CHAPTER 7: OLD COUNTY HALL, INCLUDING NOS. 10, 12 AND 14 SPRING GARDENS (THE SITE OF BERKELEY HOUSE AND THE GREAT EXHIBITION ROOM)
(i) Old County Hall
The offices erected by the Metropolitan Board of Works in Spring
Gardens in 1860 and taken over by the London County Council in 1889
stand on the site of the triangular piece of the Wilderness in St. James's
Park containing 1 rod 33 perches which in 1701 was granted (ref. 103) to George
London for 50 years (see p. 70). London, master gardener of the Royal
Gardens, and part author of "The Compleat Gardener," died in 1714, and
his executors sold his interest in this ground and the house then erected on
it to Samuel Llynn of Chiswick for £1,305. (ref. 104) In 1726 the following notice
appeared in the Daily Courant: "To be sold to the best Bidder, on or before
the 24th day of June next, Mr. Lynn's House in Spring Garden, lately
rebuilt, adjoining to the Wilderness and St. James's Park. Together with
the Garden, Yard, Stables, Offices, Outhouses and Conveniences." The
property was bought by William Chetwynd in trust for James, 3rd Earl of
Berkeley, the admiral, of whom a short account is given in the Dictionary of
National Biography. He died in France in August, 1736, and his body lay
in state at Berkeley House for two days in October on its way to Berkeley,
Gloucester. Extensions of the crown lease were obtained by the 4th, 5th
and 6th Earls of Berkeley who continued to use the house as a town residence
until its purchase by the Board in 1858, although earlier efforts had been made
to appropriate it for a government office. A water-colour drawing by T. H.
Shepherd of Berkeley House just prior to its demolition in 1859 is reproduced
here (see also Plate 49a).
Berkeley, Earl of Berkeley
One of the conditions of the Crown Lease to the Board was that a
strip of ground on the east side of the premises should be used to widen the
passage to the park, and that a portion at the southern end should be added to
the Mall. (ref. 105) A slight alteration of the original southern boundary was made in
1911 in connection with the alterations to the Mall. (ref. 105) The Earls of Berkeley
had obtained a right of way through what had formerly been Lord Rochester's
stable yard (see p. 71) and Red Lion Inn Yard to Cockspur Street. This
right of way was inserted in the lease to the Board and continued to be in use
until a few years ago but has now been blocked up
Architectural Description. Old County Hall, which was erected from
plans prepared by Mr. Frederick Marrable, Superintending Architect to the
Metropolitan Board of Works, is on a corner site and has a symmetrical
elevation faced with cement. The front is divided into equal bays each side of
the wide, splayed corner which contains the main entrance. The ground
storey is treated as a podium with rusticated courses. The first floor has
details of the Ionic order, with the Composite order to the storey above, and
the respective entablatures continuous. The surface of the top storey is
divided by decorative pilasters and surmounted by a balustraded parapet.
The whole effect is rather dwarfed by the monumental scale of the adjoining
terraces of Nash.
The plan is well balanced, a satisfactory feature being the elliptical
staircase leading out of the entrance hall and giving access to the principal
floor. The original board-room shown on the plan on Plate 52a, was demolished and the Council chamber erected to afford the increased accommodation
required by the creation of the new administrative body in 1889 (Plate 50b).
(ii) Nos. 10, 12 and 14, Spring Gardens
Laurence Hyde, Earl of Rochester, Lord Treasurer of England
temp. Charles II and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland temp. William III, had
lodgings over the King's Gate at Whitehall and near the Cockpit. (ref. 106) At some
date prior to 1699 he took possession of a strip of ground on the northern
verge of St. James's Park (see plan on p. 71) for stabling and coach houses,
obtaining a formal grant thereof in 1701. (ref. 103) Rochester died in 1711 and two
years later his son sold the lease of this property to Gerrard Smith. A sublease of part of this ground near Spring Gardens had been granted to the
Ministers of the French Church in the Savoy and a chapel was erected thereon
in 1709, which was, however, burnt down in 1716. (ref. 107) It was rebuilt and the
Huguenots continued to use it until October, 1753, when the Ministers
were ejected by Gerrard Smith. They appealed to the Treasury for redress (ref. 108)
but although they obtained a reversionary lease of the chapel building in
1757, it was never again used for its original purpose. Instead a sub-lease (ref. 109)
was granted to David Cock, in whose hands the building was metamorphosed into the Great Room or Great Exhibition Room of Spring Gardens,
the vaults underneath being let for wine cellars. For the next 50 years the
Great Room was a fashionable rendez-vous being used for concerts and for
exhibitions of all kinds. The Incorporated Society of Artists of Great Britain
held their annual exhibition there from 1761 to 1772. This was visited in
1767 by the royal family and, perhaps on this account, a catalogue was issued
with pungent comments on the pictures. On 5th June, 1764, the King's
birthday, the child Mozart gave a public concert there.
In 1772 James Cox, a "Mechanician, Silversmith and Watchmaker,"
having failed to sell a collection of elaborate and expensive toys and contrivances in India and the East decided to show them to the public, at the
same time applying to parliament for authority to dispose of them by a
lottery. The collection was exhibited in the Great Room from 1772 until
1775, in which year the lottery was drawn at the Guildhall. A catalogue of
"Cox's Museum," admission to which was by ticket, price a "quarter
guinea" each, was issued in 1772. It describes the Room as "… fitted up
in an elegant manner: on the cieling of the dome are fine paintings in chiaro
obscuro, by a celebrated artist, as are the sides of the dome by the same. …
In the center of the Room, and at each end, are five magnificent crystal
lustres, finely cut; four lesser lustres are also suspended from the mouths of
the dragons at the corners of the dome: other chandeliers and girandoles of
crystal are also placed, wherever light is necessary to be transmitted; curtains
of crimson are let down by machines to cover the pieces, which are also enclosed within a balustrade of white and gold: the doors also are white and gold,
finely ornamented. A carpet covers the whole room, also the stairs; and by a
very curious contrivance, warm air is introduced into the room at pleasure."
A later exhibition, advertised in 1783, consisted of an artificial flower
garden "capable of admitting near a Hundred Persons to walk in it at one
Time."
In 1780 the lease of the Great Room was bought by Charles Wigley, (ref. 110)
hard-ware man, by whom the room was largely used for auctions. A view of it
is given on Plate 49b. According to the
plans the room was approximately 52 feet
wide by 62 feet long, the northern side
being built on a strip of freehold ground
originally belonging to Thomas Pearce
(see Volume XVI of the Survey.) In 1825
the Crown bought in the lease of the
Great Room and the freehold of this strip
of ground and two years later leased the
whole to Decimus Burton, then a young
architect who had made a reputation for
himself by designing the Colosseum in
Regent's Park and the improvements in
Hyde Park.
Figure 20:
Nos. 10 and 12, Spring Gardens
Burton erected the present Nos.
10, 12 and 14, Spring Gardens on the site
and for many years occupied the greater
part thereof as a town house and office,
though in later years he spent most of his
time at St. Leonards-on-Sea.
In 1876–79 the Metropolitan
Board of Works obtained sub-leases of
these houses. (ref. 105) Communicating passages
have been opened between them and the
main offices and some other internal alterations have been made, but the
buildings have not been substantially altered, a fact which accounts for the
somewhat peculiar internal planning of these offices. For many years before
the migration to New County Hall the old kitchens served as record and
store rooms.
Architectural Description. These premises comprise a symmetrical
front, four storeys in height faced with stucco, with the ground storey treated
to represent stone jointings (Plate 48). The most important room was on the
first floor at the back, and was known as the Grecian room on account of its
decorative plaster frieze. The mantelpiece and overmantel are executed in
Sienna marble. A range of dwarf cupboards round the room have mahogany
fronts with Greek details and a Sienna marble top.