Historical Highlights guided tours occur on the Thursday and
Saturdays, unless there is an event such as the London Fashion Week on that
might have to be put off for during the duration. The tour covers 470 years of
Somerset House.
The tour starts off with Henry VIII having passed away, but
his son Edward VI, who would have been the next in line to succeed him was too
young to take the throne. Edward’s VI’s uncle, Edward Seymour, saw the
opportunity and seized it. Edward Seymour named himself Lord Protector and Duke
of Somerset, with an aim to create a palace for himself. Renovations started to
take place with graves being dug up and moved to Finsbury Fields as well as
churches and chapels being knocked downed, which included some of St Paul’s
Cathedral buildings. His choices led to him becoming very unpopular and
ultimately led to him being stripped of his titles. He was arrested as well and
was not charged. He left the old Gothic style moving towards the style of
English Renaissance. In 1551, he was arrested again and was charged with
felony.
Elizabeth I moved in once it was completed in 1553, but she
mostly resided in the palaces of Whitehall or St. James’s. Somerset House
became the Somerset House Conference, and was mainly used for apartments for
the lodgers and for Elizabeth I’s council meetings.
Elizabeth’s death came at 1603, so was handed to the next
successor who was James I of England and VI of Scotland. James had married Anne
of Denmark, who was given Somerset House and renaming it to “Denmark House”.
She had an affinity for English Dramaso she employed Indigo Jones for designing
stage sets and Ben Johnson to create the stage plays. She too begun to
reconstruct the building some of which followed from Jones’s stage designs such
as building an extension.
Charles I became king and married Henrietta Maria of France
in 1625. Henrietta Maria begun remodelling and modernising for the French
inhabitants. A Roman Catholic chapel was built on the construct. Civil War
broke out which led to Somerset House becoming the headquarters for the
parliamentary army. Henrietta Maria fled and Charles I was executed.
Charles II became king and moved into Somerset House as
opposed to his wife, Catherine of Brazanga, who settled in Whitehall instead.
When Charles II died, he had no children so essentially had no heir to succeed
him. Catherine moved in to Somerset House.
When George III became king and Somerset House was then used
for office space for clerks. The building was eventually given to the
government who had the building flattened. William Chambers was given 2 year
planning to get Somerset House back up and running but he had completed it
within 3 months. Chambers studied Italian architecture and employed a lot of
sculptures into the designs and avoided any use of greenery. Some of the
sculpture can be seen on top of the North Wing from the courtyard of four
figures representing the trades from African, America, Asia and Europe. Some of
the sculptures found on the embankment side are of Mermen, sea monsters and sea-related
images
With the new building, the Royal Academy was given a section
what is now known as the North Wing and the government moved in next to them.
The West Wing created separate sections for different apartments. The Tax
Office moved into the West Wing. Another occupier was the General Register
Office, where you the registry for births and deaths are found. Somerset House
was opened to the public in 1990.
There is a chance to see the Miles Stairs designed by architect
EvA Jiřičná. The threads and landing are
made entirely of ductal, which is a substance 1000 times stronger than
concrete. Then heading the Navy’s quarters of Somerset House, there is a chance
to compare the designs and age of both stairs. The final section of the tour
explored the Deadhouse underneath the courtyard which had memorials. There are
also rooms that used to hold coals which are still there. You can view the full
height of Somerset House from this area.
There are other tours on offer such as the Old Palaces Tour on
Tuesdays and Spotlight on Style Tours on ongoing exhibitions and displays on
Wednesdays and Fridays.
#SomersetHouse
