Somerset House

“ Lucy sat gazing at the banks of the river, where the mighty city on either hand has declined into sordid meanness, skeleton exposure; where the struggles of manufacture and commerce are content to abjure their own decencies for the sake of the greater gain. Save where the long line of Somerset House, and the garden of the Temple asserted the ancient dignity of order and cleanliness, the whole looked like a mean, tattered, draggled fringe upon a rich garment. ”

“ A frightful thing is the huge palace in the Strand, which is called Somerset House. Massive and heavy piece of architecture, of which the hollows are inked, the porticoes blackened with soot, where, in the cavity of the empty court, is a sham fountain without water, pools of water on the pavement, long rows of closed windows—what can they possibly do in these catacombs? It seems as if the livid and sooty fog had even befouled the verdure of the parks. But what most offends the eyes are the colonnades, peristyles, Grecian ornaments, mouldings, and wreaths of the houses, all bathed in soot ”

“ Somerset House, on the south side of the Strand, near the new church, is esteemed one of the royal palaces. It was built about the year 1549 by the Duke of Somerset, uncle to Edward VI. and protector of England, who demolished the palaces of the bishops of Chester and Worcester, an Inn of Chancery called Strand Inn, with the church of St. Mary le Strand, that stood there, and building this palace with the materials, it from him obtained the name of Somerset House. ”

“ The part of Somerset House where the wills are kept is exactly opposite the archway, straight across the courtyard—she cannot mistake it. Inside she will find several polite minor officials, who will show her what forms to fill up, fetch the books for her and render her every possible assistance; the men who fetch the books expect a small tip for their trouble. ”

“ Some of the families which lived there in power and pomp are mere memories now; but the names of many of them are still familiar in Belgravia as once they were in the Strand. There was, to start with, the original Somerset House, more picturesque, let us hope, than the depressing mausoleum which now daily reminds us that man is mortal. Then there was the famous York House, nearer to Charing Cross, of which nothing but the water-gate is left. On the opposite side of the way was Burleigh House, the home of the great statesman who, under God and Queen Elizabeth, did such great things for England. ”

“ After all, however, the artist need not have spoilt his church with ornament. He said, that being situated in a very public place, "the parishioners" spared no cost to beautify it; but to beautify a church is not to make it a piece of confectionery. [158]
Somerset House occupies the site of a princely mansion built by Somerset the Protector, brother of Lady Jane Seymour, and uncle to King Edward VI. His character is not sufficiently marked to give any additional interest to the spot. ”

“ Even Somerset House is merely an old palace rebuilt, for the present edifice is not much more than a century old. Buildings in London tend to become utilitarian; and Royalty, besides, has deserted the City for the West End. ”

“ The same meaningless blocked columns appear endlessly to every window and door. Cast your mind back to Somerset House or look further down the road to the Banqueting Hall, or across it to the Horse Guards, and you see that another race built these things. It is sad, but it is true. Otherwise how is it that an eighteenth-century building is as seldom wrong as a modern one is right?
The one that is nearest right of our three great new offices is the last, and that it must be confessed is because it is nearest to the eighteenth century. Mr. Brydon, the architect, worked in Bath. ”

“ A little lawn spread its green surface in front, divided from the road by iron railings, the low line of shrubs immediately within them being coated with pallid dust from the highway. On the neat piers of the neat entrance gate were chiselled the words ‘Myrtle Villa.’ Genuine roadside respectability sat smiling on every brick of the eligible dwelling.
Perhaps that which impressed Somerset more than the mushroom modernism of Sir William De Stancy’s house was the air of healthful cheerfulness which pervaded it. ”

“ If we cannot quite retain the quality of Somerset House in our minds we can refer to another genuine antique, as we do in our furniture, for a standard—Inigo Jones’s Banqueting Hall. Any building which can live up to that in scale, repose and refinement, 10though it was the first of its type, will survive for all times. ”

“ Somerset had abbey lands himself, and his wanton robbery of Church property scandalises even Strype, the apologist of the Reformation. [3] Somerset even contemplated pulling down Westminster Abbey to build Somerset House, But he was less utterly vile than Warwick (afterwards Northumberland) , who overthrew him, and I think we must believe that he really pitied the people. More especially he set himself against the clearing of the people off lands they had held from time immemorial. ”

“ Much of the riverside effect is lost owing to the Embankment, for the terrace rose actually straight out of the river, and now seems rather purposeless. We are so familiar with our public buildings that it becomes difficult to criticise them seriously. Somerset House, taken as a public office, with its vast accommodation and its stately river front, will hold its own with any similar building in Europe. It is interesting, too, as being the work of the last English architect who attempted to carry out the sort of classical style inherited from Inigo Jones, and introduced from Italy. ”

“ Once we were the future, and how much was done for our sake!—The contrast between above and below the bridge is very striking. Below, all seems for use, except Somerset House—and even that, when we think, is but a superb office—and the Temple gardens: all is crowded, dingy, and commercial. Above, wealth has arrived at luxury ”

“ The great Duke never lived to see his magnificent house completed; arrested on a charge of high treason, he was beheaded in 1552. The Palace, when finished, was frequently the residence of Queen Elizabeth, and in later years was inhabited by the Queens of Charles I and Charles II. This palace was not the favourite residence of Elizabeth, she preferring the more fashionable quarters of Whitehall and St. James’s. Old Somerset House was pulled down in 1776, and the present building was commenced under the superintendence of the architect, Sir William Chambers. ”

“ When a man with no ready money of his own inherits an estate that has not paid its expenses for many years, and a splendid mansion containing about fifty pictures, which, according to the most recent auction-room prices, may be worth from £100,000 to £150,000—people at picture sales think in pounds and bid in guineas—the question that at once presents itself is how to meet the demands of Somerset House. ”

“ Such entertainment of this cheap, healthy kind the population is fairly entitled to: it is astonishing that something of the kind is not thought of.
Close by Waterloo Bridge rises that stately and imposing range of buildings, Somerset House. This vast pile, designed by Chambers, was erected with little trouble or fuss, and in a comparatively short time. In our day we must have “committees,” and competitions and discussions, and a distracted responsibility ending in complete confusion or uncertainty, and for the result such a comparative failure as the New Law Courts. ”

“ It was a question to which Somerset was far from being able to reply. Taken as he was at unawares, masquerading in the man’s own coat, and surrounded by a whole arsenal of diabolical explosives, the keeper of the lodging-house was silenced.
“Yes,” resumed the other, “I am he. I am that man, whom with impotent hate and fear they still hunt from den to den, from disguise to disguise. Yet, my landlord, you have it in your power, if you be poor, to lay the basis of your fortune; if you be unknown, to capture honour at one snatch. You have hocussed an innocent widow ”

“ Between 1852 and 1856 he completed the west wing of Somerset House, and caused it to harmonise, with conspicuous success, with the beautiful work of the original architect, Sir William Chambers [q. v.] ”

“ The following print represents Old Somerset House, as it appeared in the reign of Charles II. We have seen, but in vain endeavoured to procure for this book, a scarce one by Hollar, in which the towers in the back ground mark out the front in the Strand, and a tall May-pole to the right was the May-pole of John Clarges. The front, looking on the river, was added by Charles II. Inigo Jones was the architect. In Hollar's print it gives us a taste of the banqueting room at Whitehall in its elevation, and in the harmonies of the windows and pilasters. Below is a portico ”

“ This mansion was frequently used for the state reception of the remains of deceased persons of high rank previously to their interment. The Protector, Oliver Cromwell, was laid in state here; and Ludlow states, that the folly and profusion of this display so provoked the people, that they "threw dirt, in the night, on his escutcheon, that was placed over the great gate of Somerset House." After the restoration of Charles II. Somerset House reverted to the queen dowager, who returned to England in 1660; went back to France, but returning in 1662, she took up her residence at Somerset House ”

“ Scaramelli wrote to the Signory in July 1603 (V. P. x. 71) that James had eight palaces on the Thames, of which Hampton Court was the biggest. Each had its own furniture, which was never taken to furnish another. I suppose the eight must be Whitehall, St. James's, Somerset House, the Tower, Greenwich, Richmond, Hampton Court, and Windsor. Letters of 1602, when Elizabeth was at Oatlands, contemplate her return to 'Richmond or some other of her houses of abode' and to 'a standing house' (Hatfield MSS. xii. 385, 448) . ”

“ Soldier of Fortune. A soldier without fortune who seeks to make one by enlisting in any service which holds out the prospect of good pay.
Solid Straight. Another name for a “Straight Drink.”
Somerset. Described in Anglo-Saxon days as Suthmorset, the “South Moor Settlement.”
Somerset House. Covers the site of the palatial residence of Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset, the Lord Protector of Edward VI. On the sequestration of his estates in 1552 this passed to the Crown, and became a virtual royal residence. Here the body of James I. lay in state ”

“ The great highway from Honiton to Yeovil becomes, as it passes through the last town in South Somerset, a spacious and dignified High Street with two or three beautiful old houses, among a large number of other picturesque dwellings which would sustain the reputation of Chard even without their aid. First is the one-time Court House of the Manor, opposite the Town Hall. Part of the building is called Waterloo House. It was built during the last quarter of the sixteenth century. A very beautiful and spacious room with two mullioned windows and a fine moulded ceiling graces the interior. ”

“ Helmet Court-so called from the Helmet Inn-is over against Somerset House. The inn is enumerated in a list of houses and taverns made in the reign of James I. [766] When the King of Denmark came to see his daughter, he was lodged in Somerset House, and new kitchen-ranges were set up at the Helmet and the Swan at the expense of the Crown. Henry Condell, a fellow-actor with Shakspere, left his houses in Helmet Court to “Elizabeth, his well-beloved wife.” [767]
Beaufort Buildings.—p. ”

“ Over all is a pierced parapet divided into square panels by shallow pilasters. The spirit of the whole composition is Jacobean, but the treatment betokens a late date, with its twisted columns and broken pediment; and the arms confirm the conjecture prompted by the character of the work, though the exact date is not recorded. It is evident, however, that even in Somerset, the home of good masons, the lesson of making appropriate use of classic features had not yet been mastered. The treatment of the doorway at the neighbouring [85] house of Nailsea Court (Fig. 65) is more logical and pleasing. ”

“ Somerset released on parole, 6 Feb., 1550. Somerset's confinement in the Tower was not of long duration. On the 6th February, 1550, the lieutenant of the Tower received orders to bring his [pg 440] prisoner "with out greate garde or busyness" to Sheriff York's house in Walbrook, where the council was sitting; and on the duke entering into a recognisance to remain privately either at Shene or Sion, and not to travel more than four miles from either place, nor attempt to gain an interview with the young king, he was allowed to depart.1321
Warwick and the reformers, 1550. ”

“ SOMERSET MAUGHAM I The day broke gray and dull. The clouds hung heavily, and there was a rawness in the air that suggested snow. A woman servant came into a room in which a child was sleeping and drew the curtains. She glanced mechanically at the house opposite, a stucco house with a portico, and went to the child's bed. ”

“ Imagine a Georgian house, spacious and well-proportioned and dignified, filled with the most delicate furniture of Chippendale and Sheraton, portraits on the walls by Sir Peter Lely and Romney, and splendid tapestries; a park with wide meadows and magnificent trees before which you feel it possible to kneel down and worship; all around the country is undulating, lovely and fertile; and it belongs, lock, stock, and barrel, to people who have not a noble idea, no thought above the commonplace, no emotion that is not petty and sordid. ”