Somerset House must be one of the most overlooked of all London’s historic sites. Occupying an extensive river frontage alongside Waterloo Bridge and directly opposite the National Theatre, its long but low and architecturally subdued river frontage can be lost against the background of taller modern constructions. Likewise, the main entrance block onto Strand is relatively small, crowded by neighbouring buildings and belies the scale of the enterprise behind.
“Behind” is one of the finest Georgian neo-Palladian buildings in Britain, if not Europe. To stand in the middle of the courtyard and slowly spin around is to be transported to a time when elegance, formality and rigour were the essential disciplines of good architecture. Standing at the northern end as you enter from Strand there is an uninterrupted Georgian skyline, surely the last such in London. Planning powers protected the skyline from intrusion until 2008 when the Communities Secretary, the moronic Hazel Blears (remember her anyone) took it upon herself to approve a tower block on the south of the river that, if built, would breach this otherwise uninterrupted skyline. Years later and still unbuilt we can only hope that shame and some sense of decency will prevent its construction.
Somerset House has long been a site of importance, first as the London home of Henry VIII’s brother in law, Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset. His house, built 1548-51, was one of the biggest and finest in London and, not surprisingly, returned to the Crown when Seymour fell from grace and was beheaded in 1552. The house then became the official residence of the princesses and queens of England until 1775 by which time it had fallen into disrepair and George III deeded Somerset House to Parliament in exchange for Buckingham House (as it was then known) for his Queen.
Fine as the original palace was, the new building commissioned by Parliament and finally executed by Sir William Chambers was to be a masterpiece. The building was to contain a variety of government offices, including most notably the administrators of the Navy Board, as well as other Civil Service functions, the Royal Academy and two learned societies. The result could have been a mish-mash of poorly related, functional, government buildings but under Chambers’ masterful eye he created a palace for the government and its functionaries and for the administrators of a navy that was to rule the world for 200 years and provide the bedrock of Empire.
Chambers design was as masterful as it was simple – a grand courtyard with the four sides lined by buildings of strict classical symmetry. The north range limited on the Strand frontage by the existence of commercial properties (as now) was short but exquisitely detailed to the Street frontage but full width to the south to maintain the essential symmetry of the courtyard. The building at each end is a mere sliver behind the Strand properties, little more than a stage set in fact. The intricate and beautiful three arch entrance provides a dramatic approach to the vast sweep of the internal court around which Chambers arranged his buildings.
Internally, the buildings (with the notable exception of the north range originally occupied by the Royal Academy and now the Courtauld) are graceful, grand and well-proportioned but generally lacking in architectural grandeur. The one area of internal décor that is worth noting are the staircases of which there are many. Most notable are the “Nelson” stair in the south west corner and the two main staircases in the Courtauld, some say the finest staircases in London. Elsewhere, there are Georgian cantilevered stairs of varied design and status, many of the most beautiful being the simple and workmanlike such as the Stamp stair in the east end of the south range. Happily the patronage has continued and Eva Jiricna’s glass stair at the north end of the west wing is a notable modern contribution.
Even more comforting, is that the government offices were ejected from the site at the end of the C20 and it is now largely open to the public in one form or another. The Courtauld, currently closed while undergoing major restoration, occupies the north range and the rest of the site is largely exhibition spaces, cafes and restaurants along with artist’s studios, workshops and offices. The courtyard itself is used for live concerts, film screenings and art exhibits as well as the ice skating rink that has become such a staple of the London winter scene. Despite all this, the site is still relatively unvisited. So go along, walk through the courtyard, wander around the corridors and experience one of the finest Palladian compositions in the world.
