2012 Looking Back3

London Open House 22 September

A bright but cold start in the City of London, I had planned to visit the Bank of England but the length of the queue put me off so went to the second on my list, The Guildhall. A lot more to it than I had expected with lots of interesting bits in addition to the main hall itself, interesting to see the amalgam of the old buildings with the more recent builds, including the Guildhall Art Gallery.

Then a rush to get to Trinity House  (1794) before it closed, again more to see than I had expected, including a couple of good models of Light Ships, one having a couple of canons (not sure what they were used for?). The building was damaged in WW2 but well restored.

Then onto The Custom House, (1817 & 1825) a large building on the Thames bank. A typical air of governmental neglect inside but with an impressive ‘large room’ in the centre of the building where the main customs business took place, now seemingly just used as an office space.

Onwards to Blackfriars and Unilever House, an imposing 1930’s building, the frontage recently restored with a modern office development behind.

   

Then a walk through the Inns of Court to the days highlight The Royal Courts of Justice (1874-1882) G E Street’s masterpiece. Very Victorian Gothic with little obvious internal changes and a magnificent main hall with corridors and court rooms leading off it. Certainly made an impression on me and the exterior features in my City2City ‘PhotoWalk’ – Blackfriars to Waterloo Bridge via Aldwich

Looking Back 2

Chiswick House

A visit some months ago to Chiswick House to see what changes have taken place since my last visit some years ago. I have known the villa since the early 1960’s having been there with my father soon after the restoration by the then Ministry of Public Buildings and Works (it’s now in the care of English Heritage).

Major improvements have taken place recently in the grounds and a new Café constructed – a modern design which I quite like, using stone from one of the Portland shelly beds giving an interesting textural look to the stone. A definite improvement on the original municipal café that used to be there.

Chiswick House was built in the 1720’s by Lord Burlington as a place to display his art collection and as a place for entertainment and was never used as a residence.  The design is based on the principals of Andrea Palladio and is a fine example of ‘neo-Palladian’ Architecture, one of the best in this country, with Architect William Kent collaborating with Burlington on the design.

The landscaped grounds are dotted with classical features, temples and obelisks dating from the period of Lord Burlington and William Kent plus an orangery of 1813 still with its original plantings of Camellias. The gardens are open throughout the year and the house reopens in April 2013.