Report

ROYAL COMMISSION ON THE ANCIENT AND HISTORICAL MONUMENTS AND CONSTRUCTIONS OF ENGLAND.

REPORT TO THE KING'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY.

1. May it please Your Majesty.

We, the undersigned Commissioners, appointed to make an Inventory of the Ancient and Historical Monuments and Constructions connected with or illustrative of the contemporary culture, civilization and conditions of life of the people in England, excluding Monmouthshire, from the earliest times to the year 1714, and to specify those which seem most worthy of preservation, humbly submit to Your Majesty the following Report on the Monuments in the West Division of the County of London, being the Ninth Interim Report on the work of the Commission since its appointment.

2. We tender to Your Majesty our respectful thanks for the gracious message which accompanied Your Majesty's acceptance of our Inventory of Westminster Abbey.

3. We have pleasure in reporting the completion of our enquiries into West London, an area containing 259 monuments in 16 boroughs, with an average of 16 monuments per borough. This Report is the second Report on the monuments of the County.

4. Following our usual practice, we have prepared an illustrated volume containing the full Inventory of the monuments in the Western area of the County, which, under the advice of the Lords Commissioners of Your Majesty's Treasury, will be issued as a separate Stationery Office publication.

5. The only alteration that has been found necessary in the order and method of describing the monuments scheduled is the abandonment, for the County of London only, of the parish as the unit of description and the substitution of the borough. This was found to be desirable, partly from the inconclusive nature of parish boundaries in an urban area and partly with a view to grouping the monuments described under the various areas of local government. The detailed Inventory is introduced by the usual Sectional Preface.

6. As in the previous volumes, the descriptions of monuments have been referred for revision to the incumbents of each parish, and to the principal owners of domestic buildings, and we are satisfied that no important monument dating from the earliest times to the year 1714 has been omitted.

7. Our special thanks are due to Dr. Philip Norman, F.S.A., and Mr. W.H. Godfrey, F.S.A., for having revised the proofs of the volume, to Lady Hope for the use of an advance copy of the late Sir W. H. St. John Hope's plan of the Charterhouse, and to Colonel Storey for the use of his plan of Canonbury House.

8. We humbly recommend to Your Majesty's notice the following monuments in West London as "especially worthy of preservation":—

Ecclesiastical

2. Chelsea.

(1) Old Parish Church, chiefly remarkable for its monuments and the early Renaissance decoration of the More Chapel.

3. Finsbury.

(2) Parish Church of St. John, Clerkenwell, mid 12th-century crypt with late 12th-century extensions, remains of round nave.

7. Holborn.

(4) Chapel of St. Etheldreda. Chapel of c. 1300, formerly part of the town-house of the Bishops of Ely.

13. St. Pancras.

(2) Fittings of St. Katherine's Hospital, formerly in St. Katherine's by the Tower and including monument, stalls, pulpit, etc.

16. Westminster.

(8) Parish Church of St. Margaret, Westminster. A much restored church containing good painted glass and monuments.

(10) Parish Church of St. Clement Danes. An ornate example of the work of Sir Christopher Wren, with some good contemporary fittings.

(11) Parish Church of St. James, Piccadilly. A work of Sir Christopher Wren, with good internal decorations and fittings.

(13) Parish Church of St. Mary le Strand. Probably the best example of the work of the architect Gibbs. Begun under Queen Anne and finished under George I.

(20) Rolls Chapel. Monument of Dr. Yong; a remarkable example of pure Italian Renaissance, by Torrigiani.

(22) Marlborough Chapel. A late 17th-century private chapel, built for Catherine of Braganza.

Secular

2. Chelsea.

(2) Royal Hospital, founded by Charles II in 1682 and designed by Sir Christopher Wren. Statue of Charles II.

(11) Lindsey House. Rebuilt in 1674 and now the only remaining example of the former mansions of Chelsea.

(12) Cheyne Row. A nearly complete terrace of houses, built in 1708.

3. Finsbury.

(4) St. John's Gate. The Gatehouse of the priory of St. John of Jerusalem, a stone building with a ribbed vault erected in 1504.

(5) The Charterhouse, a large building incorporating remains of the Carthusian priory, Howard House, and Sutton's Hospital, and containing good woodwork of the 16th and 17th centuries.

(7) New River Head, fine panelling, fireplace and ceiling in modern offices.

4. Fulham.

(6) Fulham Palace. Remains of a courtyard-house built by Richard Fitzjames, Bishop of London, early in the 16th century.

6. Hampstead.

(6) Fenton House, built probably in 1693 and a good example of the period.

7. Holborn.

(5) Lincoln's Inn. Late 15th and early 16th-century hall, gatehouse and chambers; early 17th-century Gothic chapel by Inigo Jones.

(6) Gray's Inn, mid 16th-century hall with fine screen and roof.

(7) Staple Inn, late 16th-century hall with screen and roof; timbered front to Holborn of similar date.

(8) Powis or Newcastle House. A good late 17th-century mansion designed by William Winde and finished by Sir Christopher Wren.

(9) Lindsey House, a good house of c. 1640 in the Palladian style.

8. Islington.

(2) Canonbury House and Tower. Remains of a large late 16th-century house with fine ceilings and woodwork and a staircase-tower.

9. Kensington.

(2) Kensington Palace. Extensive palace buildings designed by Wren and built in the last decade of the 17th century.

(3) Holland House. A large Jacobean mansion with interesting fittings.

10. Lambeth.

(2) Lambeth Palace, London house of the Archbishops of Canterbury, with buildings of various dates from the 13th century onwards, including chapel, gatehouse and great hall.

15. Wandsworth.

(7) Roehampton House. A large country-house designed by Thomas Archer and built 1710–12, with good staircases and painted ceiling.

16. Westminster.

(24) Palace of Westminster. Late 11th and late 14th-century great hall, early 14th-century undercroft of chapel and early 16th-century cloisters.

(25) Jewel House, a 14th-century tower, with contemporary vaulting.

(26) Banqueting House, Whitehall, designed by Inigo Jones and with a painted ceiling by Rubens.

(27) Malmesbury House, Undercroft. An early 16th-century vaulted undercroft.

(29) St. James' Palace, including a gatehouse and chapel built by Henry VIII, the chapel with a ceiling decorated by Holbein.

(30) Marlborough House, built by the 1st Duke of Marlborough in 1709 and designed by Sir Christopher Wren. Paintings of the former's victories by Laguerre.

(32) Schomberg House, built in 1698 by the 3rd Duke of Schomberg.

(35) Harrington House. A good early 18th-century house.

(36) York Gate. The Water Gate of York House, built for the 1st Duke of Buckingham by Nicholas Stone.

(38) Bluecoat School. A complete school building of 1709.

(39) Queen Anne's Gate, a street or square of houses built temp. Queen Anne and still largely intact. Statue of Queen Anne.

(55) The Piazza, Covent Garden. Portion of the arcaded walks designed by Inigo Jones.

(69) Carlisle House. A house of c. 1700, with original staircases and fittings.

(83) Statue of Charles I. Bronze statue by Hubert le Sueur, pedestal by Grinling Gibbons.

(84) Statue of James II. Bronze statue by Grinling Gibbons.

9. We offer our grateful thanks to the Rev. E. E. Dorling, F.S.A., for revision of the descriptions of Heraldry; to Mr. Oswald Barron, F.S.A., for revision of the descriptions of Costumes and spelling of names; to Mr. Mill Stephenson, F.S.A., for revision of descriptions of Brasses; to Mr. J. Murray Kendall, M.B.E., F.S.A., for revision of the descriptions of Armour; to Mr. R. E. Mortimer Wheeler, M.C., D.Litt., F.S.A., for revision of descriptions of Roman Remains; and to Mr. F. S. Eden for his descriptions and illustrations of the Ancient Glass in the county.

10. We desire to express our acknowledgment of the good work accomplished by our Executive Staff in the persons of Mr. A. W. Clapham, O.B.E., F.S.A., Mr. J. W. Bloe, O.B.E., F.S.A., Mr. E. A. R. Rahbula, F.S.A., Mr. G.E. Chambers, F.S.A., Mr. P. K. Kipps, Mr. A. T. Phillips and Miss M. G. Saunders; also by Miss M. V. Taylor, M.A., F.S.A., who has investigated the Roman Remains of this portion of the County of London.

11. We regret exceedingly that owing to loss of staff and its continued non-replacement owing to Treasury ruling, and, a fortiori, to the refusal to entertain any immediate prospect of its extension, it has not been possible to go forward with the pre-war intention of the Commission to train and place senior investigators in charge of separate areas with competent staffs under them to report the results of their enquiries to a central office in London for final editing and publication.

12. Since the publication of the last Report, the Commission has begun the survey of the monuments of the County of Huntingdon. This was rendered possible by the generous financial assistance of Mr. Granville Proby.

13. The next Inventory of the Commission will therefore deal with the County of Huntingdon in one volume, followed by the third and concluding volume of the County of London.

14. In conclusion we desire to add that our Secretary, Mr. George Duckworth, C.B., F.S.A., has continued to afford invaluable and unremitting assistance to us, your Commissioners.

All of which we submit with our humble duty to Your Majesty.

Signed:

CRAWFORD & BALCARRES (Chairman).

DILLON.

J. F. F. HORNER.

J. G. N. CLIFT.

E. J. HORNIMAN.

LEONARD STOKES.

ARTHUR J. EVANS.

C. HERCULES READ.

M. R. JAMES.

D. H. MONTGOMERIE.

WILLIAM PAGE.

C. R. PEERS.

GEORGE H. DUCKWORTH,

26th May, 1925. Secretary.