works, a pioneering Victorian civil engineering project which housed intercept sewers, roads and underground railways and embanked the ...
. With the
Banqueting House The Banqueting House, on Whitehall in the City of Westminster, central London, is the grandest and best-known survivor of the architectural genre of banqueting houses, constructed for elaborate entertaining. It is the only large surviving comp ...
it is one of the few surviving reminders in London of the Italianate court style of King Charles I. Its rusticated design in a Serlian manner has been attributed to three plausible candidates, Sir Balthazar Gerbier, to
Inigo Jones Inigo Jones (15 July 1573 – 21 June 1652) was an English architect who was the first significant Architecture of England, architect in England in the early modern era and the first to employ Vitruvius, Vitruvian rules of proportion and symmet ...
, and to the sculptor and master-mason
Nicholas Stone Nicholas Stone (1586/87 – 24 August 1647) was an England, English sculpture, sculptor and architect. In 1619 he was appointed master-mason to James I of England, James I, and in 1626 to Charles I of England, Charles I. During his ca ...
. The design is modelled closely on that of the Medici Fountain in the
Jardin du Luxembourg The Jardin du Luxembourg (), known in English as the Luxembourg Garden, colloquially referred to as the Jardin du Sénat (Senate Garden), is located in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, France. The creation of the garden began in 1612 when Mar ...
in Paris. It was restored in the 1950s. George Belton Moore's nineteenth-century picture of it shows it as it would have been when its steps were washed by the waters of the Thames.


Events

The York House Conference which assembled there in February 1626 ended unsatisfactorily with the final rupture between Puritan members of Parliament and Buckingham. York House was the setting for a
masque The masque was a form of festive courtly entertainment that flourished in 16th- and early 17th-century Europe, though it was developed earlier in Italy, in forms including the intermedio (a public version of the masque was the pageant). A mas ...
presented before their majesties in May 1627, in which Buckingham appeared followed by "Envy, with divers open-mouthed dogs' heads representing the people's barking, while next came Fame and Truth", just before his departure for his unsuccessful second foray against France. The first Duke granted lodgings at York House to the painter
Orazio Gentileschi Orazio Lomi Gentileschi (; 1563 – 7 February 1639) was an Italian painter. Born in Tuscany, he began his career in Rome, painting in a Mannerist style, much of his work consisting of painting the figures within the decorative schemes of other ...
, and to Sir Balthazar Gerbier, diplomat and sometime painter. Although the Duchess tried to expel the latter after the Duke's assassination in 1628, it was in Gerbier's lodgings that
Peter Paul Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens ( ; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish painting, Flemish artist and diplomat. He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque painting, Flemish Baroque tradition. Rubens' highly charged comp ...
sojourned during his visit to London the following year.


Inventory of 1635

Two inventories of the contents of York House were drawn up by 1635, and are a valuable source for the insight into one of the handful of great art collections of the period. There were 330 paintings enumerated, many of which were sold at Antwerp in 1649 for the young Duke; among them were seventeen canvases by Rubens. There were tapestries, marble sculptures, plate and rich furnishings. These represent the taste formed in the circle of Charles I, and the furnishings of a fashionable early Stuart nobleman's residence. Wealthy courtier art collectors have become known as the Whitehall Group. The inventories reflect the house as used by Buckingham's widow,
Katherine Villiers, Duchess of Buckingham Katherine Villiers, Duchess of Buckingham, Marchioness of Antrim, 18th Baroness de Ros of Helmsley (''née'' Lady Katherine Manners; died 1649) was an English aristocrat. The daughter and heiress of Francis Manners, 6th Earl of Rutland, she wa ...
, and her Red and Green closets furnished with paintings are particularly well-documented. In the 'Great Chamber' twenty-two paintings were displayed with fifty-nine pieces of Roman sculpture, many of which were heads. In the 'Gallery' were a further thirty-one heads and statues. Apparently the only modern sculpture at York House was Giambologna's ''Samson and a Philistine'', a royal gift from King
Philip IV of Spain Philip IV (, ; 8 April 160517 September 1665), also called the Planet King (Spanish: ''Rey Planeta''), was King of Spain from 1621 to his death and (as Philip III) King of Portugal from 1621 to 1640. Philip is remembered for his patronage of the ...
to Charles I, who passed it to his favourite, Buckingham. The inventory includes the mount in the garden where there was a marble statue of Cain and Abel and a vaulted room beneath decorated with plaster heads of Roman emperors and a marble table.


Legacy

In the early 19th century the designation ''York House'' was revived by the palatial York House, built in the Stable Yard, St. James's Palace, for Frederick, Duke of York, brother of
George IV George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 29 January 1820 until his death in 1830. At the time of his accession to the throne, h ...
and heir apparent. Foundations were begun to designs by Robert Smirke, who was quickly replaced by Benjamin Dean Wyatt and his brother
Philip Philip, also Phillip, is a male name derived from the Macedonian Old Koine language, Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominen ...
; when the Duke died in 1827, deeply in debt with the house unfinished, it was subsequently completed as Stafford House; its gilded interiors by Sir
Charles Barry Sir Charles Barry (23 May 1795 – 12 May 1860) was an English architect best known for his role in the rebuilding of the Palace of Westminster (also known as the Houses of Parliament) in London during the mid-19th century, but also responsi ...
for George Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 2nd Duke of Sutherland, inspired
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 ...
's famous remark about "coming from my house to your palace". The name is carried today by a commercial building in Portugal Street, Kingsway, London. The York Watergate is at the centre of the song "London Plane" by progressive rock band
Big Big Train Big Big Train are an English progressive rock band formed in Bournemouth in 1990. The current line-up includes band founder Gregory Spawton (bass, guitars and keyboards), along with Nick D'Virgilio (drums, vocals, guitars and keyboards), Rikar ...
on their 2016 album ''Folklore''. The song is written from the perspective of a nearby
London plane The London plane, or sometimes hybrid plane, ''Platanus'' × ''hispanica'', is a tree in the genus ''Platanus''. It is often known by the Synonym (taxonomy), synonym ''Platanus'' × ''acerifolia'', a later name. It is a Hybrid (biology ...
tree that was a sapling at the time of the construction of the Watergate in 1626 and tells of the stories that such a tree may have witnessed in the years since.


See also

*
Adelphi, London Adelphi (; from the Greek ἀδελφοί ''adelphoi'', meaning "brothers") is a district of the City of Westminster in Greater London.Mills, A., ''Oxford Dictionary of London Place Names'', (2001) The small district includes the streets of '' ...
(a later development on the same site) * York House (for a list of other mansions in London which have been known as York House)


References


Sources

*''London's Mansions'' by David Pearce, (1986) *''Survey of London'', xviii, plates 31-33. *
Howard Colvin Sir Howard Montagu Colvin (15 October 1919 – 27 December 2007) was a British architectural historian who produced two of the most outstanding works of scholarship in his field: ''A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects, 1600–18 ...
, ''A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects, 1600-1840'' 3rd ed. 1995 sv "Sir Balthazar Gerbier", "Inigo Jones" "Nicholas Stone"


External links

{{commons category, York House, Strand
York HouseYork Watergate
1237 establishments in England Houses completed in the 13th century Episcopal palaces of archbishops of York Tudor royal palaces in England Episcopal palaces in London Former houses in the City of Westminster Strand, London Townhouses in the United Kingdom George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham