Somerset House

Somerset House is a large building situated on the south side of The Strand in central London, overlooking the River Thames, just east of Waterloo Bridge. The central block of the Neoclassical building, the outstanding project of the architect Sir William Chambers, dates from 1776–1796. It was extended by respectfully classical Victorian wings to north and south. A building of the same name was first built on the site more than two centuries earlier.

Early history

Somerset House takes its name from the London home of Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset, who commissioned a riverside mansion on the site in 1547, one of a row of noblemen's houses with fronts along the Strand. The building was constructed from stone removed from some of the chantries and cloisters at St. Paul's Cathedral which were demolished at the behest of Somerset and other leading Protestant nobles as part of the ongoing Dissolution of the Monasteries.

Related Topics:
Edward Seymour - Duke of Somerset - 1547 - Strand - Chantries - Cloisters - St. Paul's Cathedral - Dissolution of the Monasteries

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When Somerset fell from grace in 1551 (being executed for treason the following year), the building passed to the Crown and was used by Princess Elizabeth for some years before she was crowned Queen Elizabeth I in 1558.

Related Topics:
1551 - Queen Elizabeth I

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During the reign of King King James I, the building became the London residence of his wife Anne of Denmark, was renamed "Denmark House". She commissioned a number of expensive additions and improvements, some to designs by Inigo Jones. This expansion of the building continued during Charles I's reign, including the then highly controversial addition by his wife, Henrietta Maria, of a Roman Catholic chapel (also designed by Jones – who was later to die at Somerset House, in 1652).

Related Topics:
King James I - Anne of Denmark - Inigo Jones - Charles I - Henrietta Maria - 1652

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After the English Civil War and the Restoration, Somerset House once again became a royal residence, and was refurbished by Sir Christopher Wren in 1685. During the 18th century, however, the building ceased its royal associations. Though the view from its terraced riverfront garden, open to the public, was painted twice on his London visit by Canaletto (looking upriver and down), it was used for storage, as a residence for visiting overseas dignatories and as a barracks for troops, but suffered from neglect and demolition began in 1775.

Related Topics:
English Civil War - Restoration - Christopher Wren - 1685 - 18th century - Canaletto - 1775

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