Brunswick House

Brunswick House From Wandsworth Road

Brunswick House is a large Georgian mansion in Vauxhall, in the London borough of Lambeth.[1][2]

Brunswick House after the 1860 fire

This house was built in 1758 on freehold land owned by the Dawson family, purchased by Richard Dawson in 1737. In 1776 it was described as a mansion house, with offices, coach-house, and stable, lately erected by John Dawson (Richard Dawson's nephew and heir). The site of the house and gardens measured nearly three acres and included a piece of land with a timber dock on lease from the Dean of Canterbury.

In 1791 the house, which was then called Belmont, was divided into two; the larger or southwestern portion was leased to David Hunter and the other portion was leased to William Anderson. Hunter's half was sold to the Gas Light and Coke Company in 1845 and purchased by the London and South Western Railway Company in 1854.

In 1811 Anderson's half was purchased by Frederick William, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel.[3] The Duke was a bitter opponent of Napoleon's domination of Germany, and fled to England after taking part in the Battle of Wagram. He returned to Brunswick in 1813 to raise fresh troops, but two years later was killed at the Battle of Quatre Bras. His part of Belmont House was also purchased by the Gas Company and sold to the Railway Company in 1855.

Hymnwriter Henry Williams Baker was born at Brunswick (then Belmont) House on May 27, 1821.[4]

The two parts of the house were subsequently reunited under the name of Brunswick House and used as an institute and club for railway workers.

After a period of dereliction and general decay[5] the Railwayman's union sold the house in 2002 to the London architectural salvage and supply company (LASSCO)[4][6]

References

  1. "Vauxhall and South Lambeth: Vauxhall Escheat | British History Online". www.british-history.ac.uk. Retrieved 2016-04-12.
  2. "History of Brunswick House" (PDF). Tate South Lambeth.
  3. "Late Duke of Brunswick's - Guide to London's Georgian Thames". Panorama of the Thames. Retrieved 2016-04-12.
  4. 1 2 "Brunswick House, Vauxhall: A short history by Stefan Lorett - LASSCO History". www.lassco.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-04-12.
  5. "Dereliction and Beyond...Then and Now Photos". Derelict London. Retrieved 2016-04-12.
  6. Stephens, Philip (2016-02-11). "How London’s Brunswick House survived 250 years of change". Financial Times. ISSN 0307-1766. Retrieved 2016-04-12.

Coordinates: 51°29′05″N 0°07′35″W / 51.4848°N 0.1265°W / 51.4848; -0.1265

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, May 03, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.