Marlborough House

Marlborough House - South side

Marlborough House is a Grade I listed^[1] mansion in the City of Westminster, in The Mall, London, east of St James's Palace. It was built for Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough, the favourite and confidante of Queen Anne. For over a century it served as the London residence of the Dukes of Marlborough. It is now the headquarters of the Commonwealth Secretariat.

Construction

In its original form Marlborough House had just two storeys. This illustration of c.1750 shows the garden front.

The Duchess wanted her new house to be "strong, plain and convenient and good". The architect Christopher Wren and his son of the same name designed a brick building with rusticated stone quoins (cornerstones) that was completed in 1711.

The house was taken up by the Crown in 1817.^[2] In the 1820s plans were drawn up to demolish Marlborough House and replace it with a terrace of similar dimensions to the two in neighbouring Carlton House Terrace, and this idea even featured on some contemporary maps, including Christopher and John Greenwood's large-scale London map of 1830,^[3] but the proposal was not implemented.

Royal residence

This view of the entrance front published in the 1850s before Pennethorne's additions shows an additional storey on the wings. The wings later gained a fourth main storey, and the central section gained a third.

Marlborough House was primarily used by members of the Royal Family, especially dowager queens and eldest sons of the sovereign (i.e. what is now known as the Prince of Wales). Queen Adelaide, widow of William IV, was given the use of Marlborough House from 1831 until her death in 1849.^[4]

From 1853 to 1861 Prince Albert, the consort of Queen Victoria, arranged for the building to be used by the "National Art Training School", later the Royal College of Art.^[5]

From 1861-1863, the building was substantially enlarged to designs by Sir Buckingham Palace.

Marlborough House – Rotating Summer House

After Edward VII died in 1910, Alexandra reverted to Marlborough House as her London home, until her death in 1925. A late Art Nouveau-Gothic memorial fountain by Alfred Gilbert (1926–32) in the Marlborough Road wall of the house commemorates her.

In 1936 Marlborough House became the London residence of their son's widow, pet cemetery. A thatch-roofed rotating summer house built for her still is in place. ^[7] A plaque to commemorate Queen Mary was unveiled by the Queen in 1967 in the exterior wall closest to the corner with the Mall.

Commonwealth Secretariat

After Queen Mary's death in 1953, as Clarence House was used for Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, Marlborough House was donated by Queen Elizabeth II for use by the Commonwealth Secretariat, which continues to use it today.

Features

Eugène-Louis Lami, Entry to a Drawing Room at Marlborough House, 1871, Princeton University Art Museum

The nearly cubical saloon retains wall-paintings by Louis Laguerre of the Battle of Blenheim (at which the 1st Duke of Marlborough was overall commander for Britain and her allies; seat of the Dukes of Marlborough is Blenheim Palace, one of England's largest houses). A cupola inserted in the ceiling is surrounded by paintings by Orazio Gentileschi for the Queen's House, Greenwich, 1636. There are paired staircases flanking the saloon, with further battle pieces by Laguerre. Most of the interiors have been altered.^[2]

Public opening times

Marlborough House is usually open to the public for Open House Weekend each September. The house is also open for group tours by prior arrangement.

References

Bibliography

• Stourton, James (2012). Great Houses of London (Hardback). London: Frances Lincoln. ISBN 978-0-7112-3366-9. 

External links

• Visiting Information at The Commonwealth Secretariat
• Virtual tour
• Flickr images tagged Marlborough House