Last week I visited Strawberry Hill House in Twickenham. It has been extensively restored and only fully re-opened in 2013. It is open from Sunday to Wednesday so more of a destination for Retired Folk.
It was built in the second half of the 18th century by Horace Walpole, youngest son of Robert Walpole, creator of Houghton and dubbed Britain’s first Prime Minister. Horace didn’t have as deep pockets as his father but could afford five acres on the river at Twickers with an unprepossessing house, Chopped Straw Hall: the name alone appalled the fastidious Horace.
To begin with his Gothic fantasy was quite small; just the building on the right hand side of the picture, above. Gradually he extended the grounds and expanded the house. The former have been largely built over and the river view lost but the latter is restored to its former glory. Here are some pictures.
You will notice the richness of the decoration and the paucity of pictures. There are a few and they are all reproductions – in many cases very poor ones. This is ironic as the house was built to show off his collection of pictures and artefacts. This was all dispersed in the 18th century.
Do you remember the impressive exhibition at Houghton a few years ago when Robert Walpole’s picture collection was brought back and rehung as it had been? The pictures were mostly on loan from the Hermitage. In October this year a large part of Horace’s collection will return to Strawberry Hill over the winter and the interior will take on a very different look. I highly recommend a visit. “The Treasures are back” is the title of the show. It runs from 20th October until 24th February 2019. Then the walls will be bare again.
The Gothic craze instigated by Walpole spread like wildfire, even to Co Kilkenny where Jenkinstown, the home of my Bryan ancestors, was described somewhat contemptuously by Mark Bence-Jones as pasteboard Gothic. Examples abound closer to home in Richmond and around. You may remember a Gothic house in Isleworth pictured in a post recently.