Welcome back to our pal, Jo Manning, who reports frequently on her adventures in England and elsewhere.
PITZHANGER
MANOR, SIR JOHN SOANE’S COUNTRY HOUSE (AND GARDENS) IN WALPOLE PARK, EALING,
WEST LONDON, A GRADE I LISTED BUILDING, IS ABOUT TO UNDERGO A LONG-AWAITED
MAJOR RESTORATION
by Jo Manning
Pitzhanger Manor, front view and gallery from Ealing High
Street, today
(the art gallery is off to the right side)
Proposed restoration to front and to art gallery
In
the opening years of the 19th century, Sir John Soane (1769-1830) decided to
build a country house for his family just outside of London proper. In 1800 he
located a site in Acton, but soon abandoned it for an existing property in
Ealing. His friend, mentor, and former teacher, the architect George Dance the
Younger, assisted him in the demolition of part of the property and in
redesigning what was the largest part of what was an existing house to Soane's
exacting taste. The collaboration produced a charming home and lovely gardens
in Ealing, an area of West London now completely different from the open fields
that existed when the home was completed in 1804 and this area was very much
more rural and accessible only by walking, stagecoach routes and private
horse-and-carriage transportation from London.
Pitzhanger Manor circa 1804
Pitzhanger Manor is just south of the busy shopping
area on the Ealing High Street…
The location is accessible by bus, tube, and
rail.
Relatively few people will have heard
of Pitzhanger (sometimes spelled Pitshanger) Manor, and fewer still would
connect it with the great Georgian architect. Sir John Soane (1753-1837), is more
widely known to most of us for the museum in his name in Lincoln’s Inn Fields,
comprising his original family home(s) Numbers 12-13 (built in 1792), and the adjoining
Number 14 (also designed by Soane, it was purchased in 1996 by the British government to house
more of his voluminous private art collection).
Sir John Soane by artist Sir Thomas Lawrence
Sir John Soane could not have been more
prominent in his time. He was the Architect to the Bank of England; Surveyor to
the Royal Hospital at Chelsea; Grand Superintendent of Works for the
Freemasons; and responsible for the interiors of Numbers 10 and 11 Downing
Street as well as the Law Courts at Westminster.
Soane designed a number of new
buildings adjacent to Sir Christopher Wren’s Royal Hospital at Chelsea. One of
them, the Infirmary, was destroyed in WWII; the Stables (which are private but
can be seen from Royal Hospital Road) is also his work and has been called “the most quintessentially Soanic” of
all Soane’s exteriors; he also designed the Secretary’s Office of the Royal
Hospital complex, which now houses the Museum (open to the public).
Sir John Soane’s Museum at Lincoln’s Inn Fields
Soane’s residence in Lincoln’s Inn
Fields was more than a private home; it was built to hold much of his art
collection, which included architectural drawings, paintings, sculpture,
architectural models, and his many and diverse artifacts (including the
sarcophagus of Pharoah Seti I, excavated in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings in 1817;
the British Library passed on buying it, so Soane bought it!)
As the architect for the Bank of
England and its offices, an undertaking that occupied him for at least 45
years, of particular note was the Bank Stock Office, considered, in 1793, to be
“daringly unconventional.” He also designed the Dulwich Picture Gallery,
recently described by The Sunday Telegraph as “the most beautiful art gallery in the
world”. It was the first public
picture gallery in England and is said to have influenced a number of galleries
that came after. (It is often remarked that the museum’s collection stands a
far distant second to the magnificent design of the gallery itself.)
The Dulwich Picture Gallery
St John’s Church, Bethnal Green; St
Mary Abbots Church, Kensington; St Nicholas’ Church, Chiswick; Holy Trinity
Church, Marylebone; and St Peter’s Church, Walworth, are all fine examples of
his church design. Of them all, the latter, St Peter’s, is the best preserved.
(The fine interior of the church, however, can be viewed only by attending
church services; grounds are open during daylight hours.)
Soane Family Tomb
Soane also designed his own tomb. Ostensibly designed for his wife, who passed
away in 1815, he shares her eternal rest along with their son John. It is in
the churchyard of Old Saint Pancras Gardens, Pancras Road, Somers Town (not to
be confused with Saint Pancras New Church, in nearby Euston, designed by the
Inwood brothers). Trivia check #1: Old
Saint Pancras is the church where my biographical subject, Grace Dalrymple
Elliott, was married. Trivia check #2:
The tomb is one of only two Grade I listed tombs in London (Karl Marx’s is the
other one), and many think it inspired Giles Gilbert Scott’s red telephone box
of the 1920s.
There are three tombstones: one for Soane’s wife, another
for Soane, and the last for his son John (seen above), who predeceased him at
the age of 37…
Back to Pitzhanger Manor’s happily
anticipated restoration/renovation…
Back view, today, of the manor house, with an eye to the
gardens…
Proposed view from the inner park to the rear of the manor
house, showing new landscaping
and the glass conservatory…
Here’s the view of the new fish pond, looking out of the rear
windows of the house…
Following the completion of the manor
house, Sir John Soane was only to use it as a weekend retreat and a place of
entertainment/dinner parties until he sold it only five years later in
1810. Five years…such a short time for
such an outpouring of energy and talent in the design of this building!
In 1843 it became home to the daughters
of Britain's only assassinated Prime Minister, Spencer Perceval. (A bust of
Perceval is on the second floor landing of the house, and that is an interesting
story, this assassination…look it up!) In 1901, the building was sold to Ealing
District Council and extended to become a public library; in 1985 it was
converted into a museum.
Proposed view of Belvedere in the new plan…
Here is the government legalese regarding the
application for renovation and its outcome:
Ealing
Council’s planning committee approved an application which included renovation
work to the manor in Walpole Park, Mattock Lane, Ealing, when it met on
February 19. This includes the construction
of a new café in the walled garden with improved pedestrian access from Ealing Green to the café, a conservatory
extension at the back of the manor, installation of a roof lantern, and updated visitor facilities for the former
library building which was converted into a gallery in the 1980s. The Government’s National Planning Casework
Unit will now have the final say on the Listed
Building Consent approval.
Proposed view of the “Rick Yard” (Education Centre) in new plan…
In
April 2012 PM was awarded a first-round development grant of £275,000 from the Heritage
Lottery Fund (HLF) to develop the restoration plans and now a round-two bid of
£4.42 million has been submitted. This
is alongside a bid which has been sent to Arts Council
England for just under £500,000 for works to the gallery. Ealing
Council has also agreed in principle to allow the Pitzhanger Manor Trust (PMT)-
a registered charity- to take
over management and operation of the house and gallery. Furthermore, £425,000 has been awarded from several
charitable trusts and foundations which fund
heritage and arts projects, which are subject to the success of the second
round bid from HLF
Leader
of Ealing Council and member of the PMT, Councillor Julian Bell, said: “We are
making excellent progress
towards the restoration of one of the borough’s most iconic landmarks and a fantastic cultural asset.”
Chair
of PMT, Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles, said: “We are looking forward to the time
when we take responsibility for
Pitzhanger Manor Gallery, the new café and community facilities, all within the wonderfully restored Walpole Park. “I have no doubt that once completed it
will be the jewel in the crown of
the queen of the suburbs.” ***
More
funding is still required to enable the total cost of the project to be met. Subject
to further planning permission and all
of the funding being approved, work on PM is due to start in early 2015.
Jestico and Whiles site plan…
For more on how this site is being developed
by Jestico & Whiles, the architect Julian Harrap and others, see: http://www.jesticowhiles.com/project-info.php?p=2480
Julian Harrap rendering of Pitzhanger Manor
As of May 2014, work had already begun on the re-landscaping
of the grounds surrounding Pitzhanger Manor. Although access to the landscaping
area is strictly restricted, the manor house and art gallery are still
accessible to visitors. Admission is free, and the interior of the manor house
– which was renovated only a few years ago – is lovely. What more will be done
to these rooms – if anything – will be revealed in 2015. Here are photos of the gorgeous interiors.
And note this lovely painted ceiling (from the image above)
One of the four caryatids atop the columns of the east front
of Pitzhanger
Manor.
Made of Coade stone, they are thought to
be modeled on the caryatids that enclose the sanctuary of Pandrosus in Athens…
Jo and Nick Manning, Pitzhanger Manor, May 2014
In early May 2014, my husband and I went to an exhibit at
the Pitzhanger Art Gallery. The speaker was an expert on Le Corbusier and his
massive photographs of Corbu’s work adorned the walls of the gallery space. It
was an excellent, well-publicized exhibit that drew many participants. The gallery is an important venue for this
Ealing community, which has – alas! -- a dearth of such cultural places. The renovated house and grounds of Pitzhanger
Manor will bring in many more tourists and visitors, who will, finally, honor
the great architect and designer Sir John Soane in the way he should be
honored. It will also be a tremendous resource for young people studying the
arts. What a coup for Ealing! Bravo to the Ealing Council and the people of
Ealing for their successful efforts in bringing this about.
***Ealing has long
been called The Queen Of The Suburbs…
UPDATE: You can find an article from October 24, 2014 on the transformation of the Park and the unveiling ceremony here.
Post Script…
The text, written by 8-yeqr-old Lily Winterbotham, reads: “Pitzhanger Manor … Sir John Soane
owned this house in Ealing from 1800-1810. He was a famous architect and he
bought this house as a contry [sic]
retreat, and re-designed it. He was the son of a bricklayer and became a
Professer [sic] at the Royal
Academy.”
