The Somerset House in London

Saturday, 22 March 2014 - 01:00 pm (CET/MEZ) Berlin | Author/Destination:
Category/Kategorie: General, London, Museums, Exhibitions, Palaces, Castles, Manors, Parks
Reading Time:  4 minutes

© Jan van der Crabben/cc-by-sa-2.0

© Jan van der Crabben/cc-by-sa-2.0

Somerset House is a large Neoclassical building situated on the south side of the Strand in central London overlooking the River Thames, just east of Waterloo Bridge. The building, originally the site of a Tudor palace, was designed by Sir William Chambers in 1776, and further extended with Victorian wings to the north and south. The East Wing forms part of the adjacent King’s College London.

In the sixteenth century, the north bank of the Thames between London and Westminster was a favoured site for the mansions of the nobility. In 1539, Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford, obtained a grant of land at “Chester Place, outside Temple Bar, London” from King Henry VIII. When the boy-king Edward VI came to the throne in 1547, Seymour became Duke of Somerset and Lord Protector. About 1549 he pulled down an old Inn of Chancery and other houses that stood on the site and began to build himself a truly imposing residence. It was a two storey house built around a quadrangle with a gateway rising to three stories and was one of the earliest examples of Renaissance architecture in England. It is not known who designed the building. Before it was finished, however, Somerset created too many enemies for himself in the Council. In the struggle for power he was overthrown and in 1552 and was executed at Tower Hill. “Somerset Place” then came into the possession of the Crown. The future Queen Elizabeth I lived there during the reign of her half-sister, Queen Mary I. The process of completion and improvement was slow and costly. As late as 1598 Stow refers to it as “yet unfinished”.

from Victoria Embankment © Adrian Pingstone Ice Rink © geograph.org.uk - Danny Robinson/cc-by-sa-2.0 Entrance to the Courtauld Gallery © Mike Peel - www.mikepeel.net/cc-by-sa-2.5 from The Strand © geograph.org.uk - Stephen Richards/cc-by-sa-2.0 © Jan van der Crabben/cc-by-sa-2.0
<
>
Entrance to the Courtauld Gallery © Mike Peel - www.mikepeel.net/cc-by-sa-2.5
As well as the Royal Academy, and the Government Art School, Somerset House was fitted out to house the Royal Society and the Society of Antiquaries. These, and the Geological Society, moved to Burlington House in Piccadilly in the early 19th century.

In the late 20th century the building was reinvigorated as a centre for the visual arts. The first institution to move in was the Courtauld Institute of Art, including the Courtauld Gallery, which has an important collection of old master and impressionist paintings. In the late 1990s the main courtyard ceased to be a civil service carpark, and the main terrace overlooking the Thames was refurbished and opened to the public, these alterations being overseen by the leading conservation architects Donald Insall & Associates. A visitor centre featuring audiovisual displays on the history of the building; the gilded state barge of the Lord Mayor of the City of London; and a shop and café were opened in the wing overlooking the river. The Gilbert Collection of decorative arts, and the Hermitage Rooms, which stage exhibitions of items loaned from the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg, moved into the same area. The last Hermitage exhibition took place in 2007 and the Gilbert Collection galleries closed in 2008; the collection moved into new galleries at the Victoria and Albert Museum in June 2009. Somerset House now puts on a programme of art exhibitions drawing on various sources.

Read more on Somerset House, London Fashion Week and Wikipedia Somerset House (Smart Traveler App by U.S. Department of State - Weather report by weather.com - Global Passport Power Rank - Travel Risk Map - Democracy Index - GDP according to IMF, UN, and World Bank - Global Competitiveness Report - Corruption Perceptions Index - Press Freedom Index - World Justice Project - Rule of Law Index - UN Human Development Index - Global Peace Index - Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index). Photos by Wikimedia Commons. If you have a suggestion, critique, review or comment to this blog entry, we are looking forward to receive your e-mail at comment@wingsch.net. Please name the headline of the blog post to which your e-mail refers to in the subject line.




Recommended posts:

Share this post: (Please note data protection regulations before using buttons)

Theme Week Croatian Adriatic coast - Šibenik

Theme Week Croatian Adriatic coast - Šibenik

[caption id="attachment_161627" align="aligncenter" width="590"] © Tomaž Demšar/cc-by-sa-3.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Šibenik is a historic city in Croatia, located in central Dalmatia where the river Krka flows into the Adriatic Sea. Šibenik is a political, educational, transport, industrial and tourist center of Šibenik–Knin County and also the 3rd largest city in the historic region of Dalmatia. It is the oldest native Croatian town on the shores of the sea. The central church in Šibenik, the Cathedral of St...

[ read more ]

Theme Week Philippines

Theme Week Philippines

[caption id="attachment_203996" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Boracay Island © panoramio.com - Alexey Komarov/cc-by-3.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Situated in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of about 7,641 islands that are broadly categorized under three main geographical divisions from north to south: Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. The capital city of the Philippines is Manila and the most populous city is Quezon C...

[ read more ]

The European Union

The European Union

[caption id="attachment_25264" align="aligncenter" width="590"] © naturalearthdata.com - Alexrk2/cc-by-sa-3.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) and the European Economic Community (EEC), formed by the Inner Six countries in 1951 and 1958, respectively. In the intervening years the community and its successors have grown in size by the accession of new member states and in power by the addition of policy areas to its remit. The Maastricht Treaty established the ...

[ read more ]

São Miguel Island, the largest island of the Azores

São Miguel Island, the largest island of the Azores

[caption id="attachment_216565" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Fonte de Buraco Belvedere overlooking the village of Maia © José Luís Ávila Silveira/Pedro Noronha e Costa[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]São Miguel Island, nicknamed "The Green Island" (Ilha Verde), is the largest and most populous island in the Portuguese archipelago of the Azores. The island covers 760 km² (290 sq mi) and has around 140,000 inhabitants, with 45,000 people residing in Ponta Delgada, the archipelago's largest city. The ancient laurisilva forest h...

[ read more ]

The city of Aberdeen in Scotland

The city of Aberdeen in Scotland

[caption id="attachment_152542" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Belmont Street Farmers Market © Peter Ward[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 29th most populous city, with an official population estimate of 220,420. Nicknames include the Granite City, the Grey City and the Silver City with the Golden Sands. During the mid-18th to mid-20th centuries, Aberdeen's buildings incorporated locally quarried grey granite...

[ read more ]

Merlion in Singapore

Merlion in Singapore

[caption id="attachment_219831" align="aligncenter" width="590"] © Unwicked/cc-by-sa-4.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]The Merlion is the official mascot of Singapore, depicted as a mythical creature with the head of a lion and the body of a fish. Being of prominent symbolic nature to Singapore and Singaporeans in general, it is widely used to represent both the city state and its people in sports teams, advertising, branding, tourism and as a national personification. The Merlion was first used in Singapore as the logo for...

[ read more ]

Bourg-en-Bresse in eastern France

Bourg-en-Bresse in eastern France

[caption id="attachment_160819" align="aligncenter" width="590"] © FRED/cc-by-sa-3.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Bourg-en-Bresse is a commune in eastern France with a population of 40,000, capital of the Ain department, and was capital of the former province of Bresse (Brêsse). It is located 70 km (43 mi) north-northeast of Lyon and at 50 kilometres (31 mi) of Lons-le-Saunier. The inhabitants of Bourg-en-Bresse are known as Burgiens. The city is located at the western base of the Jura mountains, on the left bank of the Reyssouze...

[ read more ]

Ronda in Andalusia

Ronda in Andalusia

[caption id="attachment_214787" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Puente Nuevo bridge © TheBoxagon[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Ronda is a village in the Spanish province of Málaga. It is located about 105 km (65 mi) west of the city of Málaga, within the autonomous community of Andalusia. Its population is about 35,000 inhabitants. It now is one of the towns and villages that is included in the Sierra de las Nieves Natural Park and is the largest town among the White Villages of Andalusia. American artists Ernest Hemingw...

[ read more ]

The London Stone

The London Stone

[caption id="attachment_7092" align="aligncenter" width="590"] London Stone © englishhistoryauthors.blogspot.com[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]London Stone is a historic stone that is now set within a Portland stone surround and iron grille on Cannon Street, in the City of London. London Stone is a block of oolitic limestone and measures approximately 53 x 43 x 30 cm (21 x 17 x 12 inches). This material does not occur naturally in London, its nearest source being in Kent. It is thought to have originally been much larger. S...

[ read more ]

Haulover Park in Florida

Haulover Park in Florida

[caption id="attachment_214308" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Haulover Beach at north Miami Beach © flickr.com - Infrogmation of New Orleans/cc-by-2.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Haulover Park is a 177-acre (72 ha) urban park owned and operated by Miami-Dade County Parks, Recreation & Open Spaces Department, located in metropolitan Miami, just north of Bal Harbour, Florida. The park is located on a shoal between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, just north of the Broad Causeway (SR 922) and Collins Avenue. The D...

[ read more ]

Return to TopReturn to Top
Old Town © KBWEi
Theme Week Champagne – Troyes

Troyes is a commune and the capital of the Aube department. It is located on the Seine river about 150...

Sunset © Nicolas Lamarche Lauzon/cc-by-2.5
Tofino auf Vancouver Island

Tofino is a district of about 1,876 residents on the west coast of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada, located...

Town Hall © TitTornade/cc-by-sa-3.0
Theme Week Champagne – Châlons-en-Champagne

Châlons-en-Champagne is the capital of both the department of Marne and the region of Champagne-Ardenne, despite being only a quarter...

Schließen