York House: a grand house on the Thames
This is York House, the town hall in Twickenham
It has a very French look to it, doesn’t it? I’d guessed it was built in the 19th century and much of its appearance now dates back to the second half of the 19th century when it was remodelled by the Duc d’Orleans after his family lost the throne of France and lived for a while in Twickenham. The house, though, is much older than that.
This stretch of the Thames, often referred to as the Arcadian Thames, used to have many great houses built looking out over the river. The Thames was a significant highway connecting the royal palaces of Westminster (and later St James) and Hampton Court. Kings and queens found it a convenient way to travel between their official residences and people who aspired to high social status wanted to live along their route. Today, the most obvious survivors are Marble Hill House (built in 1724) and Ham House (1610). Alexander Pope had a smaller, but still substantial, house built after he moved to Twickenham in 1719 and that was where he installed his famous grotto. His house was demolished (though the grotto survives) and that seems to be that as far as the riverside houses go.
Appearances can be deceptive. Hiding away behind the 19th century façade of York House is a Jacobean building, dating back to the 17th century. We cannot be sure when it was built, although there is some evidence that it may have been around 1635. The house had the H shaped floor plan typical of grand houses of the period and this can still be glimpsed in the centre block of the modern building. (The wings are much later additions.)
The Jacobean house would have looked very different. The original entrance was in the left hand bay as you look from the front. The entrance was moved when the house was remodelled and the original entrance hall is now rather a scrappy bit of office space. You can see that the windows do not match those on the right because originally there were no windows there.
The inside of the house has been dramatically changed about several times and it’s difficult to get an idea of what it would originally have looked like. The Jacobean entrance led directly into a hall with a rather splendid wooden staircase which has survived. Unfortunately it’s almost impossible to get a decent photograph of it, in part because a lift was installed up through the middle which is not a thing of beauty. The ceiling at the top of the staircase is not original but it has outlasted several renovations and is worth noticing.
The newel post at the foot of the stairs shows some fine Jacobean workmanship.
The hall led directly into the dining room. When the entrance was moved to the centre of the frontage, the dining room became the main entrance hall but the original Jacobean fire surround remains, the most striking feature of the old building.
One of the ceilings may date back to when the house was built. The plaster decoration shows various water birds, presumably reflecting the fact that the room faces towards the nearby river.
Although so little of the original house remains, its history is fascinating. The house went through many notable owners. The second Earl of Manchester was a friend of Charles I who went on to become a general for the Parliamentarians before becoming Lord Chamberlain to Charles II. This flexible courtier lived at York House in the mid 17th century. Later, it seems to have come into the hands of the Earl of Clarendon, although it’s not sure if he was ever the legal owner. Later owners included several British aristocrats but its most celebrated tenants were French. In 1864 the Comte de Paris moved in. He was the heir to the French throne but had to leave the country when revolution broke out in 1848. He added substantially to the house which by then had already sprouted various new wings and servants’ quarters. When political changes in France made it possible for him to move back there, he abandoned York House in 1871. The French returned in 1897 when the Pretender to the French throne the Duc d’Orleans (King Philippe VIII to his followers) moved in. The distinctively French look of the house nowadays is largely down to him. He made major alterations to the building. Local sources suggested that he spent £40,000 on the work. This is probably an exaggeration but he definitely made changes on a grand scale. A new wing was added which included a swimming pool and his own museum for his hunting trophies. Electricity was installed and a mile of new drainage pipes. Much of the decoration was in the style of the reigns of Louis XIV-XVI and fleur de lys popped up everywhere including rainwater pipes.
His personal cipher also appeared around the house, for example on these rather splendid finger plates on the interior doors.
The Duc d’Orleans made himself unpopular with the locals, partly by cutting off access to what had been open land and partly by his support of the Boers during the Boer War. The result was that he spent less and less time in Twickenham, eventually selling the house to the Indian industrialist, Sir Ratan Tata, the owner of Tata Steel. The interior of the house was once again redesigned but the most striking addition was the construction of an elaborate fountain in the grounds, featuring sea nymphs and horses.
These are known locally as “the naked ladies” and have given their name to a craft beer brewed in the area.
The additions to the house are more obvious at the rear where the range of different architectural styles is more obvious.
York House is now owned by the local authority and used for ceremonial occasions and for council meetings. It’s a popular wedding venue. It’s unlikely that many of those posing for wedding photographs there realise that they are standing in front of a house that was built around 400 years ago and is one of the last survivors of the grand houses that used to line the Thames.
