The Pantheon in Georgian London

The Pantheon from Ackermann's Repository (1814)

The Pantheon was a popular venue for public evening entertainments in late Georgian London. It was situated on the south side of Oxford Street where Marks and Spencer is today.

The original Pantheon

The Pantheon was a business venture by Philip Elias Turst who wanted to develop ‘a place of evening entertainment for the nobility and gentry.’1 He raised money for the enterprise by selling shares and employed James Wyatt as architect. Work started in June 1769 and the building was finished in January 1772. It derived its name from the dome which was copied from that of the Roman Pantheon.

In a letter to his friend, Sir Horace Mann, in May 1770, Horace Walpole wrote:

The new winter Ranelagh in the Oxford Road is nearly finished. It amazed me myself. Imagine Balbec in all its glory. The pillars are of artificial giallo antico. The ceilings even of the passages are of the most beautiful stuccos in the best taste of grotesque. The ceilings of the ball-rooms and the panels are painted like Raphael's loggias in the Vatican: a dome like the Pantheon glazed. It is to cost fifty thousand pounds.2

The Pantheon opened on 27 January 1772 and the entertainments held there included assemblies, masquerades, concerts and exhibitions.3

Ackermann’s Repository described the original Pantheon in glowing terms:

It was a most superb and beautiful structure, the admiration of all connoisseurs, foreigners as well as natives. The interior was fitted up in such a magnificent style, that it is scarcely possible for those who never saw it, to conceive the elegance and grandeur of the apartments, the boldness of the paintings, or the effect produced by the disposition of the lights, where were reflected from gilt vases. Below the dome were a number of statues, representing most of the heathen gods and goddesses, supposed to be in the ancient Pantheon at Rome, from which it derived its name. To these were added three beautiful statues of white porphyry, representing the King and Queen, and Britannia. The whole building formed a suite of fourteen rooms, each affording a striking specimen of taste and splendour.4

The Pantheon from Old and New London (1878)

Concerts

During the height of the Pantheon’s popularity, concerts were held regularly. In 1774, the season included twelve subscription concerts which were followed by dancing.

In 1784, a concert was held to celebrate the centenary of the birth of Handel which was attended by the King, Queen and royal family and over 1,600 other people.

In Evelina, published in 1778, Fanny Burney sends her heroine to a concert at the Pantheon:

About eight o'clock we went to the Pantheon. I was extremely struck with the beauty of the building, which greatly surpassed whatever I could have expected or imagined. Yet, it has more the appearance of a chapel, than of a place of diversion; and, though I was quite charmed with the magnificence of the room, I felt that I could not be as gay and thoughtless there as at Ranelagh, for there is something in it which rather inspires awe and solemnity than mirth and pleasure: however, perhaps it may only have this effect upon such a novice as myself.5

She continued:

There was an exceeding good concert, but too much talking to hear it well. Indeed, I am quite astonished to find how little music is attended to in silence; for, though every body seems to admire, hardly any body listens.5

Burney also provides us with a description of the tea room:

We did not see Lord Orville, till we went into the tea-room; which is large, low, and under ground, and serves merely as a foil to the apartments above.5

In Cecilia, published in 1782, Fanny Burney’s heroine also attends a concert at the Pantheon:

At the door of the Pantheon they were joined by Mr Arnott and Sir Robert Floyer, whom Cecilia now saw with added aversion: they entered the great room during the second act of the Concert, to which as no one of the party but herself had any desire to listen, no sort of attention was paid; the ladies entertaining themselves as if no Orchestra was in the room, and the gentlemen, with an equal disregard to it, struggling for a place by the fire, about which they continued hovering till the music was over.6

Exhibitions

Lunardi's balloon on display at the Pantheon from  
Histoire des Ballons et des Aéronautes célèbres by Gaston Tissandier (1887)

Out of season, the great room was used for exhibitions. In 1777, there was an exhibition demonstrating ‘Experiments on the Use of Conductors in preventing Buildings from being struck by Lightning’ and in 1781, there was an exhibition of the stained glass which Mr Pearson had made for a window at Salisbury Cathedral.

Old and New London wrote of another exhibition:

Here, in September and October, 1784, was exhibited the balloon in which Lunardi had made his first successful ascent (September 15) from the Artillery Ground at Moorfields.7

Masquerades at the Pantheon

The Pantheon was famous for its masquerades. There were typically two masquerades each season. They would begin at nine or ten o’clock and supper would not be served until twelve or later, usually in the underground tea-room. These masked balls or galas were sometimes sponsored by one of the men’s clubs, such as one held in 1789 sponsored by White’s.

In A Perfect Match, Mrs Westlake and her daughter Alicia avoid this gala:

The number of invitations from members of the ton had virtually dried up and there was no question of them attending the ball being held at the Pantheon in celebration of the King’s recovery. Even had they not felt honour bound to join the Duchess of Devonshire and the other Whigs in boycotting the ball, they would have shied away from the risk of being cut or, worse still, refused entry, to an event over which the Duchess of Gordon was patroness.8

Old and New London reported:

In the year 1783, a masquerade took place here in honour of the coming of age of the Prince of Wales; it was got up by a noted clown of the period, named Delpini, and a charge of three guineas was made for each ticket.9

In The Sylph, published in 1778, Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire’s heroine Julia is being pressed into attending a masquerade at the Pantheon. Julia wrote to the Sylph for advice:

Will my kind guardian candidly inform me if he thinks I may comply with the desire of Sir William, in going next Thursday to the masquerade at the Pantheon? Without your previous advice, I would not willingly consent. Is it a diversion of which I may participate without danger? Though I doubt there is hardly decency enough left in this part of the world, that vice need wear a mask; yet do not people give a greater scope to their licentious inclinations while under that veil?10

Fanny Burney’s heroine Cecilia was also invited to a masquerade at the Pantheon:

The Captain, who had not heard this speech, which was rather made at him than to him, continued his address to Cecilia; “Give me leave to have the honour of hoping you intend to honour our select masquerade at the Pantheon with your presence. We shall have but five hundred tickets, and the subscription will only be three guineas and a half.”11

In Belinda, published in 1801, Maria Edgeworth sent her heroine to a masquerade at the Pantheon. 

 

You can read more about this on my post about Regency Masquerades.

Italian opera house

After the Haymarket Theatre was destroyed by fire in June 1789, the Pantheon was adapted for use as an opera house. R B O’Reilly leased the Pantheon for twelve years at an annual rent of 3,000 guineas and was given a four-year licence for Italian opera to be performed there by the Lord Chamberlain.

The new opera house opened on 17 February 1791 with the performance of Sacchini's Armida.

Horace Walpole wrote:

The Pantheon has opened, and is small, they say, but pretty and simple; all the rest ill-conducted, and from the singers to the scene-shifters imperfect; the dances long and bad, and the whole performance so dilatory and tedious, that it lasted from eight to half-an-hour past twelve.12

The Prospect Before Us by Thomas Rowlandson (1791) © The Royal Collection
Photo by A Knowles taken at Rowlandson's Comic Art 
exhibition at the Queen's Gallery (2015)

Fire at the Pantheon

On 14 January 1792, fire broke out in one of the new buildings added to the Pantheon in order to make it large enough for the performance of operas.

The Microcosm of London described the scene:

Before any engines reached the spot, the fire had got to such a height, that all attempts to save the building were in vain. The flames, owing to the scenery, oil, paint, and other combustible matter in the house, were tremendous, and so rapid in their progress, that not a single article could be saved. Fortunately, the height of the walls prevented the conflagration from spreading to the adjoining buildings.13

Ackermann’s Repository added:

Persons who witnessed the progress of this tremendous fire, declare, that the appearances exhibited through the windows, the lofty scagliola pillars enveloped in flames and smoke, the costly damask curtains waving from the rarefaction of the air, and the superb chandeliers turning round from the same circumstance, together with the successive crashing and falling in of different portions of the building, furnished to their minds a more lively representation of Pandemonium than the imagination alone can possibly supply. The effects, too, of the intense frost which then prevailed, upon the water poured from the engines upon the blazing pile, are described as equally singular and magnificent. The loss occasioned by this catastrophe amounted to £60,000; only one fourth of which was insured.14

The new Pantheon

Masquerade at the Pantheon from The Microcosm of London Vol 2 (1808-10)

The Pantheon was rebuilt by Crispus Claggett with the same front and portico onto Oxford Street but ‘the rest of the edifice exhibits not even a shadow of its former magnificence.’15 There was a large area or pit with ‘a double tier of elegant and spacious Boxes, in the centre of which is a most splendid one for the Royal Family.’16

On 9 April 1795, the Pantheon reopened with a masquerade, but it failed to regain its former popularity and after a few years, Claggett absconded, leaving his rent unpaid. The shareholders took over the management of the Pantheon, continuing the normal programme of concerts, lectures, exhibitions and masquerades. It had been hoped that a licence would be granted for the performance of theatre, but this was contested by the winter theatres.

The Microcosm of London wrote:

Since the Pantheon was rebuilt, it has been principally used for exhibitions, and occasionally for masquerades, of which the plate is a very spirited representation. It is composed, as these scenes usually are, of a motley crowd of peers and pickpockets, honourables and dishonourables, Jew brokers and demireps, quidnuncs and quack doctors. These entertainments are said not to accord with the English character; and we should have been inclined to impute this want of congeniality to a fund of good sense, which renders our countrymen insensible to such entertainments, if we were not daily witnesses of their pursuing amusements less rational and infinitely more frivolous.17

The Picture of London for 1810 listed under the amusements in London for January:

N.B. In the course of this and the ensuing five months, masquerades are occasionally held at the Opera-house, and the Pantheon, always previously advertised in the newspapers, admission 10s 6d, 1l 1s and 2l 2s and dresses may be hired at the masquerade warehouses, from 5s to 2l 2s each.18

In 1810-11, the Pantheon was leased by the National Institution for improving the Manufactures of the United Kingdom and the Arts connected therewith, but when the expense proved too great for them, they sold the lease to Colonel Henry Francis Greville, the proprietor of the Argyll Rooms. Greville held an annual licence for performances in the Argyll Rooms and had great plans for converting the Pantheon into a theatre and transferring his licence there. Unfortunately, his plans were bigger than his means and so he sold on the lease to his architect, Nicholas Cundy, and Cundy’s associate, Joas Pereira de Souza Caldas who was to manage the theatre. Greville’s role was to supply the Pantheon with a licence to perform.

Old and New London wrote:

The boxes, 171 in number, were disposed into four regular tiers, besides the upper or slip boxes. They were supported by gilt columns, furnished with curtains and chairs, and illuminated by chandeliers. The pit would accommodate about 1,200 and the gallery 500 persons. The stage was 56 feet wide and 90 feet deep. The devices and designs before the curtain were by Signio; the scene-painter was Marinari. A saloon, measuring 49 feet by 21 feet, was appropriated to the boxes, and a refreshment-room was attached to the pit. It was opened on the 25th of February, 1812, at opera prices, with T. Dibdin's opera of The Cabinet.19

The new Pantheon was fraught with difficulties. There were disputes over the issue of the licence to perform and shortly after opening, the building was found to be unsafe and ordered to be closed by the Lord Chamberlain. Within a matter of months, both Caldas and Cundy had been declared bankrupt.

The Lord Chamberlain refused to alter the terms of the licence limiting the Pantheon to the performance of music and dancing, burlettas and children’s dramatics. Greville refused to accept the licence on this basis, and the Lord Chamberlain refused to grant the licence to anyone else, so the Pantheon was forced to shut.

Repeated applications were made for the grant of a licence as a winter theatre, but when they were refused, Cundy decided to open without one. Two days after opening the Pantheon as an English Opera House in July 1813, the Lord Chamberlain ordered the theatre to be closed. Cundy appealed unsuccessfully whilst continuing performances. Despite receiving a fine, he tried again briefly in December 1813. In 1814, everything movable was sold by auction to help meet rent arrears and the building stood empty for many years.

The Pantheon Bazaar

In 1833-4, the Pantheon was converted into a bazaar by the architect Sydney Smirke. The entrance fronts onto Oxford Street and Poland Street remained, but the roof and many of the walls were taken down.

The Pictorial Handbook of London (1854) wrote:

The Pantheon, in Oxford Street, was originally built for a theatre or concert-room. It now presents a large hall fitted up with stalls for millinery, jewellery, knicknackery, toys, and music, with an upper gallery similarly fitted, and affording a view of the lower area. The attendants of the stalls are young women, and the visitants chiefly women and children. Towards Oxford Street are galleries of pictures for sale. The most remarkable work is a great painting by Haydon, of the Raising of Lazarus. On the ground floor on the Marlborough Street side, by which there is another entrance, is a pretty conservatory, in the oriental style, partly occupied for the sale of florists' flowers and exotic plants, and partly for the sale of parrots, love birds, singing birds, monkeys, loris, white mice, squirrels, and gold fish. This is one of the prettiest parts of the scene.20

The Pantheon was acquired by wine merchants W and A Gilbey in 1867 and used as offices and showrooms until it was sold to developers in the 1930s. The building was demolished and Marks and Spencer was built on the site.

Site of the Pantheon, Oxford Street, London (2018)

Rachel Knowles writes clean/Christian Regency era romance and historical non-fiction. She has been sharing her research on this blog since 2011. Rachel lives in the beautiful Georgian seaside town of Weymouth, Dorset, on the south coast of England, with her husband, Andrew.

Find out more about Rachel's books and sign up for her newsletter here.

If you have enjoyed this blog and want to encourage me and help me to keep making my research freely available, please buy me a virtual cup of coffee by clicking the button below.

 

Notes

(1) Ackermann, Rudolph and Pyne, William Henry, The Microcosm of London or London in miniature Volume 2 (Rudolph Ackermann 1808-1810, reprinted 1904).

(2) From a letter from Horace Walpole to Horace Mann quoted in Walford, Edward, Old and New London: A narrative of its history, its people, and its places (Cassell, Petter & Galpin, 1878, London) Vol 4.

(3) British History online said it opened on 27 January 1772 whereas Old and New London said 28 April. The earlier date must be correct as British History online quotes The Gazetteer and New Daily Advertiser 29 January 1772 as its source.

(4) Ackermann's Repository of Arts, Literature, Commerce, Manufactures, Fashions and Politics (1814).

(5) Burney, Fanny, Evelina or the history of a young lady’s entrance into the world (1778).

(6) Burney, Fanny, Cecilia or Memoirs of an Heiress (1782).

(7) Walford op cit.

(8) Knowles, Rachel, A Perfect Match (2015).

(9) Walford op cit.

(10) Cavendish, Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, The Sylph (1778).

(11) Burney, Fanny, Cecilia or Memoirs of an Heiress (1782).

(12) From a letter from Horace Walpole to Miss Agnes Berry, 18 Feb 1791 from Walpole, Horace, The Letters of Horace Walpole, edited by P Cunningham, in nine volumes (1859) Volume 9

(13) Ackermann, Rudolph and Pyne, William Henry, The Microcosm of London or London in miniature Volume 2 (Rudolph Ackermann 1808-1810, reprinted 1904).

(14) Ackermann's Repository of Arts, Literature, Commerce, Manufactures, Fashions and Politics (1814).

(15) Ibid

(16) From The Times, 10 January 1795 as quoted in British History online.

(17) Ackermann, Rudolph and Pyne, William Henry, The Microcosm of London or London in miniature Volume 2 (Rudolph Ackermann 1808-1810, reprinted 1904).

(18) Feltham, John, The Picture of London for 1810 (1810)

(19) Walford op cit. British History online states the opening date as 27 February rather than 25 February.

(20) Weale, John, The Pictorial Handbook of London (1854).

Sources used include:

British History online

Feltham, John, The Picture of London for 1810 (1810)

Ackermann, Rudolph and Pyne, William Henry, The Microcosm of London or London in miniature Volume 2 (Rudolph Ackermann 1808-1810, reprinted 1904)

Ackermann's Repository of Arts, Literature, Commerce, Manufactures, Fashions and Politics (1814)

Burney, Fanny, Cecilia or Memoirs of an Heiress (1782)

Burney, Fanny, Evelina or the history of a young lady’s entrance into the world (1778)

Cavendish, Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, The Sylph (1778)

Tissandier, Gaston, Histoire des Ballons et des Aéronautes célèbres 1783-1800 (Paris, 1887)
Walford, Edward, Old and New London: A narrative of its history, its people, and its places (Cassell, Petter & Galpin, 1878, London) Vol 4

Walpole, Horace, The Letters of Horace Walpole, edited by P Cunningham, in nine volumes (1859) Volume 9

Weale, John, The Pictorial Handbook of London (1854)

The Gold State Coach at the Royal Mews, Buckingham Palace

Gold State Coach at the Royal Mews, Buckingham Palace

The Gold State Coach is, without doubt, the most magnificent coach I have ever seen. What is more, it is Georgian. For me, this huge golden carriage is the highlight of any visit to the Royal Mews at Buckingham Palace, London.

‘A beautiful object’

The Gold State Coach is on display in the former State Carriage House at the Royal Mews. It measures 7.3 metres long, 2.5 metres high and 3.9 metres wide, and is gilded all over.

Gold State Coach at the Royal Mews, Buckingham Palace

The coach is adorned with palm trees and lions’ heads, and devices representing the British victory in the Seven Years’ War against France.

Lion detail on Gold State Coach at the Royal Mews, Buckingham Palace

The exterior boasts exquisitely painted panels by the Florentine artist, Giovanni Battista Cipriani.

Panel detail on Gold State Coach at the Royal Mews, Buckingham Palace

On its roof, there are three cherubs representing the guardian spirits of England, Scotland and Ireland, supporting the Royal Crown, and holding the Sceptre, the Sword of State and the Ensign of the Knighthood in their hands.

Cherubs on the roof of the Gold State Coach
at the Royal Mews, Buckingham Palace

The body of the coach is supported by braces covered in Morocco leather decorated with gilded buckles held by Tritons.

Triton detail on Gold State Coach at the Royal Mews, Buckingham Palace

Horace Walpole wrote to his friend Horace Mann:

There is come forth a new state coach, which has cost 8,000l. It is a beautiful object, though crowded with improprieties. Its support are Tritons, not very well adapted to land-carriage; and formed of palm-trees, which are as little aquatic as Tritons are terrestrial. The crowd to see it on the opening of the Parliament was greater than at the coronation, and much more mischief done.1

Gold State Coach at the Royal Mews, Buckingham Palace

An unusual piece of extravagance

George III commissioned the Gold State Coach in 1760 and it was designed by the architect Sir William Chambers. As Walpole wrote in his letter, the coach cost nearly £8,000 to build. Based on the Retail Price Index, £8,000 would equate to well over £1,000,000 in today’s money. If we consider relative incomes, the equivalent cost would be as much as £14,000,000 or more.2 This seems uncharacteristically extravagant of George III.

Given the cost of building the Gold State Coach, it is perhaps surprising to discover that it was made not for George IV – renowned for his profligacy and love of pomp and ceremony – but for his much more frugal father.

The Gold State Coach’s first outing

The coach was completed in time for the State Opening of Parliament on 25 November 1762. Its first journey was deemed a success, despite the fact that one of the door handles broke and a pane of glass cracked.

Driving the coach

Gold State Coach at the Royal Mews, Buckingham Palace

The Gold State Coach is usually displayed with four replica horses, with a postilion riding one horse in each pair. However, the coach actually requires eight horses to pull it as it weighs around four tonnes. The horses wear a special harness made of red Morocco leather, known as No. 1 State Harness which is reserved especially for this coach.

Originally, the coach was pulled by eight Cream Hanoverian stallions, with six of the horses being driven by a coachman from the box and the leading pair being driven by a postilion riding one of them. From 1918 to 1925, black horses were used, but since George VI’s coronation in 1937, the coach has been drawn by Windsor Greys.

The hammer cloth and box were removed by Edward VII to promote greater visibility and the coach is now pulled by eight postilion-driven horses.

Because of its weight, the coach can only travel at a walking pace and is no good at all on hills. It also takes a very long time to stop. A brakeman walks immediately behind the coach, ready to operate the brake handle when required. The brake needs to be applied approximately 27 metres before the desired stopping point.

Unfortunately, the magnificence of its exterior is not matched with the comfort of the ride. The body of the coach is supported by leather braces and not only rocks backwards and forwards, but sways from side to side as well.

Gold State Coach
at the Royal Mews, Buckingham Palace

Coronations and jubilees

The Gold State Coach has been used at every coronation since that of George IV in 1821. The frieze around the walls of the former State Carriage Room where the coach is on display was painted by Richard Barrett Davis (1782-1854) and depicts the coronation procession of William IV in 1831.

The coach is still used today, but only for special occasions. This is just as well as a large section of the wall on one side of the carriage room has to be removed in order to get the enormous coach out.

The Queen used the Gold State Coach for her coronation on 2 June 1953. It was last used on 4 June 2002 as part of the Queen’s Golden Jubilee celebrations.

Gold State Coach at the Royal Mews, Buckingham Palace

Last visited 1 August 2017 for Bloggers' breakfast event.

Rachel Knowles writes clean/Christian historical romance set in the time of Jane Austen. She has been sharing her research on this blog since 2011. Rachel lives in the beautiful Georgian seaside town of Weymouth, Dorset, on the south coast of England, with her husband, Andrew.

Find out more about Rachel's books and sign up for her newsletter here.

If you have enjoyed this blog and want to encourage me and help me to keep making my research freely available, please buy me a virtual cup of coffee by clicking the button below.

 

Notes

(1) In a letter dated 30 November 1762, from Walpole, Horace, Letters of Horace Walpole to Sir Horace Mann volume 1 p126 (1833).
(2) Relative values calculated using the Measuring Worth website (see link below).

Sources used include:

Vickers, Hugo, The Royal Mews at Buckingham Palace (Royal Collection Enterprises Ltd, 2011)

Walpole, Horace, Letters of Horace Walpole to Sir Horace Mann volume 1 (1833).

Measuring worth website

All photographs © Regencyhistory.net

The notorious Lady Craven, Margravine of Brandenburg-Ansbach-Bayreuth

Lady Craven by Romney
from Romney by R Davies (1914)

Profile

Elizabeth, Margravine of Brandenburg-Ansbach-Bayreuth, previous married name Lady Craven (17 December 1750 – buried 13 January 1828), was a playwright and author, notorious for her scandalous affairs during her first marriage to Lord Craven.

Early years

Elizabeth Berkeley was born on 17 December 1750, the youngest daughter of Augustus Berkeley, 4th Earl of Berkeley, and his wife, Elizabeth Drax of Charborough in Dorset.

The infamous Lady Craven

William Craven, 6th Baron Craven, from 
The Beautiful Lady Craven, Lady Craven's
memoirs edited by AM Broadley and L Melville (1914)

On 10 May 1767, at the age of 16, Elizabeth married William Craven (1738-91), a man some twelve years her senior. Two years later he became the 6th Baron Craven on the death of his uncle. They had seven children: Elizabeth (1768); Maria (1769) who married William, 2nd Earl of Sefton; William, 1st Earl of Craven (1770); Georgiana; Arabella; Henry Augustus Berkeley (1776); and Keppel Richard (1779).

The marriage, however, was not a success. Both Elizabeth and her husband indulged in affairs, notably Elizabeth’s scandalous liaison with the French ambassador, the Count of Guines, in 1773, which even made it into the pages of the Morning Chronicle.

The Count, afterwards the Duke, of Guines, from 
The Beautiful Lady Craven, Lady Craven's
memoirs edited by AM Broadley and L Melville (1914)

Elizabeth became friends with Horace Walpole, corresponding with him and visiting his home at Strawberry Hill. Some of her early work was published on the Strawberry Hill Press. During this period, she wrote a satire on German snobbery and several plays, including The Miniature Picture, which was put on at Drury Lane in 1780/1.

Horace Walpole
from The Beautiful Lady Craven, Lady Craven's
memoirs edited by AM Broadley and L Melville (1914)

Whilst Lord Craven tolerated Elizabeth’s behaviour, she was still received in society, but in 1783, Lord Craven had had enough. He arranged a separation, giving Elizabeth a settlement of £1,500 a year.

Travel and intrigues

Lady Craven and her son,
from The Beautiful Lady Craven, Lady Craven's
memoirs edited by AM Broadley and L Melville (1914)

Taking her youngest son Keppel with her, Elizabeth went to live near Versailles in France where she wrote plays for the court theatre. She became romantically involved with Henry Vernon, the great nephew of Admiral Edward Vernon, and over the next few years, she travelled extensively in Europe, in France, Italy, Austria, Poland, Bulgaria, Russia, Greece and Turkey. Whilst on her travels, she wrote to Christian Frederick Charles Alexander, the Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach-Bayreuth, whom she had met in France. The Margrave was part of the Prussian royal family with a sickly wife back at home.

At the suggestion of Horace Walpole, Elizabeth published the story of her travels, A Journey through the Crimea to Constantinople (1789), her most popular work.

Lady Craven and the Margrave of Anspach
from The Beautiful Lady Craven, Lady Craven's
memoirs edited by AM Broadley and L Melville (1914)

 The Margrave of Ansbach

In 1787, Elizabeth visited her long-time correspondent, the Margrave of Ansbach, and successfully displaced his mistress in his affections. Together they travelled to Berlin to arrange the sale of the Margrave’s principality to the King of Prussia for a very handsome sum. The Margrave’s ailing wife died in early 1791, and Lord Craven followed suit in September. Less than a month later, on 13 October 1791, Elizabeth married the Margrave in Lisbon with great style.

The Margrave of Anspach from The Beautiful
 Lady Craven, Lady Craven's memoirs
 edited by AM Broadley and L Melville (1914)

Brandenburg House

Elizabeth and the Margrave travelled to England and bought a house in Fulham overlooking the Thames which they called Brandenburg House. If Elizabeth had hoped that her wealth and position would see her past indiscretions forgotten, she was to be disappointed.

The Bon Ton in March 1792 said:

The Margravine of Anspach is not visited by any of the leading Ladies of Fashion, although she had not been wanting in sending round her cards of invitation, and calling at their houses. At a ball given at her house a few nights since, to which there was a general invitation, only thirty people of both sexes were present.1

It must have been an even greater blow to Elizabeth that she was not received at court. George III disapproved of her marriage, thinking it unequal – the Margrave was a member of the Prussian royal family and Elizabeth was only the daughter of an earl. The King refused to recognise the title of Princess Berkeley that the Holy Roman Emperor Francis II had bestowed on her.

Despite these setbacks, Elizabeth entertained lavishly at Brandenburg House and frequently put on plays in the little theatre near the house.

Brandenburg House from Old and New London by E Walford (1878)

Benham Park

Around 1799, the Margrave bought Benham Park, near Newbury in Berkshire, the country seat of the Cravens. The Margrave took a keen interest in horseracing and bred horses at Benham.

The Margrave died quite suddenly on 5 January 1806 leaving his wife a fortune of around £150,000. Elizabeth erected a huge memorial to him near Benham, on the Bath Road.

The widowed Margravine continued to divide her time between Benham Park and Brandenburg House with occasional trips to Europe.

The Persian ambassador

Mirza Abul Hassan Khan by Sir Thomas
Lawrence (1810) in Fogg Art Museum
Photo by Daderot CCO via Wikimedia Commons

Elizabeth entertained the Persian ambassador, Mirza Abul Hassan, several times during his diplomatic visit to England in 1809-10. He first visited Brandenburg House in March 1810. In his journal, he described it as ‘a heavenly house overlooking the Thames’, and wrote of a room full of Chinese porcelain and another full of musical instruments, all of which, he was told, Elizabeth could play. He wrote of Elizabeth that: ‘In her youth she was incomparable in beauty, grace and charm; even now, in old age, her face bears the traces of youthful beauty.’2

The ambassador was back at Brandenburg House on 6 April 1810, during the London riots over Sir Francis Burdett’s arrest. He noted that two of the Margravine’s guests, Lord Keith and his daughter Margaret Mercer Elphinstone, arrived covered with mud, because the rioters had pelted them with stones for refusing to remove their hats.

On 16 May, he was invited to experience the Brandenburg House Theatricals:

Brandenburgh House Theatre was opened yesterday for the first time since the death of the Margrave. Miss Jane Cramer’s performance was much admired. The Persian Ambassador was in the fashionable circle, and the Duke of Kent’s Band attended.3

Queen Caroline and the end of Brandenburg House

In June 1820, Caroline, Princess of Wales, the estranged wife of George IV, returned to England to claim her position as Queen Consort of England. Elizabeth lent Brandenburg House to Queen Caroline, and it was here that Caroline died on 7 August 1821, having failed in her attempt to be crowned Queen. The following February, Elizabeth commissioned the sale of furniture, china and books at Brandenburg House, and in May, the fabric of the building was sold off, including staircases, chimney pieces, doors, windows, and the scenery and machinery of the theatre.

Villa Craven

Elizabeth was living in Villa Craven, her house in Naples, when she wrote her colourful memoirs which were published in 1826. She died two years later and was buried in the British cemetery at Naples on 13 January 1828.

The tomb of the Margravine of Anspach, Naples,
from The Beautiful  Lady Craven, Lady Craven's
 memoirs ed by AM Broadley and L Melville (1914)

Notes

(1) From Craven, Elizabeth Craven, Baroness, The beautiful Lady Craven edited by AM Broadley and Lewis Melville (1914). Ansbach was sometimes spelt Anspach as in this article.

(2) From Hassan Khan, Mirza Abul, A Persian at the Court of King George 1809-10, edited by Margaret Morris Cloake (1988).

(3) From Craven, Elizabeth Craven, Baroness, The beautiful Lady Craven edited by AM Broadley and Lewis Melville (1914). Brandenburg was sometimes spelt Brandenburgh as in this book.

Sources used include:

Davies, Randall, Romney (1914)

Courthope, William, editor, Debrett's Complete Peerage of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1838)

Craven, Elizabeth Craven, Baroness, later Margravine of Brandenburg-Ansbach-Bayreuth, The Beautiful Lady Craven edited by AM Broadley and Lewis Melville (1914)

Hassan Khan, Mirza Abul, A Persian at the Court of King George 1809-10, edited by Margaret Morris Cloake (1988)

Turner, Katherine, Elizabeth, Margravine of Brandenburg-Ansbach-Byreuth (other married name Elizabeth Craven, Lady Craven) (1750-1828) Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford University Press, 2004; online edition May 2010; accessed 9 June 2017)

Walford, Edward, Old and New London: A narrative of its history, its people, and its places (Cassell, Petter & Galpin, 1878, London) Vol 6

LBHF Libraries blog: The end of Brandenburg House

Carlton House - a Regency History guide

Carlton House from Pall Mall from Ackermann's Repository (1809)

What was Carlton House?

Carlton House was the London residence of George IV from 1783 to 1826. He spent an exorbitant amount of money remodelling and refurnishing it, but after becoming King, he decided it was inadequate for his needs. George moved out in 1826 and Carlton House was demolished to make way for an exclusive housing development which still stands on Carlton House Terrace today.

History

Carlton House derived its name from Henry Boyle, Baron Carleton, who owned the property in the early 18th century.1 The house passed to the family of the 3rd Earl of Burlington, and was then sold to Frederick, Prince of Wales, George III’s father. After the death of Frederick’s widow, Princess Augusta, in 1772, the house stood vacant. 

In 1783, the future George IV came of age and he was given Carlton House in which to form his own household. By this time, it was badly in need of renovation and George III obtained a grant from Parliament to make Carlton House a suitable residence for his son.

George IV as Prince of Wales
by John Hoppner (1792)
Photo by Andrew Knowles
Portrait © The Wallace Collection

Rebuilding Carlton House

George employed the architect Henry Holland to remodel Carlton House. Unfortunately George’s extravagance reached legendary proportions. His expenditure was always far in excess of his funds and he ran up huge debts on this and other building projects. At one stage, he shut up Carlton House for a while in an effort to economise, but ultimately he was forced to get married in order to persuade Parliament to release more funds.

The partly finished house won Horace Walpole’s approval, though he wondered how it was to be paid for. After visiting Carlton House in 1785 he wrote:

We went to see the Prince’s new palace in Pall Mall; and were charmed. It will be the most perfect in Europe. There is an august simplicity that astonished me. You cannot call it magnificent; it is the taste and propriety that strike. Every ornament is at a proper distance, and not one too large, but all delicate and new, with more freedom and variety than Greek ornaments.

He went on to say:

The portico, vestibule, hall, and staircase will be superb, and, to my taste, full of perspectives; the jewel of all is a small music room, that opens into a green recess and winding walk of the garden. In all the fairy tales you have been, you never was in so pretty a scene, Madam: I forgot to tell you how admirably all the carving, stucco, and ornaments are executed; but whence the money is to come I conceive not – all the tin mines in Cornwall would not pay a quarter.2

It is unlikely that Walpole would have approved of some of George’s later alterations!

More rebuilding

George’s building projects seemed to go on forever. He was rarely satisfied with the final result for long and was continually remodelling Carlton House and redecorating the rooms. After Holland’s death, he employed a variety of other architects to help him realise his ever-changing vision. Thomas Hopper added the Gothic Conservatory, whilst James Wyatt and John Nash completely remodelled the basement storey. Edward Wyatt added carved and gilded doors whilst Walsh Porter, who had set himself up as a connoisseur, added sumptuous draperies, curtains and wall hangings.

The Conservatory, Carlton House, from
The History of the Royal Residences by WH Pyne (1819)

According to Gronow:

This building was constantly under repair, but never improved, for no material alterations were made in its appearance.3

Life at Carlton House

Gronow described Carlton House in 1813 as “a centre for all the great politicians and wits who were the favourites of the Regent.”4

George held many magnificent entertainments at Carlton House, including a notable fête in June 1811 after becoming Regent. 

 

You can read about the fête here.

 

You can read about the dreadful chaos of the public open days that followed here.

The demise of Carlton House

By 1815, George was losing interest in Carlton House. He no longer thought that it was grand enough for his residence and after his mother’s death in 1818 he announced his intention of moving to Buckingham House. But of course, some work would have to be done in order to make it suitable. And of course, it wouldn’t be cheap. In an effort to raise money, he gave up Carlton House completely in 1826, stripping it of its furniture and fittings for reuse in Buckingham Palace and other royal residences. The house was demolished and superior housing erected on the appropriately named Carlton House Terrace.

Carlton House Terrace on site of Carlton House

Captain Gronow described Carlton House as “one of the meanest and most ugly edifices that ever disfigured London, notwithstanding it was screened by a row of columns,”3 so perhaps he, at least, did not see it as such a great loss.
 

For a long time, I’ve believed that eight of the columns that had once fronted Carlton House were used for the portico of the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, but the National Gallery website seems to suggest that the architect, Wilkin, decided they were too small, and it is only conjecture that they were used in the east and west porticos instead!5

A tour of Carlton House

Although Carlton House no longer stands, fortunately, George IV liked to have pictures painted of his royal residences and many of the rooms are included in Pyne’s A History of the Royal Residences. There is also a floor plan available. However, it is not always straight forward to match the descriptions with the rooms as George had a habit of changing their names when he redecorated!

Room layout of principal floor of Carlton House from Illustrations
of the Public Buildings of London by J Britton and A Pugin (1825)
anotated from key by Rachel Knowles

The North Front

The Microcosm of London stated:

Carlton House, with its courtyard, is separated from Pall Mall by a dwarf screen, which is surmounted by a very beautiful colonnade.6

Carlton House from Pall Mall from Memoirs
of George IV by R Huish (1830)

The North Front, Carlton House, from The History
of the Royal Residences by WH Pyne (1819)

The Great Hall

From Pall Mall, you entered Carlton House through a portico and into the Great Hall. The Microcosm of London stated:

There is in this hall a symmetry and proportion, a happy adjustment of the part to produce a whole, that are rarely seen; it is considered as the chef d’oeuvre of Mr Holland, and would do honour to any architect of any age or country.6

According to Britton and Pugin, the Great Hall had:

...an air of classical elegance, and while it is sufficiently spacious to correspond with the approach through the portico, is neither so large, nor so splendid, as to detract from the effect of the apartments to which it conducts: a fault that too frequently occurs in mansions where the magnificence of the entrance creates expectations that are not gratified, and thus produces an anti-climax in architecture.7

The Hall, Carlton House, from the Microcosm of London
by R Ackermann and WH Pyne (1808-10)

The Hall of Entrance, Carlton House, from The History
of the Royal Residences by WH Pyne (1819)

Octagonal Vestibule

The Vestibule was octagonal in shape. On three sides, it had arches leading to the Grand Staircase, the Great Hall and the State Apartments; on a fourth side, a closed-in arch displayed a chimneypiece with a bust of the Prince of Condé and an enormous mirror. The other four sides of the octagon had marble busts by Nollekens on display.8

The Vestibule, Carlton House, from The History
of the Royal Residences by WH Pyne (1819)

The Grand Staircase

The Grand Staircase consisted of a flight of steps up to a landing place and then two further flights of steps which curved round up to the chamber floor. Below, a second staircase led to the lower suite of apartments.

Grand Staircase, Carlton House,  from Ackermann's Repository (1812)

Grand Staircase, Carlton House, from The History
 of the Royal  Residences by WH Pyne (1819)

The Gallery of the Staircase, Carlton House, from
The History of the Royal Residences by WH Pyne (1819)

The State Apartments

The State Apartments were on the principal floor and reached through the West Ante Room, on the right after entering through the portico from Pall Mall. These consisted of the West Ante Room, the Crimson Drawing Room, the Circular Room and the Throne Room.

West Ante Room

This was a waiting room for people calling at Carlton House on business.

West Ante Room, Carlton House, from The History
of the Royal Residences by WH Pyne (1819)

Crimson Drawing Room

This room derived its name from the festooned draperies of crimson satin damask that were suspended from the cornice and in the windows.

Crimson Drawing Room, Carlton House, from The History
of the Royal Residences by WH Pyne (1819)

Circular Room (on floor plan as Dining Room)

At some stage, this room was clearly used as a dining room as it is labelled as such on the floor plan.

Circular Room, Carlton House, from The History
of the Royal Residences by WH Pyne (1819)

Throne Room

The throne consisted of a “chair of state and footstool, elevated upon a platform, and surmounted by a magnificent canopy; the whole being of crimson velvet.”8

Throne Room, Carlton House, from The History
of the Royal Residences by WH Pyne (1819)

Rooms of Private Audience

These rooms were reached by walking through the Great Hall and the Octagonal Vestibule and consisted of the Ante Room, the Lesser Drawing Room and the Lesser Throne Room, which adjoined the Throne Room.

Ante Room

Ante Room, Carlton House, from The History
of the Royal Residences by WH Pyne (1819)

Ante Room looking north, Carlton House, from The History
of the Royal Residences by WH Pyne (1819)

Lesser Drawing Room/Crimson Bow Room/Rose Satin Drawing Room

This room was decorated partly in the Chinese style and contained the Table of the Great Commanders which is now normally on display at Buckingham Palace.

Rose-satin Drawing Room, Carlton House, from The History
of the Royal Residences by WH Pyne (1819)

Lesser Throne Room/Old Throne Room/Ante Chamber leading to the Throne Room

This room was the original throne room and contained portraits of George III and Queen Charlotte by Ramsay as well as portraits of the Prince Regent and the Duke of York.

Ante Chamber leading to the Throne Room, Carlton House,
from The History of the Royal Residences by WH Pyne (1819)

Private Rooms

The Prince’s Private Rooms were situated on the left of the Ante Room and consisted of the Private Audience Chamber and Private Closet.

Private Audience Chamber/Blue Velvet Room

Blue Velvet Room, Carlton House, from The History
of the Royal Residences by WH Pyne (1819)

Private Closet/His Majesty’s Closet/Blue Velvet Closet

Blue Velvet Closet, Carlton House, from The History
of the Royal Residences by WH Pyne (1819)

The South Front

The South Front, Carlton House, from The History
of the Royal Residences by WH Pyne (1819)

As the level of Pall Mall was higher than that of the gardens, there was a suite of apartments in the basement of the south front.

The basement storey

The suite of rooms on the basement storey was reached by descending the lower part of the Grand Staircase and entering the Lower Vestibule or Ante Room. To the left of the Ante Room was the Library, the Golden Drawing Room and the Gothic Dining Room while to the right was the Bow Sitting Room, the Ante Room to the Dining Room, the Dining Room and the Conservatory.

Room layout of left-hand side of basement floor of Carlton House from 
Illustrations of the Public Buildings of London by J Britton and A Pugin (1825)
anotated from key by Rachel Knowles

Room layout of right-hand side of basement floor of Carlton House from 
Illustrations of the Public Buildings of London by J Britton and A Pugin (1825)
anotated from key by Rachel Knowles

Lower Vestibule or Ante Room

Lower Vestibule, Carlton House, from The History
of the Royal Residences by WH Pyne (1819)

Library
 

The bookcases in the library were made of oak in the Gothic style and “the cornices are contrived to conceal spring rollers, which contain a fine collection of maps, that can be displayed for reference without inconvenience.”8

George’s librarian was Dr Stanier Clarke.

Golden Drawing Room/Corinthian Room

Golden Drawing Room, Carlton House, from The History
of the Royal Residences by WH Pyne (1819)

The Alcove, Golden Drawing Room, Carlton House, from
The History of the Royal Residences by WH Pyne (1819)

Gothic Dining Room

Gothic Dining Room, Carlton House, from The History
of the Royal Residences by WH Pyne (1819)

Dining Room

Dining Room, Carlton House, from The History
of the Royal Residences by WH Pyne (1819)

Conservatory

The conservatory was constructed in “the florid Gothic” style.

Its form resembles that of a cathedral, upon a small scale, having a nave and two aisles, which are formed by rows of clustered carved pillars, supporting arches, from which spring the fans and tracery that form the roofs. The interstices of the tracery of the ceilings are perforated and filled with glass, producing a novel, light, and appropriate effect.8

Conservatory, Carlton House, from The History
of the Royal Residences by WH Pyne (1819)

Armoury

There was an Armoury on the attic storey, where the Prince displayed his collection of ancient and modern arms including, apparently, the dagger of Genghis Khan.8

Rachel Knowles writes clean/Christian historical romance set in the time of Jane Austen. She has been sharing her research on this blog since 2011. Rachel lives in the beautiful Georgian seaside town of Weymouth, Dorset, on the south coast of England, with her husband, Andrew.

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Notes

(1) From British History online.

(2) From Walpole, Horace, The Letters of Horace Walpole, edited by P Cunningham, in nine volumes (1859).

(3) From Gronow, Captain RH, Captain Gronow's Last Recollections, being the fourth and final series (1866).

(4) From Gronow, Captain RH, The Reminiscences of Captain Gronow (1862).

(5) From The National Gallery website.

(6) From Ackermann's Microcosm of London vol 1 (1808-10).

(7) From Illustrations of the public buildings of London by Britton and Pugin (1825) vol 2.

(8) From The History of the Royal Residences by WH Pyne (1819).

Sources used include:

Ackermann, Rudolph, and Pyne, William Henry, The Microcosm of London or London in miniature Volume 1 (Rudolph Ackermann 1808-1810, reprinted 1904)

Britton, John and Pugin, Augustus, Illustrations of the public buildings of London (1825)

Gronow, Captain RH, Captain Gronow's Last Recollections, being the fourth and final series (1866)

Gronow, Captain RH, The Reminiscences of Captain Gronow (1862)

Pyne, WH, The history of the Royal Residences of Windsor Castle, St James's Palace, Carlton House, Kensington Palace, Hampton Court, Buckingham House and Frogmore (1819)

Robinson, John Martin, Buckingham Palace, The official illustrated history (2011)

Walpole, Horace, The Letters of Horace Walpole, edited by P Cunningham, in nine volumes (1859)

British History online
National Gallery