CHAPTER IX. Charterhouse Square Area
331. Charterhouse Square area
This chapter covers a district centred on Charterhouse
Square, extending westwards towards the edge of
Smithfield Market and eastwards to the line of Aldersgate
Street and Goswell Road (Ill. 331). With a few small
exceptions, the area falls just outside the northern boundary of the City of London, within the modern Borough
of Islington. None of it ever formed part of the historic
parish of Clerkenwell with which this volume is principally concerned. It is included because it belongs to the
narrow belt of land between that parish and the City, like
the Cowcross Street area adjacent (Chapters VII and
VIII). By the time of Ogilby & Morgan's map of 1676 at
the latest it had been divided between two jurisdictions,
whose boundary ran north—south through the middle of
Charterhouse Square. The western portion belonged to St
Sepulchre without Newgate, in other words the part of St
Sepulchre's parish outside the City. The eastern portion
belonged to the parish of St Botolph without Aldersgate,
but between the early eighteenth century and 1900 it was
separately administered for civil purposes as the Liberty
of Glasshouse Yard. (ref. 1)
The history and character of this area have been dominated by the august presence of the Charterhouse
(Ill. 336), a separate study of which will be published as
a Survey of London monograph. The Charterhouse was
founded as a Carthusian priory in 1371, became a private
mansion after its dissolution in 1538, and in 1611 was converted for charitable purposes as 'Sutton's Hospital in
Charterhouse', in which use it continues today. What is
now Charterhouse Square belonged to the priory's outer
precinct, acting as a buffer zone between it and the City.
The main entrance to the Charterhouse was always from
the arched gateway still extant on the square's northern
side (Ills 337, 358). Here, too, remnants of medieval wall
delimit the old boundary between outer and inner monastic precincts, while glimpses of the Charterhouse can be
had beyond.
To this day the Charterhouse has kept its ancient
impenetrability. That is mirrored in milder degree by
Charterhouse Square, which with its unadopted roadways,
its gates in three corners and its smattering of old houses
partakes of the air of a cathedral close, at one remove from
urban bustle nearby. The sense of a backwater would have
been stronger before 1874, when the square was opened
up to through traffic by the eastwards extension of
Charterhouse Street, to join up with the south side of the
square and Carthusian Street. Prior to that the only way
into the square from the east was the controlled and gated
Charterhouse Lane (now a branch off the main line of
Charterhouse Street).
The following chronological survey of architectural and
social development in and around the square since the
Reformation is succeeded by accounts of the square itself,
and the other streets and sites in approximate topographical sequence from west to east.
Chronology
At the Dissolution much of the outer precinct of the
Carthusian priory remained open ground. The present
garden of the square, commonly known as the
Charterhouse Churchyard and marked on some maps as
'New Church Hawe', is attested as a Black Death burial
ground. During trial excavations in 1998 fewer burials
were found than expected. This may be because many
were removed in 1834, when as later reported 'vast
numbers of bones and skeletons' were discovered during
sewerage works. (ref. 2) A chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary
and All Saints stood hereabouts until 1615–16; the 'Agas'
map of c. 1562 (Ill. 332) depicts it not far from the priory
entrance. The map shows the open space as an irregular
pentagon, corresponding to the outline of the present
square. Around its edges the east and south frontages are
almost entirely filled with buildings, but much of the west
side is unoccupied. Sections of the frontages without
buildings appear to be walled.
As before the Reformation, gates then controlled the
eastern approach from what is now Carthusian Street and
the western approach from Charterhouse Lane. The
'Agas' map suggests the Carthusian Street gatehouse had
a pitched roof but shows no other details. It had been
replaced by 'a turnpike on a rail' by the mid-seventeenth
century. (ref. 3) The Charterhouse Lane gatehouse survived
until 1775. Here there were upper rooms used as accommodation for the matrons of the Charterhouse school until
1656, and then for its porter. (ref. 4)
Before the eighteenth century the open space was
variously described as the Charterhouse precinct,
Charterhouse Yard or Charterhouse Close as well as
Charterhouse Churchyard. Its freehold ownership,
together with the chapel and the gatehouses, passed along
with the Charterhouse itself to Lord North in 1545 and
the Duke of Norfolk in 1565. (ref. 5) These external properties
were not specifically referred to in the deed of sale of the
Charterhouse to Thomas Sutton in 1611. But in the late
seventeenth century the governors of Sutton's Hospital
successfully asserted that they were the owners 'in the
right of the said hospitall of the Soile & Grounds of
the Charterhouse Church yard commonly called
Charterhouse yard'. (ref. 6) The issue was of some moment,
since the Charterhouse itself remained extra-parochial
after the Reformation. Although its former outer precinct
lay in the parishes of St Sepulchre and St Botolph, it was
deemed to be within the jurisdiction of the freeholder of
the Charterhouse. During the Duke of Norfolk's ownership, it was explained that only he and his officers 'do make
Arests and serve all the Queenes processe within the
Church yard there and none other to enter'. (ref. 7)
332. Extract from the 'Agas' map of the 1560s. Charterhouse
Square (or Yard) in centre, labelled Charterhouse; buildings of
the Charterhouse above and Aldersgate Street to right
By contrast, ownership of the buildings surrounding
the yard became fragmented after the Dissolution. At least
one of the larger properties here had already been leased
by the priory to laymen. In 1532 Sir John Neville, Lord
Latimer, took a lease of a mansion at the east end of the
churchyard, formerly held by the Abbot of Pershore. (ref. 8) The
Tudor fragments that survived at No. 10 Charterhouse
Square until the Blitz probably belonged to this house.
Latimer married Katherine Parr—after his death in 1543
Henry VIII's sixth queen—and her brother William
Parr is also supposed to have lived in the yard. Other
members of court circles among tenants or lessees of
buildings hereabouts in the aftermath of the Dissolution
included Sir John Williams, Keeper of the King's Jewels;
Robert Burgoyne, one of the auditors of the Court
of Augmentations; Bartholomew Westby, Baron of the
Exchequer; Sir Arthur Darcy, one of the King's servants;
and John Leland, the topographer and 'King's Antiquary',
recorded at a tenement adjoining Lord Latimer's mansion
between 1538 and 1546. In 1545 tenements in the neighbourhood of Charterhouse Yard were granted to John
Bernard, another of the King's servants. These were
'Egypt' and 'Le Garneter', the monastery's names for its
flesh kitchen—in biblical reference to the 'fleshpots of
Egypt'—and granary. (ref. 9)
333. Charterhouse Square area from Ogilby & Morgan's map
of 1676
The former precinct in the mid-sixteenth century
therefore drew owners and residents of high status. That
persisted for the next century and a half. Property here
was doubtless attractive because of its proximity to the
Charterhouse (which housed a succession of powerful and
influential figures down to its sale to Thomas Sutton), its
position at the edge of the City yet beyond the authority
of the Corporation, and its protected seclusion.
In 1657 James Howell described Charterhouse Yard as
containing 'many handsome Palaces, as Rutland House,
and one where the Venetian ambassadors were used to
lodge'. (ref. 10) Rutland House, the most important mansion,
occupied the north-east corner. Its origins and history are
bound up with with those of the Charterhouse, but the
present buildings on the site fronting Charterhouse
Square are dealt with in this volume. Behind it a large
garden stretched northwards and eastwards until about
1660, on the site now represented by Glasshouse Yard.
Other houses of quality were confined to the east and
south sides of the square. On the south side, two large
houses at the ends flanked a row of somewhat smaller
houses. (ref. 11) On the west side continuous, shallow building is
shown by Ogilby & Morgan's map of 1676 (Ill. 333).
Much of the eastern side was owned for many years by
the aristocratic Heneage and Finch families and their con
nections. Legal personages were among the prominent
residents here. One, Sir Christopher Wray, was Lord Chief
Justice under Elizabeth I. Another, Sir John Bramston,
Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench under Charles I,
recorded that in 1635 'I took a house in the Charterhouse
yard and fell to the practice of law'. In the Civil War period
the area's border status, 'beinge as it were between London
and Midlesex', served Bramston well: 'I escaped
watchinges, sending out soldiers, and payment of taxes a
longe tyme'. (ref. 12) Not all the smarter inhabitants were royalists. Sir William Waller, the future Parliamentarian
general, was described as 'of the Charterhouse' in a list of
those who came to the aid of Parliament in 1642. Like
Bramston, he is supposed to have lived on the east side of
the yard. (ref. 13)
334. Charterhouse Square looking south, engraved by Sutton Nicholls, c. 1728
Richard Baxter, the presbyterian divine, lived in a house
hereabouts between his release from prison in 1686 and
his death in 1691. A different character is conveyed here
a century earlier by John Sinclair's bowling alley and
dicing houses, noted in 1590 as 'a verie great Anoyance'
because of the 'great resort of evell disposed persons who
doe play there daye and night'. They were blamed for burglaries and for making it unsafe to pass through the yard
after dark. (ref. 14)
Burglaries, reported again at aristocratic houses round
the yard in 1602 and 1613, were not the only local anxiety. (ref. 15)
Smithfield's proximity created problems, with cattle being
driven through the yard from Aldersgate Street despite
the gates. In 1715 the yard was alleged to be 'dayly
annoyed with vast numbers of disorderly persons who
teare down the Trees and fill it with noise and nastiness'. (ref. 16)
As its environs became more thickly populated,
Charterhouse Yard began to change. Houses along the east
and south sides were redeveloped and aristocrats gave way
to bourgeois residents. A harbinger was the breaking-up
of the Rutland House property after 1660, first by means
of a glasshouse on part of the garden, then with a series
of tenement developments built around Glasshouse Yard
east of the Charterhouse garden. By the time of Ogilby &
Morgan's map (Ill. 333) there were still private gardens
between the yard and Aldersgate Street, but to the west
along Charterhouse Lane as far as St John Street a dense
warren of courts and alleys is shown.
335 (above). Charterhouse Square
looking east, c. 1730
336. The Charterhouse and north side of
Charterhouse Square, c. 1700,
by Johannes Kip
337. North-west corner of the square
after rebuilding c. 1720
The first change to affect the topography of
Charterhouse Yard was the cutting-through in 1687 of the
narrow street now known as Hayne Street on the site of a
large mansion on its south side, thus connecting Long
Lane with the yard (Ill. 334). The Charterhouse governors
sought to recover their precinct's integrity by ordering the
new street's closure. Instead, to mitigate the intrusion, it
was gated and a porter's box placed near by. (ref. 17) Then
between 1688 and 1705 redevelopment transformed all
four sides, coinciding almost exactly with the reign of
William and Mary. Some of this building was substantial
in scale, as the four-storey survivors at Nos 4 and 5
Charterhouse Square attest (Ill. 335). Finally in 1716–18
building took place in the hitherto blank north-west
corner of the yard next to the gateway into the
Charterhouse (Ills 336, 337).
338. Charterhouse Square and the Metropolitan Railway in 1873, shortly before Charterhouse Street (left) was extended to the south
side of the square
In 1708 Charterhouse Yard, still so called, was described
as 'a pleasant place, of good, (and many New) Buildings'. (ref. 18)
Peers had now vanished, leaving the rebuilt enclave thoroughly bourgeois. (ref. 19) Along with the change came collective
responsibility. In both 1715 and 1742 residents took action
to improve the open space, the latter initiative resulting in
an Act of Parliament and the establishment of trustees.
With the perimeter built up and the central garden fenced
and laid out with crossing walks and low trees, the yard
was transformed into the equivalent of a West End square.
Topographical views of the 1720s (one made under the
auspices of the printseller Henry Overton, who later
owned the freehold of No. 35 on the south side) were the
first to focus away from the Charterhouse itself, and
indeed illustrated the enclave as 'Charterhouse Square'
(Ills 334, 335). (ref. 20) Thereafter the older name faded away.
Despite the presence of two public houses in the
1760s, (ref. 21) eight merchants had addresses here by the middle
of the eighteenth century, and there were soon more. Five
clergymen are listed among the 35 householders in 1790.
Early in the next century Robert Smythe, historian of the
Charterhouse, could note with satisfaction that 'the inhabitants are of the most respectable description'. (ref. 22) With the
advent of the Royal London Ophthalmic Hospital at No.
40 in 1805, and the proximity of St Bartholomew's
Hospital, surgeons also began to find the square eligible.
In the 1820s there were five of them and in 1842 eight.
But by the latter date the buildings were increasingly being
used other than as family houses, with three schools, two
lodging-houses and an infirmary listed. Among the craftsmen were watch- and clockmakers and a goldsmith. (ref. 23)
The Victorian opening-up of the square followed hard
upon the re-planning of Smithfield Market and the
cutting-through of the railway (Ill. 338). In 1864–5 the
Metropolitan Railway Co. bought the whole of the south
side in order to construct an extension from Farringdon
to Moorgate in a cutting immediately behind, where it
built a station at first called Aldersgate Street, now
Barbican. (ref. 24) Then in 1868, the year of the formal opening
of its new Smithfield Market, the City Corporation
opened negotiations to create a highway connecting it to
Aldersgate Street via Charterhouse Square. (ref. 25) This road
was part of a long, straight alignment planned to run
west—east all the way from Farringdon Road to Aldersgate
Street, passing en route along the north side of the market.
The portion covered by this chapter, laid out in 1873–4,
entailed the final clearing-away of the barrier in
Carthusian Street. The whole thoroughfare west of the
square was designated Charterhouse Street. Confusingly,
Charterhouse Lane was renamed and numbered as part of
the new Charterhouse Street, although what was left of it
after clearance and reconstruction ran off from it at an
angle.
The advent of the railway made property on
Charterhouse Square's south side shallow and ineligible.
The surviving houses were soon replaced by showrooms
and warehouses occupied by milliners and clothiers. By
the time of this change several houses in the square were
already being used as staff hostels by wholesale clothing
firms. Social deterioration was the consequence. In 1894
an inmate from No. 7 was found in a compromising position with a young woman on a bench in the square, and a
watchman's box was knocked over one night 'by some
roughs'. (ref. 26) In 1902 it was also complained that horse sales
in Aldersgate Street led to horses being illegally 'tried' in
the private part of the square. (ref. 27) That year saw the opening
of the first purpose-built hotel in the square, the
Charterhouse Hotel, to add to the hostels and commercial
hotels in the old houses.
The square had by then lost its middle-class aura.
Though several City parishes found it convenient to locate
their parsonages there, the majority of private householders had gone. Most of the other buildings were occupied
by businesses, with printing predominant. (ref. 28) On the eve of
the Second World War, the printing industry had declined
and the proprietor of the single remaining hotel could
barely keep it functioning. (ref. 29) On the north-west side, the
former Charterhouse Hotel contained a variety of businesses, ranging from a bone setter to an importer of
wooden doors. Round the rest of the square just one
clergyman served as a reminder of the square's former
gentility. The handsome block of flats that appeared at
Nos 6–9 in 1935–7 ran against the general trend; but even
there the flats themselves were, significantly, for business
clients, not families.
Other buildings contained representatives of the
meat industry, predominant after 1870 in neighbouring
Charterhouse Street, and suppliers of medical goods, but
the foremost trade was clothing. The outstanding example
of local expansion was that of J. Collett Ltd, ladies' hat
manufacturers. Starting in 1917 at No. 42 Charterhouse
Square, the firm became known for its 'Jacoll' hats in the
inter-war period, when it had premises on the south and
west sides of the square. The war further boosted Colletts'
business, as they took contracts for manufacturing millions
of uniform caps and headgear for the allied services.
Bombed out of one set of premises during the Blitz, in
1945 Colletts occupied Nos 41–43 Charterhouse Square,
Nos 14, 91 and 93 Charterhouse Street, and went on to
rebuild the whole of the west side of the square as their
London headquarters in 1954–62. (ref. 30) The liquidation of
Colletts about 1974 and the subsequent takeover of their
building for banking symbolizes the latest trend, whereby
manufacturers' offices have been almost wholly displaced
by service industries of one kind or another.
Charterhouse Square
The square
In 1590 the open space of Charterhouse Yard was under
the ownership and management of the Charterhouse governors. There were 24 trees, and the chapel of the Virgin
Mary and All Saints still survived. (ref. 31) When the chapel was
demolished in 1615–16, the causeway leading to it and the
ground within the square were levelled. (ref. 32) Ten years later
a footpath, flanked by wooden railings, was made across
the square to the main gate of the Charterhouse. (ref. 33) The
effect of these improvements was to make the square
appear 'more neat and comely'. (ref. 34) The line of this path survives as the main route within the square to this day.
The Ogilby & Morgan survey of 1676 (Ill. 333) shows
a double line of trees along the path and a post-and-rail
fence enclosing much of the square. Eventually this must
have been perceived as inadequate, for in 1715 thirteen of
the inhabitants agreed that the open space should be
enclosed with a brick wall and palisades 'as in Leicester
Square', (ref. 35) where the original rails and posts set up to
enclose the central space had been replaced at an uncertain date by a dwarf wall and railings. (ref. 36) Views from this
period (Ills 334, 335) show an arrangement indeed like
Leicester Square, with a dwarf wall surmounted by timber
railings. (ref. 37) A second diagonal tree-lined path and some
further lines of trees along the inside of the fence are also
shown.
In 1742 a larger renewal took place at the initiative of
residents. Their fear was that if the fence, by then dilapidated, was not replaced, the square would become 'a
Receptacle for Rubbish, Dirt, and Dunghills' as well as
attracting 'common Beggars, Vagabonds, and other disorderly Persons, for the Exercise of their idle Diversions,
and other unwarrantable Purposes', so that the yard would
become 'unfit for the Habitation of Persons of Character
and Condition'. They therefore obtained an Act of
Parliament empowering the residents to levy a rate to
enclose the square and to cover the costs of watching,
paving, cleaning and generally 'improving'. Fines could
also be levied on non-residents who rode or exercised
horses in the square, drove cattle, sheep or pigs through
it, or entered the enclosure without authorization. (ref. 38)
339. Charterhouse Square, north side in 2006
340. Charterhouse Square, east side in 2006; Nos 2–11 (right
to left)
The new fence following the Act of 1742 was 95ft
shorter, enclosed a smaller area, and allowed for a broader
carriageway. (ref. 39) An illustration of 1816 shows a low wall
topped with plain railings, and slender lamp standards set
within the enclosed area. (ref. 40)
341. Charterhouse Square, south side in 2006, Barbican in
background
Implementing the 1742 Act fell to thirteen trustees, ten
elected by the residents, the others being the Master,
Registrar and Receiver of the Charterhouse. Their jurisdiction extended beyond the square to Rutland Court and
Charterhouse Mews. Their powers were limited, for the
paving of the footway was left to the individual occupiers,
and lighting was not provided for. (ref. 41) After the Metropolitan
Police Act of 1829 the trustees reduced their responsibilities for watching the square, since the inhabitants were
rated for the police, whether or not officers patrolled the
square. At first they retained some watchmen, but in
1843 these men were discharged and the police became
responsible for the square. (ref. 42) The trustees' jurisdiction
was further eroded by the Metropolis Management Act of
1855. (ref. 43) But the governors of the Charterhouse retained
their control of paving and lighting in Charterhouse
Mews, and asserted their right to control the gates at the
entrances to the square. (ref. 44) Later, Charterhouse Square was
exempted from the terms of the London Squares
Preservation Act of 1931. (ref. 45) The Trustees' administration
lapsed during the 1960s and was replaced by a management committee.
342. Nos 4 and 5 Charterhouse Square in December 1934.
Robert Brabourne, lessee, c. 1698
Iron railings and small gates replaced the old fence
round the square in 1825. (ref. 46) Apart from on the south side,
where they were set back when the roadway here was
widened in 1873–4, these railings survived until 1942,
when they were removed for salvage. They were replaced
during the restoration of the garden in 1949–51 with railings supplied by Bayliss, Jones & Bayliss, of Cannon
Street. In this restoration the diagonal path connecting the
north-east and south-west corners was not reinstated. (ref. 47) In
1960 the railings were reset on new alignments, when the
roadway round the square was enlarged. The present
planting arrangement of the square goes back in some
measure to 1853 when the old trees were replaced. (ref. 48) Some
of the existing plane trees may date from that time.
Charterhouse Square retains three iron gates to the
square, at the south ends of the west and east sides and at
the neck of Charterhouse Street (formerly Lane). This
last gate is the earliest (Ill. 360). Iron gates were installed
here in 1791 to replace the gatehouse taken down sixteen
years earlier, which stood a little further to the east. They
were supplied by Thomas Charles to the designs of
Richard Norris, surveyor to the Charterhouse, which
bore their cost. (ref. 49) During a fire at premises adjacent
at Christmas 1889, the piers and gates were severely
damaged by falling masonry. New frames were made for
the gates and the piers by John Dodson, incorporating as
much of the existing material as possible. (ref. 50) The present
gates to Charterhouse Street, therefore, are those of 1791
as reconstructed in 1890. They consist of a central pair for
vehicles and separate pedestrian gates on either side.
The gates at the ends of the west and south sides were
erected in 1874 at the expense of the City Corporation, in
order to close off the parts of the square not affected by
the new thoroughfare. They were designed by Sir Horace
Jones. (ref. 51) The open piers carry the Sutton arms, and the
lamps on the piers are surmounted by Sutton's greyhound
crests.
East side
Before 1690 the east side of Charterhouse Yard had the
largest houses, with ample gardens stretching eastwards as
far as the backs of houses in Aldersgate Street, with which
some of them were connected (Ill. 333). The freehold of
most of the land here south of Rutland House belonged
from the early seventeenth century to the Heneage and
Finch families. It had descended from Elizabeth Heneage,
daughter of the Elizabethan courtier and plural officeholder, Thomas Heneage; described after the death of her
husband, Sir Moyle Finch, as 'the richest widow in
England', she was latterly Countess of Winchilsea. (ref. 52) Her
son the 2nd Earl of Winchilsea died at his house in
Charterhouse Yard in 1639, and the grandson, Heneage
Finch, the 3rd Earl, a diplomat, continued to own property here.
From a survey of 1651 the Winchilseas' own house can
be identified with the northernmost house, on the site of
the present Nos 10–11 Charterhouse Square. Shown as Hshaped on Ogilby & Morgan's map of 1676 (Ill. 333), it
was then in the possession of the Marquess of Dorchester,
who died there in 1680. To its south is a larger house with
a frontage of about 100ft, on the site of the present Nos
6–9, marked 'Lord Grays'. This refers to the Lords Grey
of Warke, cousins of the Winchilseas. The first Lord Grey
of Warke had owned all or part of the east side since at
least 1643–4. (ref. 53) Remnants of fabric associated with him
survived inside No. 10 until 1941. Next southwards, where
Nos 4 and 5 now stand, was the house occupied by Sir
John Bramston in the 1630s. Bramston spent £300
building or rebuilding stables, a coach-house and a
tenement, the last being leased to a baker, then sold his
property in 1648 to the first Lord Grey. (ref. 54) The nature and
early ownership of the houses on the sites of Nos 1–3 at
the south end of the east side, shown as vacant by Ogilby
& Morgan, are obscure.
343. Nos 4 and 5 Charterhouse Square, floor plans
Nos 2–5
The plots covered by these addresses and that of the longdemolished No. 1 belong historically to a single development of five houses dating from c. 1691–1700. There is
now no No. 1 Charterhouse Square, since its site was taken
into the widening of Carthusian Street about 1801. Nos 2
and 3 were rebuilt around that time, but the present state
of the fronts is probably due to alterations of c. 1897. Nos
4 and 5 survive from the early development and are among
the finest houses in the square (Ill. 340).
344. No. 4 Charterhouse Square, staircase
By the late seventeenth century all these plots were in
the beneficial ownership of the Jemmatt family of
Reading, probably on long lease. In 1696 Nathaniel and
John Jemmatt and their wives granted to William
Desborough, carpenter, a 61-year lease of a house and a
walled garden fronting the square and the north side of
Carthusian Street (No. 1 Charterhouse Square), and in
1698 two further leases, for 59 years, of plots in the square
north of his original holding (Nos 2 and 3). (ref. 55) Two more
leases added other ground plots in Carthusian Street. (ref. 56)
Desborough demolished the existing structures and
began to erect houses there. His scheme involved widening Carthusian Street by three feet and clearing the buildings towards its east end and in Aldersgate Street. (ref. 57) But
financial difficulties soon obliged him to mortgage the
incomplete buildings to his suppliers and creditors, and
resign his interest in the land to Robert Brabourne, gentleman, of the Inner Temple. (ref. 58) Brabourne, from a family
of City merchants, (ref. 59) was a considerable speculator in
property. When he died in 1701 he possessed fifteen
houses and an inn within the City, as well as the eighteen
buildings in the block bounded by Charterhouse Square,
Carthusian Street and Aldersgate Street. In 1699
Brabourne added an extra storey to the houses in the
square. (ref. 60) As completed, Nos 1–3 were of four full storeys
with garrets within a pitched roof (Ill. 335). Nos 1 and 2
were three windows wide and had paired entrances; No. 3
was four windows wide with an entrance left of centre.
345. No. 5 Charterhouse Square, foot of stair in 1999
346. No. 5 Charterhouse Square, first-floor room in March
1943. Panelling and chimneypiece probably of the 1920s
reusing old elements
The freehold ownership of the three houses, along with
Nos 4–5, passed in 1758–9 to the 2nd Earl of Dartmouth. (ref. 61)
The Dartmouths were already related to the Heneages and
Finches who had owned much of the east side, but it
appears that these properties came to the family only by
marriage at this date. They sold No. 1 for the widening of
Carthusian Street in 1800, retaining the others along with
property facing that street. (ref. 62)
Nos 2 and 3 were then rebuilt. They have undergone
successive alterations, but it seems likely that parts of the
present fabric date from 1801.
From 1857 to 1879, No. 2 was occupied by William
Snoxell, a collector of clocks, automata, and memorabilia
connected with artists, literary figures and composers. His
collection encompassed such items as: 'Two Ottoman
Square Foot Stools, covered with red cloth and fringed,
on pressure with the foot, produces a shrieking noise …
The Mechanical Performing Crab … A Cat sitting under
a chair, the seat of which, on being slightly pressed, produces the shriek of that animal when in great torture'. He
also claimed to possess Handel's watch, original will and
an inventory of his household goods of 1759, as well as a
portrait of the composer by 'Woolfand'—probably
Wolfgang—and the 'original Anvil and Hammer of the
"Harmonious Blacksmith"'. Amongst his literary papers
are listed Evelyn's diary and architectural drawings. After
Snoxell's death in 1879 his collection was sold, a number
of items later passing to the British Museum. (ref. 63)
In 1878 Frederick Patterson acquired No. 3, which had
been in use as a lodging-house since the mid-1850s. (ref. 64) After
Snoxell died, Patterson took over his lease and the two
properties became known as 'Patterson's Hotel'. They
were only jointly rated from 1898, when Robert Henry
Barnes, licensed victualler, acquired a 60-year lease from
the Earl of Dartmouth. (ref. 65) Barnes was already the occupier
in the previous year, when he employed Edwards & Co. to
make alterations. (ref. 66) The faintly Jacobean ornament extant
on the Carthusian Street frontage and formerly applied
also on the front facing the square may date from this time.
It has the flavour of pub architecture. In the next decade
the premises were occupied by J. A. Berthes, following
whose bankruptcy there was a proposal, probably carried
out, to divide it into three shops. (ref. 67)
Nos 4 and 5 are now the only survivors of the William
and Mary rebuilding of Charterhouse Square (Ills 342,
343). They were built on part of the land leased in 1696
by the Jemmatts to William Desborough. Presumably
because of his financial problems, the sites were still vacant
in October 1697. (ref. 68) The two houses appear to have been
built by Robert Brabourne between then and his death in
September 1701. Thomas Dorrington of St Andrew
Holborn, bricklayer, was probably the main contractor. (ref. 69)
No. 5 was fitted out for Brabourne's own occupation, and
the ground-floor front room originally had his arms
carved over the chimneypiece, while panelling there and
elsewhere in the house bore his initials. (ref. 70)
With their higher storeys, Nos 4 and 5 were more ambitious than Nos 1–3 and perhaps the tallest houses in the
square. They shared a flat leaded roof, shown in early
views adorned with a central cupola or belvedere and a
balustrade—unusually pretentious features for terrace
houses (Ill. 335). The front elevations are consistent in
design with a date of about 1700, but the existing brickwork, particularly the yellow London stocks, suggests that
they have been much rebuilt or refaced. The heightening
of the paired doorcases to allow fanlights probably took
place in the early nineteenth century.
No. 5 is half a bay wider than No. 4, but otherwise the
plans of the two houses were originally almost mirror
images, with the classic two-room layout per floor and rear
closet wings rising to all four storeys. The closet wing to
No. 4 is set at an angle, reflecting the boundary with No.
3. The panelled staircases are the best features in the two
houses; they are similar, although that at No. 5 is grander
(Ills 344, 345). Both are of dog-leg type with a narrow
stairwell. That at No. 4 has twisted balusters and ballflower drop-finials to the newel posts. The lower flights of
the staircase at No. 5 have carved tread-ends, delicately
carved paired balusters, and square newel posts with
foliage and flower panels. Vestiges of the original panelling
remain in the first-floor front room at No. 4, along with a
good marble chimneypiece.
While some rooms at No. 5 also have remnants of panelling, Brabourne's panelling and carving in the groundfloor front room was sold in 1919. Together with a carved
archway, its supporting pillars in the hall, and a lead
cistern in the yard, it was bought by the Hon. Clive
Pearson. (ref. 71) He probably installed the woodwork in his
London house at No. 32 Grosvenor Square, demolished
in 1957, (ref. 72) while the cistern may have gone eventually to
his country house, at Parham, Sussex. The present
Jacobethan wooden chimneypieces and linenfold panelling
in the front rooms of the principal floors at No. 5 (Ill. 346)
were presumably installed after this removal.
Both houses were well occupied until the later Victorian
period. Between 1812 and 1869, No. 4 was home to
doctors. John Richard Farre, founder member of and
eminent physician to the Royal London Ophthalmic
Hospital at No. 40, was succeeded in 1847 by John Mann,
surgeon, who used the back room on the ground floor as
his consulting-room and the rear closet as his surgery, but
the rest of the house as his family home. (ref. 73) From 1870 to
1892 it was used as a staff hostel by Ward, Sturt & Sharp,
warehousemen, wholesale hosiers, haberdashers and flannelmen in the City, with a factory at Belper, Derbyshire.
In 1881 twelve warehousemen, mostly in their twenties,
were accommodated there, looked after by a married
couple. By 1908 No. 4 had become offices, and it has been
used for this purpose ever since. (ref. 74) The freehold remained
in the hands of the family of the Earl of Dartmouth until
at least 1913. (ref. 75)
347. No. 10 Charterhouse Square, view before 1935, with
No. 9 to right and No. 11 to left. All demolished
348. No. 10 Charterhouse Square, detail of staircase in 1846,
drawing by John Wykeham Archer
349. No. 10 Charterhouse Square, fireplace on ground floor,
drawn in October 1942. The cupboards to the left are in the
place of a demolished staircase
No. 5 enjoyed Georgian residents of good standing. In
1845 it became the parsonage for St Sepulchre, Holborn.
Though just outside the parish, it was considered the most
eligible property then available, especially 'as there are so
very few private houses of a suitable description within or
near the Parish'. (ref. 76) The freehold was purchased from the
Earl of Dartmouth for about £16,000. It continued as the
parsonage until 1929, by which time it had become too
large and expensive to maintain on the stipend. On the
death of the incumbent in that year, the freehold was
offered to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners but they
declined it. (ref. 77) Since 1931–2 No. 5 has been used as offices.
350. No. 11 Charterhouse Square, plans and front elevation in 1845. Demolished
Nos 6–11
Nos 6–9 Charterhouse Square now consists of a suave
block of flats dating from 1935–7, while Nos 10–11 is an
office block of 1957–9. Their immediate predecessors
were houses of the 1690s.
The extensive mansion houses on these sites are marked
on Ogilby & Morgan's map as belonging to Lord Grey of
Warke and the Marquess of Dorchester (Ill. 333). No later
than 1694 they had been acquired by Peter Ward of St
Botolph without Aldersgate, brewer, who had demolished
most of the group and erected six houses on the site. (ref. 78) The
sites remained separate, with the four houses on Lord
Grey's site (Nos 6–9) shown in early views as of three full
storeys with a high roof, while the more northerly houses
(Nos 10 and 11) are represented as wider but with only
two full storeys (Ills 334, 335). Nos 6–9 were not well
recorded before their demolition about 1935. Photographs
of the fronts of Nos 10 and 11 not many years before their
destruction by bombing on 10 May 1941 show that No. 10
remained only two storeys high but had been harshly
refronted (Ill. 347). No. 11 had its original plain brick front
with lighter dressings round the windows; it had been
heightened by a storey in the original style. The houses
had acquired different styles of Georgian door hoods with
broken pediments and fanlights. Inside No. 11 there were
four principal rooms on each floor. The staircase was
squeezed between the front and back rooms on the north
side (Ill. 350).
Perhaps at No. 11, more certainly at No. 10, Ward
retained elements of the previous houses on these sites.
These were brought to light by the inter-war owner of No.
10, Frank Daphne, a solicitor, who called it 'The Dower
House' and claimed it as 'the house from which Henry
VIII married Catherine Parr'. A description of the interior of No. 10 in 1933 mentions a vaulted brick basement
(perhaps surviving from Lord Latimer's house here), panelled reception rooms, and a large dining-room at the front
which contained the Grey coat of arms carved in stone,
and the family motto De bon vouloir servir le Roy. (ref. 79) A
drawing of a stair in Charterhouse Square made in 1846
seems to tally with this description and probably refers
to No. 10 (Ill. 348). (ref. 80) It shows a balustrade in midseventeenth century style incorporating flowing acanthus
leaves, coronet and portcullis and the same coat of arms.
In 1938–9 during further renovations in the basement
Daphne uncovered 'a great deal of Tudor work including
a large fireplace, some 18ft. in width, similar to the fire
places in the great kitchen at Hampton Court; and also
some squint brick work which rather puzzles me as to its
origin and use'. This fireplace survived the Blitz and was
drawn in 1942 (Ill. 349). But despite efforts to incorporate
it in the new building on the site, it was allowed to deteriorate and was eventually destroyed. (ref. 81)
All six houses here continued as private dwellings until
at least the 1830s, after which a mixture of occupants
became the norm. A ladies' school was at No. 10 from
1843, moving to No. 6 in 1859. The latter house was
acquired soon afterwards by Copestake, Crampton & Co.
Ltd, Cheapside lace manufacturers and warehousemen,
who by 1872 had expanded to the whole of Nos 6–10,
using the buildings as a staff hostel. In 1881 they housed
at least 100 male and 18 female employees. (ref. 82) The vicarage
of St Botolph without Aldersgate was at No. 7 by 1839,
but transferred in 1845 to No. 11, where it long remained,
while No. 7 became the temporary vicarage of St
Thomas's, Charterhouse. Also at No. 11 in the early 1870s
was the City Young Women's Association, a forerunner of
the Young Women's Christian Association.
Nos 6–9, now called Florin Court, is the most prominent building on the east side of the square (Ills 340,
351–354). A ten-storey block of flats in the streamlined
moderne style, it was built in 1935–7 for Charterhouse Ltd
(by 1937 Charter Estates). The architects were Guy
Morgan & Partners, specialists at that time in such flats.
The builders were J. Gerrard & Sons Ltd, and the cost
about £74,000. The interior decoration was by Mrs V. M.
Thomas.
The U-plan of the building was adopted to give an
outlook over the square to the maximum number of
rooms. The London County Council gave permission for
the recessed centre of the main front to be carried up to
the full height of the block without the usual set-back, but
insisted that the two projecting wings should have the
uppermost storey set back. This allowed the top flats to
have small roof gardens.
The block is steel-framed and clad in pale yellow and
brown mottled bricks of 'a particularly high quality' produced by Williamson Cliff Ltd of Great Casterton, near
Stamford, who also made the special bricks for the arms
of Charterhouse over the entrance. The flowing cantilevered entrance canopy is covered in copper and sheet
steel. The entrance hall had a marble floor inset with the
arms of Charterhouse, but this area is now carpeted.
351. Nos 6–9 Charterhouse Square, plan of typical upper floor
as built
The internal planning was dictated by the expectation
that businessmen, needing to be at Smithfield Market
early in the morning, would find the flats convenient piedsà-terre. Many of the flats were no more than bedsitters, in
some cases with a bed recess, allowing the total number of
flats to come to 126. Only one flat per floor had two bedrooms and a sitting-room. The ground floor included a
porter's office and flat for the head porter. In the basement
was a public restaurant, a cocktail bar and a clubroom, and
beneath was a garage with parking for twenty cars. Behind
the block a single-storey building contained two squash
courts. (ref. 83) By the early 1950s some of the flats were in use
as offices. (ref. 84)
In 1988 the block was refurbished and modernized
for Regalian Properties at a cost of about £2 million, by
architects Hildebrand & Glicker (job architect Stephen
Bodimeade; interior designer Andrew Dandridge), and
once again became fully residential. It then acquired the
name Florin Court. The roof gardens were reinstated, and
up-to-date features such as jacuzzis and a basement swimming-pool were installed. In its restored state Florin Court
appeared on television in the late 1980s and 90s in the
guise of Whitehaven Mansions, the home of Agatha
Christie's fictional detective, Hercule Poirot. (ref. 85)
352–354. Nos 6–9 Charterhouse Square in 1937. Guy Morgan
& Partners, architects, 1935–7. Main front, entrance canopy
and entrance hall
Nos 10–11 is an office block, built in 1957–9 to replace
the two houses here destroyed in the Blitz (Ill. 340). It was
designed by H. C. Wilkerson & Partners. (ref. 86) Above a basement, it has five storeys at the front and six at the rear. Of
purplish-grey brick, it is minimally neo-Georgian; the
front elevation includes two three-storey canted bays, with
the entrance set at the southern end. The first occupants
were a subsidiary of the De Havilland aeronautical engineering group, who gave the building the name Welkin
House, dropped after the company's departure in the early
1970s. (ref. 87)
North side
Occupying the north side of the square between the
Charterhouse and Rutland Place is a small group of
houses, Nos 12, 12a and 13–14. Though they all look like
early nineteenth-century buildings (Ill. 355), Nos 13–14,
formerly two houses but now thrown together, belong in
part to the late seventeenth century. They once ranged
continuous to the west with a wing of the Charterhouse,
and to the east with a short run of houses which touched
the corner of No. 11 on the east side. The roadway of
Rutland Place to their east is a creation of the 1820s.
The origin of this group is bound up with the history
of Rutland House, to be covered in the monograph on the
Charterhouse. The south-western corner of that mansion,
including a narrow entrance into its main courtyard,
occupied the sites of Nos 12 and 12a (Ills 333, 336, 337).
The break-up of the Rutland House property followed
upon its return to the ownership of the 2nd Duke of
Buckingham in 1660 after the Restoration. In 1662
Buckingham granted the main house to John Eaton,
mercer, who invited James Nelthorpe, a resident of
Charterhouse Yard, to purchase a half share. (ref. 88) In 1688 the
latter's brother, Sir Goddard Nelthorpe, leased the portion
west of the entrance and courtyard to Francis Stacey,
citizen and clothworker, for 52 years. Stacey was required
to pull down the existing buildings and build two new
'good and substantial' brick houses of the second rate, to
be completed by that Christmas. (ref. 89) A former gallery behind
was to be rebuilt and incorporated into the eastern house.
The outcome was an unequal pair of houses, No. 14 threeand-a-half windows wide, No. 13 six-and-a-half windows
wide; the eastern half of No. 13 covered the site of the
present No. 12.
By the 1780s No. 13 was a boarding-house for
Charterhouse schoolboys, but No. 14 remained a private
residence. (ref. 90) Here Samuel Sharwood, a leather cutter,
acquired the freehold and seems to have made substantial
alterations about 1810–11. (ref. 91) These entailed adding a
storey, refacing the building with yellow stock bricks and
remodelling the first floor with French windows and a
balcony with cast-iron railings, formerly supplemented by
a trellis and awning. Much of the rendering on this storey,
however, is due to alterations by the Charterhouse's architects Seely & Paget in the mid-1960s. (ref. 92)
355. Nos 12–14 Charterhouse Square (right to left) in 1997
Between 1810 and 1825 the headmaster of
Charterhouse School, the Rev. John Russell, acquired all
the sites in this corner of the square and gave it the present
configuration. He bought No. 14 from Sharwood for
£2,500 in 1818, turning it into another boarding-house
like No. 13. (ref. 93) Next he bought the adjacent properties to
the east, acquiring a lease from the Charterhouse of an old
gabled house that had been the entrance to Rutland House,
and part of the freehold estate of Sir Robert Harry Inglis
beyond. This enabled him to abolish Rutland Court, the
open space north of the Rutland House entrance, and lay
out the line of Rutland Place further east. (ref. 94) On the east
side of this new cul-de-sac he built two three-storey
houses in 1826–7, Nos 1 and 2 Rutland Place (on the site
now occupied by the former headmaster's house of
Merchant Taylors' School). (ref. 95) On the south-west corner in
1832 Russell erected a third house, No. 3 Rutland Place,
now No. 12A Charterhouse Square. (ref. 96) Originally the front
elevation had no bow window, but a pair of flush windows
to the ground and first floors. (ref. 97)
Following Russell's resignation as schoolmaster, his
properties were bought in September 1833 by John Cross,
a watch manufacturer at No. 41 Charterhouse Square, who
undertook alterations. These involved dividing No. 13 into
two, and rebuilding the fronts to the square so as to create
the present No. 12. The unbalanced frontages of Nos 12
and 13 echo the original six-and-a-half bay façade. (ref. 98)
356. No. 13 Charterhouse Square, plan and panelling of first-floor front room
For some years the four houses reverted to private
residences. Nos 13 and 14 were occupied in the 1850s and
60s by surgeons of distinction connected with St
Bartholomew's Hospital—respectively, William Scovell
Savory (later baronet), President of the Royal College
of Surgeons and surgeon-extraordinary to Queen
Victoria, and his colleague Frederic Carpenter Skey.
But from around 1870 Nos 12, 13 and 14 all became
boarding-houses, soon euphemistically called hotels.
One was Kershaw's Hotel, initially at No. 14, extended in
1884 to No. 12 to add to two further houses James
Kershaw had in the square. This commercial hotel,
successfully continued by his daughter Alice Gurner,
was the only one in the square deemed worthy of
mention in the 1879 edition of Baedeker's London guide. (ref. 99)
By 1905 under new management renamed the Brunswick
Hotel, it covered Nos 12, 13 and 14. (ref. 100) The last name
for a hotel at these addresses was the Fife Hotel
(c. 1912–38). Since then these houses have largely been
used as offices.
Between 1887 and 1903 No. 12a acted as a boardinghouse for Merchant Taylors' School, which took over the
Charterhouse school site in 1872. (ref. 101) It was then occupied
by the developer Mark Bromet, one-time rag and general
merchant at the Charterhouse Works, Northburgh Street,
who added the present three-tier bow window at the front
in 1904–5. (ref. 102) The house served as the rectory of St
Bartholomew-the-Great from about 1907 to 1913.
The interiors of the four houses reflect their chequered
history. At No. 14 there are remains of the seventeenth-century stair-rail. Otherwise the dog-leg staircase has
typical early nineteenth-century balusters. The staircases
at Nos 12a, 12 and 13 are also of early nineteenth-century
type, but No. 12a also has a short extra stair-rail on the
first-floor landing, with four twisted balusters of c. 1700,
perhaps from another house. Remarkably, the front firstfloor room at No. 13 retains its late seventeenth-century
form, complete with bolection-moulded panelling and a
blocked doorway formerly connecting with the eastern half
of the house (Ill. 356).
North-west side and Charterhouse Mews
This is the side of Charterhouse Square most intimately
linked with the Charterhouse, which owned most of the
freeholds. To the west of No. 14 there is now a gap, filled
until the Second World War by buildings of the
Charterhouse fronting Chapel Court. Where a corner of
this court comes close to the square (Ill. 357), the roadway
angles southwards and an ancient high chequerboard wall
of flint and Reigate stone begins. It dates from 1405 or
soon afterwards, and runs westwards to the gate of the
Charterhouse. Originally it continued further west beyond
the gate. The medieval fabric of the gate, of the same date,
is now confined to a single storey with a four-centred
archway. It is surmounted and flanked to its west by a fine
early Georgian house originally known as the Physician's
House, now numbered 17 in the square. Beyond this, the
granary yard of the priory once occupied land west of the
gate. Today these fronts are filled by a large block of
1899–1902, purpose-built as a hotel (Ill. 360). Then,
opposite the gates to Charterhouse Street, is the entrance
to Charterhouse Mews, developed from stabling and
coach-houses for Charterhouse officers. No. 17 is briefly
described below: a fuller account of the house and gateway
will appear in the Charterhouse monograph.
No. 17
This house was built in 1716 for the physician to the
Charterhouse, Henry Levett, replacing the old house over
the gateway which had been occupied by his predecessor
since the 1690s (Ills 335–337). The design was provided
by Levett, and half the estimated cost of £800 was paid
by the Charterhouse governors. (ref. 103) The date 1716, together
with the initials S[utton's] H[ospital], is carried on the
rainwater heads. The names of the craftsmen are not
known, but they are likely to have been the same as those
who built the now-demolished adjoining houses, Nos 18
and 19, directly afterwards.
No. 17 is a handsome building fronted in plum brick
with red-brick dressings (Ill. 358). The western half is of
three full storeys above ground, while the rest is built over
the gate. The fine hooded timber doorcase is adorned with
fluted Corinthian pilasters and a segmental pediment. The
fanlight was inserted in 1831. Inside, a panelled passageway leads to a staircase which has fluted newel posts, threeto-a-tread barleysugar balusters, carved tread-ends and a
panelled dado. The plaster cornices in the principal rooms
may also be original. There are good fireplaces; one of
them, in marble with mantel and jambs, was installed by
George Burnill in 1753. (ref. 104) Since the 1950s No. 17 has been
the Master's Lodge for the Charterhouse.
The flat hood above the Charterhouse gate, supported
by brackets in the form of stylized lions, was added during
the late eighteenth century.
Nos 18–21 (demolished) and 22
357. Charterhouse Square, north-west side, c. 1816. No. 17 to left
The first development of these sites took place from 1718,
when Edward Wastfield or Westfield, citizen and grocer of
London, took a lease from the Charterhouse of the site
next to the newly built No. 17, agreeing to spend at least
£1,200 on the erection of two new houses of the second
rate. (ref. 105) These, the former Nos 18 and 19, were four storeys
high and four windows wide. Their entrance hoods and
doors were like that at No. 17, to judge from an early view
of the square (Ill. 337). Inside, the houses had two rooms
per floor and closet wings back to back. Beyond the end
wall of No. 19 was the old entrance to the stable yard (now
Charterhouse Mews), and then three tenements also
leased to Wastfield, facing Cowface Court. (ref. 106)
358. No. 17 Charterhouse Square and entrance to the Charterhouse in 1998.
The former Physician's House, built in 1716 partly over the medieval gateway. Now the Master's Lodge
Beyond Nos 18 and 19 a gap existed until the 1780s.
Following a plan carried through in 1775 to widen
Charterhouse Lane, demolish the old gateway to the lane
and replace it with iron gates, the governors of the
Charterhouse asked their surveyor, Charles Evans, to
produce a scheme to remove Cowface Court, shift the stable
entrance further west and build new houses along the
frontage west of No. 19. (ref. 107) Several variants were proposed.
In the version finally built under an agreement with John
Wilkinson Long, carpenter, in 1786–7, three houses of four
full storeys were erected (numbered in the square), followed
by two of three storeys beyond (in Charterhouse Lane). Of
the houses in the square, Nos 20 and 21 were wider than
the other, No. 22, over the new entrance into the mews. (ref. 108)
359. No. 22 Charterhouse Square, elevation of front door, and
arch to Charterhouse Mews
No. 22, next to the iron gates, is the only survivor. It is
of yellow brick, with Coade-stone dressings. The doorway
has vermiculated rustication and a keystone mask, and the
archway also has a mask and swags (Ills 359, 360). An elliptical stairwell rises from the broad hallway. The ceiling of
the front room on the first floor has five painted roundels
depicting the arts. These are probably by Thomas
Stowers, the first occupant of the house. Both he and his
son, also Thomas, were landscape and topographical
painters, as well as running a painting and decorating business which carried out work for the Charterhouse. A workshop and loft at the rear were used by Stowers for storing
his utensils and stock. (ref. 109)
360. Nos 18–21 and 22 Charterhouse Square, and gates, in
2007
From 1882 No. 22 was occupied by William Hooper
Matthews, who ran a firm manufacturing letter-binders.
In 1884 he took a new lease conditional on his spending at
least £400 erecting a building at the rear. This is a twostorey brick structure, with broad windows on both floors.
No. 22 is now a migraine clinic, while the workshop to the
rear is a restaurant.
Nos 18–21, Malmaison London hotel
In 1856 the lessee of No. 19 was Elizabeth Cocker.
Gradually this and its neighbours, Nos 20 and 21, turned
into a private hotel known as Cocker's Hotel. (ref. 110) It
expanded in the 1880s and 90s, taking in No. 18 and
extending behind. (ref. 111)
In 1899 the Charterhouse granted a new lease to the
local developer Mark Bromet, on condition that he would
replace the four houses with a new building costing at least
£20,000, to the designs of its estate surveyor, E. B.
I'Anson. At some point the project was taken over by the
developer-builders Arthur Mazzini Wheeler and William
Warren of Bryanston Square and their architect, Edward
Haslehurst, to whom the existing front may cautiously be
attributed (Ill. 360). Under the proprietorship of Wheeler
and Warren it opened in 1902 as the Charterhouse Hotel,
with 107 bedrooms. (ref. 112) A large, symmetrical but coarse
building, of seven storeys over a semi-basement, it dwarfs
No. 17 to its east. It is finished in red bricks with stone
dressings, now white-painted. The hotel was popular
before the First World War among provincial businessmen. Appropriated as a military hospital in 1918, it did not
reopen as a hotel after the war. From 1923 the building
was known as Charterhouse Chambers and occupied by
small businesses plus a restaurant. It was bought by St
Bartholomew's Hospital in 1927 and afterwards long used
in whole or part for nurses' accommodation. (ref. 113) Sold in
1997 and entirely reconstructed behind the fronts in
2002–4 by RHWL Architects (Renton Howard Wood
Levin Partnership), working with the builders Try
Construction, it has returned to hotel use as the
Malmaison London. (ref. 114) A bust of Napoleon presides from
the back of the open-plan lobby.
Charterhouse Mews
Part of the rebuilding by John Wilkinson Long in
1786–7 involved erecting coach-houses and stables in
Charterhouse Mews, long since demolished. (ref. 115) Fresh
coach-houses, stables and workshops were built here in
1884 (Ill. 361). (ref. 116) The present Nos 1–4, in the shadow of
the high back of the Malmaison hotel, consist of low-key
offices erected about 1988 by the developers Homesteads
Ltd, with their in-house designers Kinson Architects and
Clive Elvin as project architect. (ref. 117) The buildings are in a
pastiche-Georgian brick style, with a smattering of shaped
gables and pedimented windows.
361. Charterhouse Mews, elevation of stables. George Perry,
architect, 1884. Demolished
362. Nos 23–28 Charterhouse Square, front elevation of warehouses built for Edwin King, 1885–6. Demolished
West side
Historically, the west side of the square was the least eligible or coherent, and the least-often illustrated. There
have been three main phases of redevelopment, in 1700,
1885–6, and 1956–62. The present building known as Nos
23–28 Charterhouse Square occupies the whole of this
block, bounded north and south by branches of
Charterhouse Street and on the west by Fox and Knot
Street.
In the late sixteenth century much of the frontage on
the west side of the yard was held by John Sinclair, clerk
of works at the Charterhouse. His plot contained a
bowling alley and dicing houses. (ref. 118) A survey of 1651 shows
three main features here: an 'old house or shed' at the
northern end, set back from the frontage and abutting the
gate in Charterhouse Lane; then a big area of ground with
much open space behind held by Allen Law, probably in
succession to Sinclair; and a row of small houses running
westwards at the south end and described as 'Mr Laws
new tenements'. (ref. 119) By 1676 the shed at the north end had
been replaced by a row of houses running along
Charterhouse Lane, of which the easternmost one abutting the gate was a pub in the mid-eighteenth century. Part
of this building disappeared when Charterhouse Lane was
widened and the old gateway demolished in 1775. A
porter's lodge for the new iron gate was subsequently built
by Thomas Draper, bricklayer, and designated No. 23
Charterhouse Square. (ref. 120)
In 1700 the Charterhouse advertised the rest of the
ground along the western frontage, evidently their freehold land, as available for building. An agreement followed
with Thomas Fletcher and William Sharpe, bricklayers, to
spend at least £2,000 on replacing the old buildings with
nine new brick houses, Nos 24–32, by Midsummer 1702.
The houses had three full storeys with 'good and convenient Garretts'. (ref. 121) At the south end the last house returned
briefly eastwards to connect with the line of Hayne (then
Charterhouse) Street (Ill. 334).
Two of these houses, Nos 30 and 31, were burnt down
in 1836 and rebuilt slightly forward of the previous building line. (ref. 122) The replacements did not last long, for Nos
29–32 disappeared in the clearances of 1864–74 for the
Metropolitan Railway and Charterhouse Street. The
leases of the remaining Nos 24–28 expired in 1885, when
the Charterhouse decided to rebuild the whole west side
of the square as commercial premises. An agreement was
made with the developer Edwin King of Fenchurch
Avenue for a five-storey warehouse, erected in 1885–6 and
probably designed by another member of the King family,
Mark William King, surveyor, of the same address. (ref. 123)
Typically for its date and genre, the building had narrow
piers and broad windows, round-headed on the top storey,
the centre of the front being emphasized and given an
ornamental pediment (Ill. 362). It was very similar to
warehouses erected by the Kings in Clerkenwell Road in
1888–90 (see pages 403–4). The internal construction was
probably largely of iron.
363. Nos 23–28 Charterhouse Square, looking north-west
in 2000
The first occupants of this block (Nos 23–28) were
printers and manufacturing stationers. The northern part,
Nos 23–25, gave some trouble. A fire in 1889 caused some
of the fabric to collapse. (ref. 124) The buildings were reinstated,
but the noise of the printing machinery annoyed the
square's inhabitants, who felt their 'health, comfort and
rest' as well as their financial interests affected. (ref. 125) By 1895
this end had been taken over by a firm of blouse manufacturers. (ref. 126) No. 27 was first occupied by Sebastian Ziani de
Ferranti, the distinguished electrical engineer, inventor and
manufacturer, who was just embarking on the construction
and equipping of Deptford Power Station. It was here that
in 1890 the firm of S. Z. de Ferranti Ltd was formed.
Ferranti gave up No. 27 when he opened a new factory in
1896 near Oldham. (ref. 127) By the mid-1930s most of the building was occupied by clothing firms of various descriptions,
including the hat manufacturer J. Collett Ltd.
The south end of the block, Nos 26–28, was destroyed
in the 1941 air-raids. Its replacement, a factory and offices
for Colletts designed by Lewis Solomon, Son & Joseph,
architects, was built in 1954–6 at an approximate cost of
£135,000 and became the first section of the current Nos
23–28. (ref. 128) Of six storeys, one more than its predecessor, it
is a massive but dignified building, with artificial stone
cladding on the ground storey, brick above, and ample
windows, all on a reinforced-concrete frame (Ill. 363). The
new block was evidently designed with the thought of an
extension to the north, where Nos 23–25 of the 1885–6
building still remained. In 1962 this extension was added
on behalf of Colletts by Lewis Solomon, Kaye &
Partners. (ref. 129) Colletts at that time were said to be the largest
ladies' hat manufacturer in Europe, yet in about 1974 they
went into voluntary liquidation. (ref. 130) Subsequently Nos
23–28 were converted for use as banking offices, with
changes to the windows. (ref. 131)
South side
The plots on the south side of the square today are
shallow, particularly at the west end, because of the alignment of the railway cutting directly behind, occupied by
Barbican Station. The existing buildings, Nos 33–43, are
all of the warehouse type. They date from 1876–7, following the construction of the railway and the projection
of the new through roadway along the south side.
In the seventeenth century there were three main holdings on this side of Charterhouse Yard. At the west end a
broad double plot was occupied by a large building with a
garden on its west side fronting the square, and a coachhouse and stables. This was the house which had been
the Venetian ambassador's residence. In 1651 it belonged
to Lord Dunsmore (also known as the 1st Earl of
Chichester). In the 1680s, when it was in the hands of Sir
Nicholas Crispe, 2nd Bart, it was described as old. (ref. 132) In
the centre of the south side a group of houses was the
property of Stephen Anderson in 1651. (ref. 133) They are shown
on Ogilby & Morgan's map of 1676 as a row of five, with
one set back from the others (Ill. 333). Beyond them to the
east stood one of the largest houses in Charterhouse Yard
and the only one within the boundaries of the City. It was
occupied in 1651 by the Countess of Nottingham and is
shown by Ogilby & Morgan as enjoying a broad frontage
and a square, formally laid-out garden behind.
Redevelopment here began with the demolition of the
Dunsmore property at the west end and the laying out in
1687 of what is now Hayne Street by Thomas Neale, no
doubt the developer of that name best known for his work
around Seven Dials. Originally known as Charterhouse
Street, this cut through the western part of the site from
Long Lane, culminating in two large corner houses 'of the
second rate' (Ill. 334). (ref. 134) The first of the developments of
this period around Charterhouse Yard, it was described in
1720 as 'a neat new built Place … with very neat and
genteel Houses, well inhabited'. (ref. 135) The proprietor of the
new street, whose relation to Neale is not known, was
Henry Plumptre or Plumtree. (ref. 136) To the east of the new
street, Plumptre had erected a pair of houses by 1691, Nos
33 and 34 Charterhouse Square. (ref. 137) Five and three windows
wide respectively, they both had three storeys with attics.
The centre of the south side was rebuilt in 1703–5 following an agreement between the freeholder, Sir Rowland
Winn of Nostell Priory, Yorkshire, with Richard Boulton
and George Willson, carpenters, for the erection of six
new houses, Nos 35–40. (ref. 138) Each was of three bays and
three storeys, with garrets and cellars. The four central
houses consisted of two handed pairs, while the outer
ones had mirrored plans (Ill. 364). There were broken
swan-necked pediments above the doors, spanning both
entrances in the central pairs.
364. Nos 36–39 Charterhouse Square, plans of four of a row
of six houses (Nos 35–40) of 1703–5. Demolished
Beyond these houses, the former Countess of
Nottingham's house was replaced at about the same date
by a grand house, No. 41, set behind a forecourt fronted
by railings on a dwarf wall between high gate piers
(Ill. 334). This house was seven windows wide with a
central pedimented doorway and had two full storeys plus
dormers, over a semi-basement. The front included a
modillioned eaves cornice and quoining. There were six
rooms on each of the principal floors. (ref. 139) The original
builder of this house is not known, but it may have been
erected for the Wollaston family. Four generations of
Wollastons, intellectual clergymen, lived in houses in the
square. The first was William Wollaston, author of The
Religion of Nature Delineated, who moved here on his marriage to a London merchant heiress in 1689, continuing
until he died in 1724. It was said of him that 'for above
thirty years before his death, he had not been absent from
his habitation in Charterhouse-square so much as one
whole night'. (ref. 140) No. 41 may therefore have been built for
William Wollaston around 1694, but the record is confused by his son Francis Wollaston (1694–1774), who
stated that his father lived at different addresses in the
square. Between at least 1743 and 1790 Francis Wollaston
and his better-known son, the astronomer Francis
Wollaston (1731–1815), lived at No. 41, but another house
on the south side, No. 37, was also associated with the
family. Francis junior's son, Francis John Wollaston
(1762–1823), lecturer in chemistry, was born in the
square. (ref. 141)
365. Nos 37–40 Charterhouse Square (right to left), elevation
by Coutts Stone, architect, c. 1876. Not as built
An early break with residential use on this side took
place in 1805, when John Cunningham Saunders, an ophthalmic surgeon of Guy's Hospital, took a lease of No. 40
in order to open a dispensary 'for curing Diseases of the
Eye and Ear'. Treatment was quickly limited to eye
diseases and Saunders converted the dispensary into an
infirmary, renaming it the London Infirmary for Curing
Diseases of the Eye. This was the precursor of Moorfields
eye hospital. (ref. 142) In 1830 Lady Ann Packington's School
took over the site of the coach-house at No. 41 after its
premises in Bartholomew Close had burnt down. But in
1852 an inspector concluded that 'the School Buildings are
altogether unsuited for the purposes to which they are
applied'. The school left eight years later. (ref. 143) By then the
building had acquired the number 42 in the square. After
use as a manufactory it returned briefly to educational use
as St Sepulchre's Schools in the early 1870s. (ref. 144)
Nos 33–43
The Metropolitan Railway acquired the whole of the
south side of Charterhouse Square and emptied the
properties in order to construct their extension from
Farringdon to Moorgate in 1864–5. The cutting of the
railway entailed the demolition of Nos 32–38 on the south
side of the square, along with the whole of Thomas
Neale's Charterhouse Street. Nos 39–43 were briefly left
standing, but the operation left the whole south side as an
awkward set of narrow sites whose amenities were further
diminished by the new east—west thoroughfare completed
in front of them in 1873–4 (Ill. 338).
In 1875 the railway company sold the whole frontage to
Tubbs, Lewis & Co., manufacturers of elastic fabric, silk
throwsters, warehousemen and 'smallware agents', with
premises in the City, Birmingham and Manchester, and a
manufacturing base in Gloucestershire. (ref. 145) The firm also
had a line in the speculative building of warehouses at this
period, on which they spent about a quarter of a million
pounds. The row which they erected here was one of
several local developments they carried out during the
mid-1870s, including Charterhouse Buildings at the
corner of Goswell and Clerkenwell Roads (see page 390).
The company chose as its architect Coutts Stone, a friend
of George Devey. Early drawings suggest there was some
thought of rebuilding from No. 38 eastwards with houses
(Ill. 365), but in the event the whole block became warehousing. Construction took place in 1876–7. Andrew
Killby was the builder for Nos 33–42, with interior structural ironwork provided by H. Young & Co.; Scrivener &
White took on the separate No. 43. (ref. 146)
Nos 33–42 (Ill. 341) stand four storeys above a basement
protected by heavy iron railings. The block is divided into
three sections. The front elevation, faced in red brick, has
a strong horizontal emphasis, with broad banks of mullioned windows relieved by some minor brick detailing.
No. 43 has a narrower frontage and an extra storey topped
by a pediment, while its main windows are of iron and
flanked by decorated pilasters.
Tenants for these warehouses were mainly involved in
the textile trades. At No. 41 one of the original occupants
was Griswold & Hainworth Ltd, early specialists in
portable knitting machines for domestic use. (ref. 147) In the early
1890s the whole of No. 40 was occupied by David Marcus,
importer and agent of Eastern manufactured goods: 'The
basement is reserved as a show-room for Oriental carpets
and furniture; the ground floor is divided in front into a
splendid show-room, and at the rear forms the wellappointed office; while the upper floors are fully utilised
as show and stock-rooms'. (ref. 148) In 1917 No. 42 became the
first premises of J. Collett Ltd, ladies' hat makers; they
gradually took in Nos 41 and 43 and spread elsewhere in
the square. The projecting clock which survives at No. 43
was put up by them in 1930. (ref. 149) Though there were still
four clothing firms here in the mid-1970s, there had been
a shift towards printing, illustration and white-collar
work. (ref. 150) Since then most of the row has been fitted out
as offices and studios, including No. 41 by Campbell
Zogolovitch Wilkinson Gough (CZWG) in 1980 for the
pop artist Allen Jones. (ref. 151)