Strawberry Hill, London
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Strawberry Hill | |
  Strawberry Hill shown within Greater London |
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| OS grid reference | |
|---|---|
| London borough | Richmond |
| Ceremonial county | Greater London |
| Region | London |
| Constituent country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | TWICKENHAM |
| Postcode district | TW1, TW2 |
| Dialling code | 020 |
| Police | Metropolitan |
| Fire | London |
| Ambulance | London |
| European Parliament | London |
| UK Parliament | Twickenham |
| London Assembly | South West |
| List of places: UK • England • London | |
Strawberry Hill is an affluent area of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames near Twickenham. It is a suburban development situated 10.4 miles (16.7 km) west south-west of Charing Cross. It consists of a number of residential roads centered around a small development of shops and serviced by Strawberry Hill railway station. The area's ACORN demographic type is characterized as well-off professionals, larger houses, and converted flats.
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[edit] Walpole's villa
The nineteenth-century development is named for "Strawberry Hill", the fancifully "Gothic" villa of Horace Walpole, a folly which he purchased in 1748 and rebuilt in stages to his own specifications, expanding the little property from five acres to forty-six over the years.
Walpole and two friends, including the connoisseur and amateur architect, John Chute (1701-1776), and draftsman, Richard Bentley (1708-1782), called themselves a “Committee of Taste” which would modify the architecture of the building. Bentley left the group abruptly after an argument in 1761. William Robinson of the Royal Office of Works contributed professional experience in overseeing construction. They looked at many examples of architecture in England and in other countries, adapting such works as the chapel at Westminster Abbey built by Henry VII for inspiration for the fan vaulting of the gallery, without any pretense at scholarship. Chimney-pieces were improvised from engravings of tombs at Westminster and Canterbury and Gothic stone fretwork blind details were reproduced by painted wallpapers, while in the Round Tower added in 1771, the chimney-piece was based on the tomb of Edward the Confessor "improved by Mr. Adam".
He incorporated many of the exterior details of cathedrals into the interior of the house. Externally there seemed to be two predominant styles ‘mixed’; a style based on castles with turrets and battlements, and a style based on Gothic cathedrals with arched windows and stained glass.
The building evolved similarly to how a medieval cathedral often evolved over time, with no fixed plan from the beginning. Walpole added new features over a thirty-year period, as he saw fit.
The first stage to make, in Walpole's words, a ‘little Gothic castle’ began in 1749 and was complete by 1753, a second stage began in 1760, and there were other modifications such as work on the great north bedchamber in 1772, and the "Beauclerk Tower" of the third phase of alterations, completed to designs of a professional architect, James Essex, in 1776.
Walpole's 'little Gothic castle' has significance as one of the most influential individual buildings of such Rococo "Gothick" architecture which prefixed the later developments of the nineteenth century Gothic revival, and for increasing the use of Gothic designs for houses. This style has variously been described as Georgian Gothic, Strawberry Hill Gothic, Georgian Rococo, or Gothick
In 2004, Strawberry Hill featured in the BBC/Endemol TV series Restoration (presented by Griff Rhys Jones, Ptolemy Dean and Marianne Suhr, produced and directed by Paul Coueslant).
[edit] Other attractions
Other local attractions include:
- St Mary's University College, Twickenham
- Radnor Gardens
- Strawberry Hill railway station, built in 1873, is an excellent local example of the Victorian era railway building boom.
[edit] Education
[edit] References
- Jones, E. and Woodward, C. A Guide to the Architecture of London, 1983, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London
[edit] External links
- Friends of Strawberry Hill
- The Strawberry Hill Residents' Association
- Strawberry Hill Online
- The Twickenham Museum
- The Twickenham Society
- Strawberry Hill Golf Club
- (London Borough of Richmond-upon-Thames) "Horace Walpole and Strawberry Hill"
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