Misplaced Pages

#447552

153-598: The Hermitage Rooms was the name by which a series of rooms at Somerset House , London , were known from 2000 to 2007. During this period they were used as a venue for temporary exhibitions from the collection of the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg . The partnership with the Hermitage has since ended and the rooms are no longer known by this name, although they continue to house temporary exhibitions. The project

306-404: A coup d'état . By 1 October 1549, Somerset had been alerted that his rule faced a serious threat. He issued a proclamation calling for assistance, took possession of the king's person, and withdrew for safety to the fortified Windsor Castle , where Edward wrote, "Me thinks I am in prison". Meanwhile, a united council published details of Somerset's government mismanagement. They made clear that

459-561: A Tudor palace ("Old Somerset House") originally belonging to the Duke of Somerset in 1547. The present Somerset House was designed by Sir William Chambers , begun in 1776, and was further extended with Victorian era outer wings to the east and west in 1831 and 1856 respectively. The site of Somerset House stood directly on the River Thames until the Victoria Embankment was built in

612-465: A "beggarly king". He also urged the king to throw off the Protector within two years and "bear rule as other kings do"; but Edward, schooled to defer to the council, failed to co-operate. In the spring of 1547, using Edward's support to circumvent Somerset's opposition, Thomas Seymour secretly married Henry VIII's widow Catherine Parr, whose Protestant household included the 11-year-old Lady Jane Grey and

765-427: A "godly imp". Edward was depicted during his life and afterwards as a new Josiah, the biblical king who destroyed the idols of Baal . He could be priggish in his anti-Catholicism and once asked Catherine Parr to persuade Lady Mary "to attend no longer to foreign dances and merriments which do not become a most Christian princess". Edward's biographer Jennifer Loach cautions, however, against accepting too readily

918-545: A "worm in the bud". As King Edward's uncle, Thomas Seymour demanded the governorship of the king's person and a greater share of power. Somerset tried to buy his brother off with a barony , an appointment to the Lord Admiralship , and a seat on the Privy Council — but Thomas was bent on scheming for power. He began smuggling pocket money to King Edward, telling him that Somerset held the purse strings too tight, making him

1071-502: A barony, joined Warwick when he realised that a conservative policy would not bring the emperor onto the English side over Boulogne. Southampton prepared a case for executing Somerset, aiming to discredit Warwick through Somerset's statements that he had done all with Warwick's co-operation. As a counter-move, Warwick convinced Parliament to free Somerset, which it did on 14 January 1550. Warwick then had Southampton and his followers purged from

1224-471: A black marble female figure representing the River Thames . The fountain was topped by a statue of Pegasus . A surviving cistern for the fountain in nearby Strand Lane was misidentified as a Roman bath. The refurbished palace was the setting for elaborate entertainments at the wedding of Anne's lady in waiting Jean Drummond on 3 February 1614, including a masque Hymen's Triumph written by Samuel Daniel . On 22 May 1614, Christian IV of Denmark paid

1377-446: A colossal failure of government, and the council laid the responsibility at the Protector's door. In July 1549, Paget wrote to Somerset: "Every man of the council have misliked your proceedings ... would to God, that, at the first stir you had followed the matter hotly, and caused justice to be ministered in solemn fashion to the terror of others ...". The sequence of events that led to Somerset's removal from power has often been called

1530-414: A compromise, was attacked by traditionalists for dispensing with many cherished rituals of the liturgy, such as the elevation of the bread and wine, while some reformers complained about the retention of too many "popish" elements, including vestiges of sacrificial rites at communion. Many senior Catholic clerics, including Bishops Stephen Gardiner of Winchester and Edmund Bonner of London, also opposed

1683-416: A considerable programme of rebuilding, the main feature of which was a magnificent new river front, again to the design of the late Inigo Jones , who had died at Somerset House in 1652. However she returned to France in 1665 before it was finished. It was then used as an occasional residence by Catherine of Braganza , wife of King Charles II . During her time it received a certain notoriety as being, in

SECTION 10

#1732852720448

1836-576: A deal with some of the executors, who almost all received hand-outs. He is known to have done so with William Paget, private secretary to Henry VIII, and to have secured the support of Sir Anthony Browne of the Privy Chamber. Somerset's appointment was in keeping with historical precedent, and his eligibility for the role was reinforced by his military successes in Scotland and France. In March 1547, he secured letters patent from King Edward granting him

1989-512: A direct hit in October 1940. Still more windows were shattered and balustrades toppled, but the worst was over by the end of May 1941. It was not until the 1950s that this damage to the South Wing was repaired. The work required skilled masons, whose services were hard to come by in the early post-war years. Sir Albert Richardson was appointed architect for the reconstruction. He skillfully recreated

2142-476: A government-run appointment system, authorising ministers to preach the gospel and administer the sacraments rather than, as before, "to offer sacrifice and celebrate mass both for the living and the dead". After 1551, the Reformation advanced further, with the approval and encouragement of Edward, who began to exert more personal influence in his role as Supreme Head of the church. The new changes were also

2295-771: A headquarters building was constructed in the West Court (between the West Wing and the New Wing) for the Civil Service Rifles , a Rifle Volunteer Corps . By the start of the First World War the Civil Service Rifles, by then renamed the 15th (Prince of Wales' Own Civil Service Rifles) Battalion, The London Regiment , had its own Morris tube firing range (where the calibre of the rifle is reduced for indoor operation by

2448-402: A leading reformer. Both Cox and Cheke were "reformed" Catholics or Erasmians and later became Marian exiles . By 1549, Edward had written a treatise on the pope as Antichrist and was making informed notes on theological controversies. Many aspects of Edward's religion were essentially Catholic in his early years, including the celebration of the mass and reverence for images and relics of

2601-461: A majority of councillors, he encouraged a working council and used it to legitimise his authority. Lacking Somerset's blood-relationship with the king, he added members to the council from his own faction in order to control it. He also added members of his family to the royal household. He saw that to achieve personal dominance, he needed total procedural control of the council. In the words of historian John Guy , "Like Somerset, he became quasi-king;

2754-516: A new exhibition was put into place. This ran until November 2007 and was titled "France in Russia: Empress Josephine's Malmaison Collection". Somerset House Somerset House is a large building complex situated on the south side of the Strand in central London , overlooking the River Thames , just east of Waterloo Bridge . The Georgian era quadrangle was built on the site of

2907-493: A regency council that would rule collectively, by majority decision, with "like and equal charge". Nevertheless, a few days after Henry's death, on 4 February, the executors chose to invest almost regal power in the Duke of Somerset. Thirteen out of the sixteen (the others being absent) agreed to his appointment as Protector, which they justified as their joint decision "by virtue of the authority" of Henry's will. Somerset may have done

3060-620: A response to criticism from such reformers as John Hooper , Bishop of Gloucester, and the Scot John Knox, who was employed as a minister in Newcastle upon Tyne under the Duke of Northumberland and whose preaching at court prompted the king to oppose kneeling at communion. Cranmer was also influenced by the views of the continental reformer Martin Bucer , who died in England in 1551; by Peter Martyr , who

3213-472: A secretary or other official. Large vaults for storing public documents were provided, extending under the entire northern section of the courtyard. The North Wing, fronting the Strand , was the first part of the complex to be built; its design was based on Inigo Jones 's drawings for the riverfront of the former palace. By 1780 the North Wing was finished and occupied, and Chambers reported to Parliament that

SECTION 20

#1732852720448

3366-469: A surprise visit to his sister. In 1619, King James granted the palace to Prince Charles . Frances Coke, Viscountess Purbeck was appointed keeper of Denmark House, and Mary Villiers, Countess of Buckingham frequently stayed there. After the death of King James in April 1625, his body was brought from Theobalds to lie in state at Denmark House. The state rooms were hung with black cloth. At this period there

3519-403: A tall and merry child. The tradition that Edward VI was a sickly boy has been challenged by more recent historians. At the age of four, he fell ill with a life-threatening " quartan fever ", but, despite occasional illnesses and poor eyesight, he enjoyed generally good health until the last six months of his life. Edward was initially placed in the care of Margaret Bryan , "lady mistress" of

3672-474: A unanimous council which they and observers, such as the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V 's ambassador, expected to reverse Somerset's policy of religious reform. Warwick, on the other hand, pinned his hopes on the king's strong Protestantism and, claiming that Edward was old enough to rule in person, moved himself and his people closer to the king, taking control of the Privy Chamber. Paget, accepting

3825-571: A use of a tube) fitted with vanishing and running targets at Somerset House. Somerset House had its share of trials and tribulations during the London blitz in the Second World War . Apart from comparatively minor blast effects at various times, sixteen rooms and the handsome rotunda staircase (the Nelson Stair) were completely destroyed in the South Wing, and a further 27 damaged in the West Wing by

3978-593: A withdrawal from Scotland. During 1548, England was subject to social unrest. After April 1549, a series of armed revolts broke out, fuelled by various religious and agrarian grievances. The two most serious rebellions, which required major military intervention to put down, were in Devon and Cornwall and in Norfolk . The first sometimes called the Prayer Book Rebellion , arose from the imposition of Protestantism , and

4131-431: Is known to have studied geometry and learned to play musical instruments, including the lute and the virginals . He collected globes and maps and, according to coinage historian C. E. Challis developed a grasp of monetary affairs that indicated a high intelligence. Edward's religious education is assumed to have favoured the reforming agenda. His religious establishment was probably chosen by Archbishop Thomas Cranmer ,

4284-518: Is not known who designed the building. Before it was finished, however, the Duke of Somerset was overthrown, attainted by Parliament and in 1552 was executed on Tower Hill . Somerset Place, as the building was referred to, then came into the possession of the Crown. The duke's royal nephew's half-sister, the future Queen Elizabeth I , lived there during the reign of her half-sister Queen Mary I (1553–58). The process of completion and improvement

4437-505: The Church of England into a recognisably Protestant body also occurred under Edward, who took great interest in religious matters. His father, Henry VIII, had severed the link between the English Church and Rome but continued to uphold most Catholic doctrine and ceremony. It was during Edward's reign that Protestantism was established for the first time in England with reforms that included

4590-671: The Comptroller of the Navy , the Secretary to the Board and three Commissioners of the Navy , along with the chairman, Secretary and two Commissioners of Victualling , with the Treasurer of the Navy allotted the 'mansion' at the river end of the terrace (which included a coach house and stables for ten horses in the vaults under the terrace). As well as providing office space and accommodation, Somerset House

4743-802: The Duchy of Cornwall Office Act 1854 (17 & 18 Vict. c. 93), was passed, noting that the Duchy's rooms in Somerset House were now needed "for the use of the Commissioners of Inland Revenue, whose present office is insufficient for the Business thereof, and adjoins the said Office of the Duchy of Cornwall". The act provided for the Duchy Office to move to new, purpose-built premises in Pimlico : now known as 10 Buckingham Gate ,

Hermitage Rooms - Misplaced Pages Continue

4896-497: The Duchy of Lancaster , The Office of the Duchy of Cornwall , The Office of Ordnance , The King's Bargemaster's House, The King's Bargehouses". Somerset House was still technically a royal palace and therefore Crown property , with most work being done by the King's Master Mason, John Deval . The building had been placed in trust for the use of Queen Charlotte in the event that her husband King George III predeceased her. Therefore,

5049-472: The Glorious Revolution in 1688, Somerset House entered on a long period of decline, being used (after Queen Catherine left England in 1692) for grace and favour residences. In the conditions of the time this meant almost inevitably that little money could be found for its upkeep, and a slow process of decay crept in. During the 18th century, however, the building ceased its royal associations. Though

5202-748: The Napoleonic Wars ; though repealed in 1816, it was reintroduced in peacetime (in 1842) and has been collected ever since. The Inland Revenue was created by a merger of the Stamp and Taxes Office and the Excise Office in 1849; in 1854 the Excise Office staff were moved from their old headquarters in the City of London into the newly built New Wing. Somerset House continued in use by the Inland Revenue throughout

5355-775: The Pipe Office , the Lord Treasurer's Remembrancer 's Office and the Office of the Clerk of the Estreats ). As early as 1795 the Exchequer was requesting that more space be made available; Sir John Soane was engaged to redesign their offices, and as part of the scheme the Duchy was relocated to another part of the East Wing, prompting complaints from its officers. Pipe rolls and other ancient records of

5508-705: The Royal Society and the Society of Antiquaries . The Royal Academy took up residence first, in 1779, followed by the other two institutions the following year. The Royal Academy occupied the western half of the wing and the Royal Society the eastern half; their main entrances faced each other across the central vestibule leading from the Strand to the courtyard, topped by busts (of Michelangelo and Isaac Newton respectively) which are still in place today. The Society of Antiquaries

5661-529: The Victoria and Albert Museum in June 2009. Somerset House now puts on a programme of art exhibitions, drawing on various sources. Edward VI of England Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. The only surviving son of Henry VIII by his third wife, Jane Seymour , Edward

5814-476: The required duty had been paid. For example, up until 1855 (when the relevant duty was abolished) every newspaper produced in the country had to be brought to Somerset House to be stamped. The Tax Office administered and collected various taxes, including income tax (first levied in 1799). Introduced as a means of raising revenue in wartime, it was collected during the French Revolutionary Wars and

5967-461: The 13-year-old Lady Elizabeth. In summer 1548, a pregnant Catherine Parr discovered Thomas Seymour embracing Lady Elizabeth. As a result, Elizabeth was removed from Parr's household and transferred to Sir Anthony Denny's. That September, Parr died shortly after childbirth, and Seymour promptly resumed his attentions to Elizabeth by letter, planning to marry her. Elizabeth was receptive, but, like Edward, unready to agree to anything unless permitted by

6120-501: The 1775 act annulled this arrangement and instead provided for another property, Buckingham House, to be vested in trust for the Queen on the same terms. (Provision was made for the King, who had privately purchased Buckingham House some years earlier, to be duly compensated). In due course, the King outlived the Queen and the property (later known as Buckingham Palace ) reverted "to the use of His Majesty, his heirs and successors". By virtue of

6273-493: The 20th century, historians have presented the whole gamut of possibilities, "balanc[ing] an articulate puppet against a mature, precocious, and essentially adult king", in the words of Stephen Alford. A special "Counsel for the Estate" was created when Edward was fourteen. He chose the members himself. In the weekly meetings with this council, Edward was "to hear the debating of things of most importance". A major point of contact with

Hermitage Rooms - Misplaced Pages Continue

6426-599: The 20th century. In 2005, the Inland Revenue was merged with HM Customs and Excise ; its successor HM Revenue & Customs continued to occupy much of the building, although its executive and senior management moved to 100 Parliament Street shortly after the merger. Various divisions and directorates of HMRC continued to occupy the East Wing until 2009, the West Wing until 2011 and the New Wing until March 2013, by which time all staff had been relocated (with most moving across

6579-592: The Admiralty (based a mile away in Whitehall ) were problematic as what became known as the "civil departments" of the Admiralty guarded their independence. In 1868, the Admiralty took the decision to move all their staff from Somerset House to Whitehall; this necessitated reconfiguring what had been a set of residences there pertaining to the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty into office accommodation. Nevertheless,

6732-586: The City of London and a shop and café were opened, overlooking the river. The Gilbert Collection of decorative arts, and the Hermitage Rooms , which staged exhibitions of items loaned from the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, moved into the same area. The last Hermitage exhibition took place in 2007 and the Gilbert Collection galleries closed in 2008; the collection moved into new galleries at

6885-493: The Duke of Northumberland's policies. The regime also cracked down on widespread embezzlement of government finances, and carried out a thorough review of revenue collection practices, which has been called "one of the more remarkable achievements of Tudor administration". In the matter of religion, the regime of Northumberland followed the same policy as that of Somerset, supporting an increasingly vigorous programme of reform. Although Edward VI's practical influence on government

7038-721: The Excise Office had been merged with the Office of Stamps and Taxes to form the Inland Revenue, the latter took over the laboratory; by 1858 it was reestablished in Somerset House as the Inland Revenue Laboratory (with Phillips remaining in charge). It was also known as the Somerset House Laboratory. Under the Inland Revenue , the Laboratory's work expanded to encompass the testing of many different substances, including food, beer and spirits, as well as tobacco. Phillips retired as principal chemist in 1874. James Bell

7191-589: The Great . Subsequent exhibitions have featured not only Western painting, but also themes such as photography, ceramics, and Islamic art . In some cases the Hermitage's works have been supplemented by items from other collections, including (as in the case of Peter Paul Rubens : A Touch of Brilliance ) from the Courtauld Institute Gallery. In 2005 the future of the Hermitage Rooms became uncertain after

7344-511: The Hermitage Rooms and the other visitor attractions in the building. It was funded from the proceeds of the July 2002 Somerset House gala, An Evening with Elton John . Also in 2003 the Courtauld Institute of Art , housed nearby in the Strand block of Somerset House, assumed responsibility for the Hermitage Rooms. The first exhibition at the Hermitage Rooms was called Treasures of Catherine

7497-658: The Hermitage announced its plans to withdraw its loans of artworks overseas. This was the result of an international loan crisis prompted by the seizure in November of paintings belonging to the Pushkin Museum in Moscow as hostages in a trade dispute between a Geneva -based company and the Russian state (owners of both the Hermitage and the Pushkin). The rooms were closed until June 2007 when

7650-555: The King's Majesty and us". Edward was christened on 15 October, with his 21-year-old half-sister Lady Mary as godmother and his 4-year-old half-sister Lady Elizabeth carrying the chrisom ; the Garter King of Arms proclaimed him as Duke of Cornwall and Earl of Chester . The queen, however, fell ill and died from postnatal complications on 24 October, days after Edward's birth. Henry VIII wrote to Francis I of France that "Divine Providence ... hath mingled my joy with bitterness of

7803-461: The King's Works , (who had in any case been vying for the commission) was appointed in his stead, at a salary of £2,000 per year. He spent the last two decades of his life, beginning in 1775, in several phases of building at the present Somerset House. Thomas Telford , then a stonemason, but later an eminent civil engineer , was among those who worked on its construction. One of Chambers's most famous pupils, Thomas Hardwick Jnr, helped build parts of

SECTION 50

#1732852720448

7956-481: The L Fraunces to be (reget altered to) gouuernres. For lakke of her, the her eldest daughters,4 and for lakke of them the L Marget to be gouuernres after as is aforsaid, til sume heire masle be borne, and then the mother of that child to be gouuernres. 6. And if during the rule of the gouuernres ther die 4 of the counsel, then shal she by her letters cal an asseble of the counsel w'in on month folowing and chose 4 more, wherin she shal haue thre uoices. But after her death

8109-443: The L Katerins heires masles, To the L Maries heires masles, To the heires masles of the daughters wich she shal haue hereafter. Then to the L Margets heires masles. For lakke of such issu, To th'eires masles of the L Janes daughters. To th'eires masles of the L Katerins daughters, and so forth til yow come to the L Margets [daughters inserted] heires masles. 2. If after my death theire masle be entred into 18 yere old, then he to have

8262-639: The Nelson Room and rebuilt the Nelson Stair. The work was completed in 1952 at a cost of (then) £84,000. In 1984 the Somerset House Act 1984 (c. 21) was passed, legislating the way for Somerset House to be redeveloped as a centre for the arts. In 1997 the Somerset House Trust was established as a registered charity to maintain the building and develop it as a centre for arts and culture. In

8415-445: The North Wing was still being completed. In addition to applying a rich scheme of architectural decoration, Chambers enhanced the exterior of Somerset House with a multiplicity of sculptures and other visual embellishments. Giovanni Cipriani produced designs and the sculptors executing them included Joseph Wilton , Agostino Carlini , John Bacon , Joseph Nollekens , John Cheere and Giuseppe Ceracchi . Bacon oversaw production of

8568-434: The Principal Registry of the Court of Probate (latterly the Principal Probate Registry of the Family Division ) was based in Somerset House, prior to its move to First Avenue House, High Holborn . In addition to the learned societies, the ground floor rooms of the North Wing housed the Hawkers and Pedlars Office (on the west side) and the Hackney Coach Office, the Lottery Office, the Privy Seal and Signet Offices (on

8721-482: The Protector's power came from them, not from Henry VIII's will. On 11 October, the council had Somerset arrested and brought the king to Richmond Palace . Edward summarised the charges against Somerset in his Chronicle : "ambition, vainglory, entering into rash wars in mine youth, negligent looking on Newhaven, enriching himself of my treasure, following his own opinion, and doing all by his own authority, etc." In February 1550, John Dudley, Earl of Warwick , emerged as

8874-424: The River Thames lying within the bounds of the Manor of Savoy ". The list of public offices mentioned in the act comprised "The Salt Office, The Stamp Office, The Tax Office, The Navy Office, The Navy Victualling Office, The Publick Lottery Office, The Hawkers and Pedlar Office, The Hackney Coach Office, The Surveyor General of the Crown Lands Office, The Auditors of the Imprest Office, The Pipe Office, The Office of

9027-414: The School relocated to Marlborough House . In 1857, the Royal Society moved out of Somerset House, followed in 1874 by the Society of Antiquaries, the Geological Society and the Royal Astronomical Society ; they were all provided with new purpose-built accommodation in Burlington House. In 1789 the Navy Board moved into grand riverside rooms in the western half of the newly completed South Wing. It

9180-417: The Stamp Office. The Lottery Office, established in 1779, was also abolished in 1831 and its residual business likewise passed to the Stamp Office. The Signet Office was abolished in 1851 and the Privy Seal Office in 1884. One of the first occupants of the building had been the Duchy of Cornwall Office. It was accommodated in the East Wing along with the Tax Office and various Exchequer offices (including

9333-406: The Succession 1. For lakke of issu [masle inserted above the line, but afterwards crossed out] of my body [to the issu (masle above the line) cumming of thissu femal, as i have after declared inserted, but crossed out] . To the L Franceses heires masles, [For lakke of erased] [if she have any inserted] such issu [befor my death inserted] to the L' Janes [and her inserted] heires masles, To

SECTION 60

#1732852720448

9486-410: The Treasury and Exchequer (which had been moved to Somerset House from the Palace of Westminster in 1793) remained stored in the basements until the establishment of the Public Record Office in 1838. The office of Lord Treasurer's Remembrancer ceased to exist in 1833 and the Pipe Office was abolished in 1834; however space in Somerset House continued to be at a premium: in 1854 an act of Parliament,

9639-409: The West Wing, alongside the naval offices, but it was abolished in 1798 (administration of the salt tax having been transferred to the Board of Excise). During the 19th century the North Wing contained, in addition, the offices of the Poor Law Commissioners (1834–47) and the Tithe Commissioners (1836–51), who also acted as the Copyhold Commissioners. Magnificent as the new building was, it

9792-460: The abolition of clerical celibacy and the Mass , and the imposition of compulsory English in church services. In 1553, at age 15, Edward fell ill. When his sickness was discovered to be terminal, he and his council drew up a "Devise for the Succession" to prevent the country's return to Catholicism . Edward named his Protestant first cousin once removed, Lady Jane Grey , as his heir, excluding his half-sisters, Mary and Elizabeth . This decision

9945-413: The academy moved out in 1837 (initially to rooms in the new National Gallery , then to Burlington House , Piccadilly ). Its former accommodation was given over to a newly established Government School of Design (which was much later to become the Royal College of Art ); it remained in the complex from 1837 until, in 1853, the Registry of Births, Marriages and Deaths needed to expand its office space and

10098-660: The almost monarchical right to appoint members to the Privy Council himself and to consult them only when he wished. In the words of historian Geoffrey Elton, "from that moment his autocratic system was complete". He proceeded to rule largely by proclamation , calling on the Privy Council to do little more than rubber-stamp his decisions. Somerset's takeover of power was smooth and efficient. The imperial ambassador , François van der Delft , reported that he "governs everything absolutely", with Paget operating as his secretary, though he predicted trouble from John Dudley, Viscount Lisle, who had recently been raised to Earl of Warwick in

10251-523: The announcement of the king's death until arrangements had been made for a smooth succession. Seymour and Sir Anthony Browne , the Master of the Horse , rode to collect Edward from Hertford and brought him to Enfield , where Lady Elizabeth was living. He and Elizabeth were then told of their father's death and heard a reading of his will . Lord Chancellor Thomas Wriothesley announced Henry's death to Parliament on 31 January 1547, and general proclamations of Edward's succession were ordered. The new king

10404-416: The architect was Sir Robert Smirke . At the same time, as part of Smirke's scheme, the eastern third of the river frontage was completed, following Chambers's original design. Then, increasing demand for space led to another and last step. The western edge of the site was occupied by a row of houses used as dwellings for Admiralty officials who worked in the South Wing. Between 1851 and 1856, this terrace

10557-541: The bronze group of statues (consisting of Neptune and George III ) in the main courtyard, facing the main entrance from the Strand. Inside, most of the offices were plain and business-like, but in the North Wing the formal rooms and public spaces of the learned societies were enriched with painted ceilings (by Cipriani, Benjamin West , Angelica Kauffman , J. F. Rigaud , Charles Catton and Joshua Reynolds ), ornamental plasterwork (by Thomas Collins and Thomas Clerk) and casts of classical sculptures. John Papworth did

10710-494: The building during his period of training and later wrote a short biography of Chambers. The design influenced other great buildings: Charles Bulfinch 's Massachusetts State House , begun in 1795, has been described as a work "frankly derivative" of Somerset House. Chambers' own influences stemmed from Palladianism , the principles of which were applied throughout Somerset House, inside and outside, both in its large-scale conception and in its small-scale details. The footprint of

10863-452: The building still serves as head office for the Duchy. From 1785 the Commissioners for Auditing Public Accounts were also housed in the East Wing, as was the Duchy of Lancaster Office (having moved there from accommodation in Gray's Inn ) until it moved in 1823 to new offices across the road in Lancaster Place . The Surveyor of Crown Lands also had his office here until the early 19th century. The Salt Office initially occupied rooms in

11016-404: The building was that of the old palace, ranging from its gateway block in the Strand across what was originally a gently sloping site down to the river. Chambers experimented with at least four different configurations of buildings and courtyards in drawing up his designs; his final version provided a single courtyard, 300 ft (91 m) by 200 ft (61 m), flanked by a pair of terraces,

11169-485: The centre of power. Stephen Gardiner was refused access to Henry during his last months. Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk , found himself accused of treason ; the day before the king's death his vast estates were seized, making them available for redistribution, and he spent the whole of Edward's reign in the Tower of London. Other historians have argued that Gardiner's exclusion was based on non-religious matters, that Norfolk

11322-455: The common people against a rapacious landowning class. More recently, however, he has often been portrayed as an arrogant and aloof ruler, lacking in political and administrative skills. In contrast, Somerset's successor the Earl of Warwick, made Duke of Northumberland in 1551, was once regarded by historians merely as a grasping schemer who cynically elevated and enriched himself at the expense of

11475-476: The council after winning the support of council members in return for titles, and was made Lord President of the Council and great master of the king's household. Although not called a Protector, he was now clearly the head of the government. As Edward was growing up, he was able to understand more and more government business. However, his actual involvement in decisions has long been a matter of debate, and during

11628-486: The council. In January 1549, the council had Thomas Seymour arrested on various charges, including embezzlement at the Bristol mint . King Edward, whom Seymour was accused of planning to marry to Lady Jane Grey, himself testified about the pocket money. Lack of clear evidence for treason ruled out a trial, so Seymour was condemned instead by an act of attainder and beheaded on 20 March 1549. Somerset's only undoubted skill

11781-586: The country, not only in Norfolk and the west. The origin of the popular view of Somerset as sympathetic to the rebel cause lies partly in his series of sometimes liberal, often contradictory, proclamations, and partly in the uncoordinated activities of the commissions he sent out in 1548 and 1549 to investigate grievances about loss of tillage, encroachment of large sheep flocks on common land , and similar issues. Somerset's commissions were led by an evangelical MP called John Hales , whose socially liberal rhetoric linked

11934-462: The crown. Since the 1970s, the administrative and economic achievements of his regime have been recognised, and he has been credited with restoring the authority of the royal council and returning the government to an even keel after the disasters of Somerset's protectorate. The Earl of Warwick's rival for leadership of the new regime was Thomas Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton, whose conservative supporters had allied with Warwick's followers to create

12087-533: The death of her who brought me this happiness". Edward was a healthy baby who suckled strongly from the outset. His father was delighted with him; in May 1538, Henry was observed "dallying with him in his arms ... and so holding him in a window to the sight and great comfort of the people". That September, the Lord Chancellor, Lord Audley , reported Edward's rapid growth and vigour, and other accounts describe him as

12240-447: The difference was that he managed the bureaucracy on the pretence that Edward had assumed full sovereignty, whereas Somerset had asserted the right to near-sovereignty as Protector". Warwick's war policies were more pragmatic than Somerset's, and they have earned him criticism for weakness. In 1550, he signed a peace treaty with France that agreed to withdrawal from Boulogne and recalled all English garrisons from Scotland. In 1551, Edward

12393-445: The disastrous state of the kingdom's finances. However, his regime first succumbed to the temptations of a quick profit by further debasing the coinage. The economic disaster that resulted caused Warwick to hand the initiative to the expert Thomas Gresham . By 1552, confidence in the coinage was restored, prices fell and trade at last improved. Though a full economic recovery was not achieved until Elizabeth's reign, its origins lay in

12546-455: The divisive matter of the communion service. Cranmer's formulation of the reformed religion, finally divesting the communion service of any notion of the real presence of God in the bread and the wine, effectively abolished the mass. According to Elton, the publication of Cranmer's revised prayer book in 1552, supported by a second Act of Uniformity , "marked the arrival of the English Church at Protestantism". The prayer book of 1552 remains

12699-475: The east side). The Hackney Coach commissioners had been established on a permanent footing in 1694, while the Board of Commissioners of Hawkers , Pedlars and Petty Chapmen dated from 1698; the latter was abolished in 1810 and its work taken over by the Hackney Coach Office until its abolition in 1831, whereupon responsibility for licensing both of hackney carriages and of travelling traders passed to

12852-456: The efficiency of Somerset's takeover of power, in which they detect the organising skills of allies such as Paget, the "master of practices", with the subsequent ineptitude of his rule. By autumn 1549, his costly wars had lost momentum, the crown faced financial ruin, and riots and rebellions had broken out around the country. Until recent decades, Somerset's reputation with historians was high, in view of his many proclamations that appeared to back

13005-463: The end, only the western terrace was built and by 1801 the building was deemed to be complete, at a cost of £462,323. In 1815 Sir Robert Smirke was appointed as Attached Architect to Somerset House; in 1817 he added the Legacy Duty Office to the north-west corner of the quadrangle, its design in keeping with Chambers's adjacent façade. Even as late as 1819, decorative work to the exterior of

13158-679: The establishment of civil registration in the United Kingdom, the Registrar General of Births, Marriages and Deaths set up his office in the North Wing of Somerset House, establishing a connection that lasted for over 130 years. This office held all birth , marriage and death certificates in England and Wales until 1970, when the Registry and its associated archives were moved to nearby St Catherine's House at Aldwych . From 1859 until 1998,

13311-595: The foundation of the Church of England's services. However, Cranmer was unable to implement all these reforms once it became clear in spring 1553 that King Edward, upon whom the whole Reformation in England depended, was dying. After the Rough Wooing and Thomas Seymour's plan to marry him off to Lady Jane Grey, the 13-year-old King was betrothed to the five-year-old Elisabeth of Valois , daughter of Henry II of France and Catherine de' Medici , in 1550. The marriage alliance

13464-765: The granddaughter of his chamberlain, William Sidney, who in adulthood recalled the prince as "a marvellous sweet child, of very mild and generous condition". Edward was educated with sons of nobles, "appointed to attend upon him" in what was a form of miniature court. Among these, Barnaby Fitzpatrick , son of an Irish peer, became a close and lasting friend. Edward was more devoted to his schoolwork than his classmates and seems to have outshone them, motivated to do his "duty" and compete with his sister Elizabeth's academic prowess. Edward's surroundings and possessions were regally splendid: his rooms were hung with costly Flemish tapestries, and his clothes, books and cutlery were encrusted with precious jewels and gold. Like his father, Edward

13617-497: The hole rule and gouernauce therof. 3. But if he be under 18, then his mother to be gouuernres til he entre 18 yere old, But to doe nothing w'out th'auise (and agremet inserted) of 6 parcel of a counsel to be pointed by my last will to the nombre of 20. 4. If the mother die befor th'eire entre into 18 the realme to be gouuerned by the cousel Prouided that after he be 14 yere al great matters of importaunce be opened to him. 5. If i died w'out issu, and there were none heire masle, then

13770-453: The issue of enclosure with Reformation theology and the notion of a godly commonwealth . Local groups often assumed that the findings of these commissions entitled them to act against offending landlords themselves. King Edward wrote in his Chronicle that the 1549 risings began "because certain commissions were sent down to pluck down enclosures". Whatever the popular view of Somerset, the disastrous events of 1549 were taken as evidence of

13923-400: The king was the Privy Chamber, and there Edward worked closely with William Cecil and William Petre , the principal secretaries . The king's greatest influence was in matters of religion, where the council followed the strongly Protestant policy that Edward favoured. The Duke of Northumberland's mode of operation was very different from Somerset's. Careful to make sure he always commanded

14076-475: The last minute, which allowed the executors to freely distribute lands and honours to themselves and the court, particularly to Edward Seymour, 1st Earl of Hertford, the new king's uncle who became Lord Protector of the Realm , Governor of the King's Person and Duke of Somerset . Henry VIII's will did not provide for the appointment of a Protector. It entrusted the government of the realm during his son's minority to

14229-559: The late 1860s. The great Georgian era structure was built to be a grand public building housing various government and public-benefit society offices. Its present tenants are a mixture of various organisations, generally centred around the arts and education. In the 16th century, the Strand , the north bank of the Thames between the City of London and the Palace of Westminster , was a favoured site for

14382-466: The late 20th century the building began to be reinvigorated as a centre for the visual arts. The first institution to move in (in 1989) was the Courtauld Institute of Art , including the Courtauld Gallery , which has an important collection of old master and impressionist paintings. The Courtauld occupies the North Wing. The main courtyard, which had been used as a Civil Service car park, and

14535-463: The leader of the council and, in effect, as Somerset's successor. Although Somerset was released from the Tower and restored to the council, he was executed for felony in January 1552 after scheming to overthrow Dudley's regime. Edward noted his uncle's death in his Chronicle : "the duke of Somerset had his head cut off upon Tower Hill between eight and nine o'clock in the morning". Historians contrast

14688-525: The learned societies were huddled away in small old buildings all over the city. Developing national pride found comparison with the capitals of continental Europe disquieting. Edmund Burke was the leading proponent of the scheme for a "national building", and in 1775 Parliament passed an act, the Crown Lands Act 1775 ( 15 Geo. 3 . c. 33), for the purpose of, inter alia , "erecting and establishing Publick Offices in Somerset House, and for embanking Parts of

14841-506: The main quadrangle was complete. It was originally envisaged that the main quadrangle would be flanked by two terraces of houses, one to the east and one to the west, providing accommodation for several of the Commissioners whose offices were based there. It is not certain at what pace the rest of the construction progressed, but it is clear that the outbreak of war with France in 1793 caused delays through lack of money. Chambers died in 1796, whereupon James Wyatt took over as architect. In

14994-575: The main terrace overlooking the Thames were refurbished and opened to the public, these alterations being overseen by the conservation architects Donald Insall & Associates . Grants from the Heritage Lottery Fund financed the conversion of the South Wing between 1999 and 2003: a visitor centre featuring audio-visual displays on the history of the building, the gilded state barge of the Lord Mayor of

15147-544: The mansions of bishops and aristocrats, who could commute from their own landing stages upriver to the court or downriver to the City and beyond. In 1539, Edward Seymour , 1st Earl of Hertford (died 1552), obtained a grant of land at "Chester Place, outside Temple Bar , London" from his brother-in-law King Henry VIII . When his nephew the young King Edward VI came to the throne in 1547, Seymour became Duke of Somerset and Lord Protector . In about 1549 he pulled down an old Inn of Chancery and other houses that stood on

15300-499: The most savage campaign ever launched by the English against the Scots. The war, which continued into Edward's reign, has become known as "the Rough Wooing ". The nine-year-old Edward wrote to his father and stepmother on 10 January 1547 from Hertford thanking them for his New Year 's gift of their portraits from life. By 28 January, Henry VIII was dead. Those close to the throne, led by Edward Seymour and William Paget , agreed to delay

15453-583: The move was completed by 1873, and the expanding Inland Revenue immediately took over the vacated space in Somerset House. From the beginning of the new Somerset House there was a fiscal presence in the shape of the Stamp Office and the Tax Office , the former occupying the eastern part of the South Wing from 1789 and the latter occupying part of the East Wing. The Stamp Office had the task of applying an impressed duty stamp to various specific items to show that

15606-483: The pageants for a previous boy king, Henry VI . He laughed at a Spanish tightrope walker who "tumbled and played many pretty toys" outside St Paul's Cathedral . At the coronation service, Cranmer affirmed the royal supremacy and called Edward a second Josiah , urging him to continue the reformation of the Church of England , "the tyranny of the Bishops of Rome banished from your subjects, and images removed". After

15759-454: The peace with Edward's betrothal to the seven-month-old Mary, Queen of Scots , granddaughter of Edward's aunt and Henry's sister Margaret Tudor . The Scots were in a weak bargaining position after their defeat at the Battle of Solway Moss in November 1542, and Henry, seeking to unite the two realms, stipulated that Mary be handed over to him to be brought up in England. When the Scots repudiated

15912-594: The pious image of Edward handed down by the reformers, as in John Foxe's influential Acts and Monuments , where a woodcut depicts the young king listening to a sermon by Hugh Latimer . In the early part of his life, Edward conformed to the prevailing Catholic practices, including attendance at mass, but he became convinced, under the influence of Cranmer and the reformers among his tutors and courtiers, that "true" religion should be imposed in England. The English Reformation advanced under pressure from two directions: from

16065-517: The plasterwork in the great Royal Academy Room; many of the ceiling paintings were removed by the Royal Academy when they vacated their premises. A key reason for rebuilding Somerset House was to provide accommodation for a diverse variety of learned societies , public offices and naval administrators. The North Wing of Somerset House was initially fitted out to house the Royal Academy ,

16218-504: The popular mind, a hot-bed of Catholic conspiracy. Titus Oates made full use of this prejudice in the fabricated details of the Popish Plot and it was alleged that Sir Edmund Berry Godfrey , whose murder was one of the great mysteries of the age, had been killed in Somerset House before his body had been smuggled out and thrown into a ditch below Primrose Hill . Somerset House was refurbished by Sir Christopher Wren in 1685. After

16371-528: The prayer book. Both were imprisoned in the Tower and, along with others, deprived of their sees. In 1549, over 5,500 people died in the Prayer Book Rebellion in Devon and Cornwall. Reformed doctrines were made official, such as justification by faith alone and communion for laity as well as clergy in both kinds , of bread and wine. The Ordinal of 1550 replaced the divine ordination of priests with

16524-471: The prince's household. She was succeeded by Blanche Herbert, Lady Troy . Until the age of six, Edward was brought up, as he put it later in his Chronicle , "among the women". The formal royal household established around Edward was, at first, under William Sidney , and later Richard Page , stepfather of Edward's aunt Anne (the wife of Edward Seymour ). Henry demanded exacting standards of security and cleanliness in his son's household, stressing that Edward

16677-410: The property of the bishops transferred into lay hands. The religious convictions of both Somerset and Northumberland have proved elusive for historians, who are divided on the sincerity of their Protestantism. There is less doubt, however, about the religious fervour of King Edward, who was said to have read twelve chapters of scripture daily and enjoyed sermons, and was commemorated by John Foxe as

16830-565: The realms through conquest became increasingly unrealistic. The Scots allied with France, who sent reinforcements for the defence of Edinburgh in 1548. The Queen of Scots was moved to France, where she was betrothed to the Dauphin . The cost of maintaining the Protector's massive armies and his permanent garrisons in Scotland also placed an unsustainable burden on the royal finances. A French attack on Boulogne in August 1549 at last forced Somerset to begin

16983-483: The rest of the quadrangle was complete up to a height of two storeys. Construction of the riverside wing followed; it was finished in 1786. At the time of construction, the Thames was not embanked and the river lapped the South Wing, where a great arch allowed boats and barges to penetrate to landing places within the building. Meanwhile, work continued on the East and West Wings, which began to be occupied from 1788; by 1790

17136-580: The saints. Both Edward's sisters were attentive to their brother and often visited him—on one occasion, Elizabeth gave him a shirt "of her own working". Edward "took special content" in Mary's company, though he disapproved of her taste for foreign dances; "I love you most", he wrote to her in 1546. In 1543, Henry invited his children to spend Christmas with him, signalling his reconciliation with his daughters, whom he had previously illegitimised and disinherited. The following spring, he restored them to their place in

17289-592: The same act, Ely House in Holborn (which had itself been purchased just a few years earlier as a potential site for new public offices) was sold and the proceeds applied to the Somerset House project. Initially a certain William Robinson, Secretary to the Board of Works , was commissioned to design and build the new Somerset House, but he died in 1775 shortly after being appointed. So Sir William Chambers , Comptroller of

17442-407: The second , led by a tradesman called Robert Kett , mainly from the encroachment of landlords on common grazing ground. A complex aspect of the social unrest was that the protesters believed they were acting legitimately against enclosing landlords with the Protector's support, convinced that the landlords were the lawbreakers. The same justification for outbreaks of unrest was voiced throughout

17595-476: The service, Edward presided at a banquet in Westminster Hall , where, he recalled in his Chronicle , he dined with his crown on his head. Henry VIII's will named sixteen executors , who were to act as Edward's council until he reached the age of eighteen. These executors were supplemented by twelve men "of counsail" who would assist the executors when called on. The final state of Henry VIII's will has been

17748-680: The share-out of honours. In fact, in the early weeks of his Protectorate, Somerset was challenged only by the Chancellor, Thomas Wriothesley , whom the Earldom of Southampton had evidently failed to buy off, and by his own brother. Wriothesley, a religious conservative, objected to Somerset's assumption of monarchical power over the council. He then found himself abruptly dismissed from the chancellorship on charges of selling off some of his offices to delegates. Somerset faced less manageable opposition from his younger brother Thomas, who has been described as

17901-461: The site, and began to build himself a palatial residence, making liberal use of other nearby buildings, including some of the chantry chapels and cloisters at St Paul's Cathedral , which were demolished partly at his behest as part of the ongoing dissolution of the monasteries . It was a two-storey house built around a quadrangle, with a gateway rising to three storeys, and was one of the earliest examples of Renaissance architecture in England. It

18054-451: The street to the southwest wing of Bush House ). This brought to an end a 224-year association of the revenue services with Somerset House. In 1842, the Excise Office had established a laboratory within its Broad Street headquarters for the prevention of the adulteration of tobacco products. It had started as basically a one-man operation by an employee of the Excise, George Phillips. After

18207-456: The subject of controversy. Some historians suggest that those close to the king manipulated either him or the will itself to ensure a share-out of power to their benefit, both material and religious. In this reading, the composition of the Privy Chamber shifted towards the end of 1546 in favour of the reforming faction . In addition, two leading conservative Privy Councillors were removed from

18360-521: The succession with a Third Succession Act , which also provided for a regency council during Edward's minority. This unaccustomed family harmony may have owed much to the influence of Henry's sixth wife, Catherine Parr , of whom Edward soon became fond. He called her his "most dear mother" and in September 1546 wrote to her: "I received so many benefits from you that my mind can hardly grasp them." Other children were brought to play with Edward, including

18513-414: The succession", in which he undertook to change the succession, most probably inspired by his father Henry VIII's precedent. He passed over the claims of his half-sisters and, at last, settled the Crown on his first cousin once removed, the 16-year-old Lady Jane Grey, who on 25 May 1553 had married Lord Guilford Dudley , a younger son of the Duke of Northumberland. In the document he writes: My devise for

18666-421: The traditionalists on the one hand and the zealots on the other, who led incidents of iconoclasm (image-smashing) and complained that reform did not go far enough. Cranmer set himself the task of writing a uniform liturgy in English, detailing all weekly and daily services and religious festivals, to be made compulsory in the first Act of Uniformity of 1549 . The Book of Common Prayer of 1549 , intended as

18819-519: The treaty in December 1543 and renewed their alliance with France, Henry was enraged. In April 1544, he ordered Edward's uncle, Edward Seymour, 1st Earl of Hertford , to invade Scotland and "put all to fire and sword, burn Edinburgh town , so razed and defaced when you have sacked and gotten what ye can of it, as there may remain forever a perpetual memory of the vengeance of God lightened upon [them] for their falsehood and disloyalty". Seymour responded with

18972-473: The view from its terraced riverfront garden, open to the public, was painted twice on his London visit by Canaletto (looking up- and downriver), it was used for storage, as a residence for visiting overseas dignitaries and as a barracks for troops. Suffering from neglect, Old Somerset House began to be demolished in 1775. Since the middle of the 18th century there had been growing criticism that London had no great public buildings. Government departments and

19125-410: The whole presenting a unified frontage to the river, 500 feet (150 m) wide. Around the courtyard, each block consisted of six storeys: cellar, basement, ground, principal, attic and garret. The public offices and learned societies which were accommodated around the courtyard varied greatly in size, but each occupied all six floors of its allotted area, the upper floors often providing living space for

19278-562: Was "this whole realm's most precious jewel". Visitors described the prince, who was lavishly provided with toys and comforts, including his own troupe of minstrels , as a contented child. From the age of six, Edward began his formal education under Richard Cox and John Cheke , concentrating, as he recalled himself, on "learning of tongues, of the scripture, of philosophy, and all liberal sciences". He received tuition from his sister Elizabeth's tutor, Roger Ascham , and from Jean Belmain , learning French, Spanish and Italian. In addition, he

19431-498: Was also accommodated in the eastern half of the wing, though its premises were limited to a first-floor meeting room, a ground-floor library, an apartment in the attic and a kitchen in the basement. The Geological Society was also accommodated in the Somerset House from 1828, as was the Royal Astronomical Society from 1834. The annual Royal Academy Exhibition was held in Somerset House from 1780 onwards, until

19584-440: Was as a soldier, which he had proven on expeditions to Scotland and in the defence of Boulogne-sur-Mer in 1546. From the first, his main interest as Protector was the war against Scotland. After a crushing victory at the Battle of Pinkie in September 1547, he set up a network of garrisons in Scotland, stretching as far north as Dundee . His initial successes, however, were followed by a loss of direction, as his aim of uniting

19737-482: Was attached and some of the tombstones are still to be seen built into one of the walls of a passage under the present quadrangle. Royal occupation of Somerset House was interrupted by the Civil War , and in 1649 Parliament tried to sell it. They failed to find a buyer, although a sale of the contents (most notably 1,570 paintings owned by Charles I) realised the very considerable sum (for that time) of £ 118,000. Use

19890-504: Was betrothed to Elisabeth of Valois , King Henry II 's daughter, and was made a Knight of Saint Michael . Warwick realised that England could no longer support the cost of wars. At home, he took measures to police local unrest. To forestall future rebellions, he kept permanent representatives of the crown in the localities, including lords lieutenant , who commanded military forces and reported back to central government. Working with William Paulet and Walter Mildmay , Warwick tackled

20043-468: Was crowned at Westminster Abbey on Sunday 20 February. The ceremonies were shortened, because of the "tedious length of the same which should weary and be hurtsome peradventure to the King's majesty, being yet of tender age", and also because the Reformation had rendered some of them inappropriate. On the eve of the coronation , Edward progressed on horseback from the Tower to the Palace of Westminster through thronging crowds and pageants, many based on

20196-481: Was disputed following Edward's death, and Jane was deposed by Mary - the elder of the two half-sisters - nine days after becoming queen. Mary, a Catholic, reversed Edward's Protestant reforms during her reign, but Elizabeth restored them in 1559. Edward was born on 12 October 1537 in his mother's room inside Hampton Court Palace , in Middlesex . He was the son of King Henry VIII by his third wife, Jane Seymour , and

20349-457: Was established in the 1990s under the direction of Lord Rothschild , and is funded by individual and corporate donors and admission fees. Several rooms in the south wing of Somerset House were redecorated in a style reminiscent of the interiors of the Winter Palace and opened to the public in November 2000. In 2003, a new Somerset House Learning Centre opened, which is used in conjunction with

20502-495: Was fascinated by military arts, and many of his portraits show him wearing a gold dagger with a jewelled hilt, in imitation of Henry. Edward's Chronicle enthusiastically details English military campaigns against Scotland and France, and adventures such as John Dudley 's near capture at Musselburgh in 1547. On 1 July 1543, Henry signed the Treaty of Greenwich with the Scots , sealing

20655-478: Was in a hopeless condition. The king's death and the succession of his Catholic half-sister Mary would jeopardise the English Reformation, and Edward's council and officers had many reasons to fear it. Edward himself opposed Mary's succession, not only on religious grounds but also on those of legitimacy and male inheritance, which also applied to Elizabeth. He composed a draft document, headed "My devise for

20808-423: Was institutionally Protestant. The confiscation of church property that had begun under Henry VIII resumed under Edward—notably with the dissolution of the chantries —to the great monetary advantage of the crown and the new owners of the seized property. Church reform was therefore as much a political as a religious policy under Edward VI. By the end of his reign, the church had been financially ruined, with much of

20961-419: Was limited, his intense Protestantism made a reforming administration obligatory; his succession was managed by the reforming faction, who continued in power throughout his reign. The man Edward trusted most, Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, introduced a series of religious reforms that revolutionised the English church from one that—while rejecting papal supremacy—remained essentially Catholic to one that

21114-616: Was lodged at Somerset House. The conference was the subject of an oil-on-canvas painting depicting the 11 representatives of the governments of England, Spain and the Spanish Netherlands, seated around a conference table, probably in Old Somerset House. During the 17th century, the house was used as a residence by royal consorts. In the reign of King James I , the building was the London residence of his wife, Anne of Denmark , and

21267-437: Was negotiated in secrecy, although Pope Julius III became aware of the plan and threatened to excommunicate both Henry and Elisabeth if the marriage went forward. A dowry of 200,000 écus was agreed to, but was never paid due to Edward's death before marriage. Elisabeth later married his sister Mary's widower, Philip II of Spain . In February 1553, Edward VI became ill, and by June, after several improvements and relapses, he

21420-583: Was no chapel at Denmark House, and so the Great Hall was adapted, and the body moved there before the funeral at Westminster Abbey . Between 1630 and 1635 Inigo Jones built a chapel where Henrietta Maria of France , the wife of King Charles I , could exercise her Roman Catholic religion . This was in the care of the Capuchin Order and was on a site to the southwest of the Great Court. A small cemetery

21573-404: Was not noticeably conservative in religion, that conservatives remained on the council, and that the radicalism of such men as Sir Anthony Denny , who controlled the dry stamp that replicated the king's signature, is debatable. Whatever the case, Henry's death was followed by a lavish hand-out of lands and honours to the new power group. The will contained an "unfulfilled gifts" clause, added at

21726-412: Was renamed Denmark House. She commissioned a number of expensive additions and improvements, some to designs by Inigo Jones . In 1609 Simon Basil and William Goodrowse made steps and terraces in the garden. Anne of Denmark built an orangery and employed a French gardener and hydraulic engineer Salomon de Caus . He built a fountain known as Mount Parnassus with a grotto carved with sea-shells and

21879-523: Was slow and costly. As late as 1598 John Stow refers to it as "yet unfinished". In the summer of 1604, Somerset House was the location for the negotiations, known as the Somerset House Conference that culminated in the Treaty of London and concluded the nineteen-year Anglo-Spanish War . The treaty was signed on 28 August ( New Style ), at Whitehall Palace , by the Constable of Castile who

22032-430: Was something short of what Chambers had intended, for he had planned for an additional terrace of houses to the east, as well as to the west of the quadrangle ; work had stopped short, however, cost being the inhibiting factor. Eventually King's College London was erected to the east (the government granting the land on condition that the design conformed to Chambers' original design) by subscription between 1829 and 1834;

22185-533: Was soon followed by its subsidiary Boards, the Victualling Commissioners and the Sick and Hurt Commissioners , which (along with the autonomous Navy Pay Office ) occupied the West Wing; they had all hitherto been based in the City of London . Thus the various Navy offices occupied around a third of Chambers' completed building. In addition, the terrace to the west of the quadrangle provided dwelling-houses for

22338-570: Was still found for it however. Part of it served as an army headquarters, with General Fairfax (the Parliamentarians ' commander-in-chief) being given official quarters there; lodgings were also provided for certain other Parliamentarian notables. It was in Somerset House that Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell 's body lay in state after his death in 1658. Two years later, with the Restoration , Queen Henrietta Maria returned and in 1661 began

22491-422: Was substantially expanded and remodelled to provide the Inland Revenue with an entire new wing of additional office accommodation. As part of this development, its architect James Pennethorne created a monumental new façade alongside the approach road to Waterloo Bridge (which had not been in existence when Chambers was alive). 150 years later this part of the building is still known as the " New Wing". In 1891

22644-455: Was taken to the Tower of London , where he was welcomed with "great shot of ordnance in all places there about, as well out of the Tower as out of the ships". The following day, the nobles of the realm made their obeisance to Edward at the Tower, and Seymour was announced as Protector . Henry VIII was buried at Windsor on 16 February, in the same tomb as Jane Seymour, as he had wished. Edward VI

22797-521: Was teaching at Oxford; and by other foreign theologians. The progress of the Reformation was further speeded by the consecration of more reformers as bishops. In the winter of 1551–52, Cranmer rewrote the Book of Common Prayer in less ambiguous reformist terms, revised canon law and prepared a doctrinal statement, the Forty-two Articles , to clarify the practice of the reformed religion, particularly in

22950-603: Was the first English monarch to be raised as a Protestant . During his reign, the realm was governed by a regency council because Edward never reached maturity. The council was first led by his uncle Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset (1547–1549), and then by John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland (1550–1553). Edward's reign was marked by many economic problems and social unrest that in 1549 erupted into riot and rebellion. An expensive war with Scotland , at first successful, ended with military withdrawal from Scotland and Boulogne-sur-Mer in exchange for peace. The transformation of

23103-469: Was the only son of Henry VIII to outlive him. Throughout the realm, the people greeted the birth of a male heir, "whom we hungered for so long", with joy and relief. Te Deums were sung in churches, bonfires lit, and "their was shott at the Tower that night above two thousand gonnes". Queen Jane, appearing to recover quickly from the birth, sent out personally signed letters announcing the birth of "a Prince, conceived in most lawful matrimony between my Lord

23256-664: Was the place where examinations for promotion to the rank of lieutenant took place, sat by several hundred midshipmen each year. The Admiralty Museum (a precursor to the National Maritime Museum ) was also accommodated there, in the central room above the south portico. In 1832 the Navy Board and its subsidiaries were abolished and their departments placed under the direct oversight of the Admiralty . Their administrative staff remained in Somerset House, but communications with

23409-630: Was then the principal chemist of Somerset House Laboratory until his retirement in 1894. He was replaced as principal chemist by Sir Thomas Edward Thorpe . At the same time, the laboratory was amalgamated with a similar facility that had been established within HM Customs and it was renamed the Government Laboratory . In 1897, Thorpe moved the Government Laboratory from Somerset House to a new building of his own design. In 1837, following

#447552