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{{Infobox historic site
{{Infobox historic site
| name = Osterley House
| name = Osterley House
| native_name =
| native_language =
| image = Osterley Park House, London-25June2009-rc.jpg
| image = Osterley Park House, London-25June2009-rc.jpg
| caption =
| caption =
| type = [[Mansion]]
| type = [[Country house]]
| locmapin = United Kingdom London Hounslow
| locmapin = United Kingdom London Hounslow
| coordinates = {{coord|51|29|21.75|N|00|21|07.14|W|display=inline,title|region:GB_type:landmark}}
| coordinates = {{coord|51|29|21.75|N|00|21|07.14|W|display=inline,title|region:GB_type:landmark}}
| gbgridref =
| gbgridref =
| location = [[Isleworth]]
| location = Jersey Road, [[Isleworth]], UK
⚫
| built = 1570s
⚫
| area = [[London Borough of Hounslow]]
| built_for = Sir [[Thomas Gresham]]
⚫
| built = 1761
| rebuilt = 1761–1765
⚫
| architect = [[Robert Adam]]
| current_use = [[Historic house museum]]
| architecture =
⚫
| architect = [[Robert Adam]] (1760s)
| governing_body =
| owner = [[National Trust]]
| owner = [[National Trust]]
| designation1 = Grade I
| designation1 = Grade I
Line 42: Line 40:
}}
}}


'''Osterley Park and House''' is a [[Georgian era|Georgian]] country estate in west London,<ref>{{cite web |title=Osterley Park and House |url=https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/osterley-park-and-house |website=National Trust |publisher=National Trust |access-date=13 March 2021 |language=en}}</ref> that straddles the London boroughs of [[London Borough of Ealing|Ealing]] and [[London Borough of Hounslow|Hounslow]].<ref name="park">{{NHLE|num=1000287|desc=Osterley Park|grade=II*|access-date=13 March 2021}}</ref><ref name="house">{{NHLE|num=1080308|desc=Osterley House |grade=I |access-date=13 March 2021}}</ref> Originally dating from the 1570s, the estate contains a number of [[Listed building|Grade I and II listed buildings, with the park listed as Grade II*]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Historic England – Championing England's heritage {{!}} Historic England |url=https://historicengland.org.uk |website=historicengland.org.uk |access-date=13 March 2021 |language=en}}</ref> The main house was remodelled by [[Robert Adam]] between 1761 and 1765.<ref name="house"/> The [[National Trust]] took charge of Osterley in 1991 and the house and park are open to visitors.
'''Osterley Park''' is a [[Georgian era|Georgian]] country estate in [[west London]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Osterley Park and House |url=https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/osterley-park-and-house |website=National Trust |access-date=13 March 2021 |language=en}}</ref> which straddles the London boroughs of [[London Borough of Ealing|Ealing]] and [[London Borough of Hounslow|Hounslow]].<ref name="park">{{NHLE|num=1000287|desc=Osterley Park|grade=II*|access-date=13 March 2021}}</ref><ref name="house">{{NHLE|num=1080308|desc=Osterley House |grade=I |access-date=13 March 2021}}</ref> Originally dating from the 1570s, the estate contains a number of Grade I and II [[listed building]]s, with the park listed as Grade II*.<ref>{{cite web |title=Historic England – Championing England's heritage {{!}} Historic England |url=https://historicengland.org.uk |website=historicengland.org.uk |access-date=13 March 2021 |language=en}}</ref> The main building (Osterley House) was remodelled by [[Robert Adam]] between 1761 and 1765.<ref name="house"/> The [[National Trust]] took charge of Osterley in 1991, and the house and park are open to visitors.


==History==
==History==
===Elizabethan===
===Early history===
The original building on this site was a [[manor house]] built in the 1570s for banker Sir [[Thomas Gresham]], who purchased the manor of Osterley in 1562.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hardy |first1=John |last2=Tomlin |first2=Maurice |title=Osterley Park House |date=1985 |publisher=Victoria and Albert Museum |location=London |isbn=0948107146}}</ref> The "faire and stately brick house" was completed in 1576. It is known that Queen [[Elizabeth I of England|Elizabeth]] visited.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Nichols |first1=John |title=John Nichols's The progresses and public processions of Queen Elizabeth I |date=2014 |location=Oxford, United Kingdom |isbn=9780199551422 |edition=A new of the early modern sources}}</ref> The stable block from that period remains at Osterley Park. Gresham was so wealthy that he also bought the neighbouring [[Boston Manor House|Manor of Boston]] in 1572.{{cn|date=January 2022}}
The original building on this site was a [[manor house]] built in the 1570s for banker Sir [[Thomas Gresham]], who purchased the manor of Osterley in 1562.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hardy |first1=John |last2=Tomlin |first2=Maurice |title=Osterley Park House |date=1985 |publisher=Victoria and Albert Museum |location=London |isbn=0948107146}}</ref> The "faire and stately brick house" was completed in 1576. It is known that [[Elizabeth I|Queen Elizabeth I]] visited.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Nichols |first1=John |title=John Nichols's The progresses and public processions of Queen Elizabeth I |date=2014 |location=Oxford, United Kingdom |isbn=9780199551422 |edition=A new of the early modern sources}}</ref> The stable block from that period remains at Osterley Park. Gresham, the founder of the [[Royal Exchange, London|Royal Exchange]], also bought the neighbouring [[Boston Manor House|Manor of Boston]] in 1572.{{cn|date=January 2022}}


===Child and Adam===
===Acquisition by the Child family===
⚫
During the late 17th century, the estate was owned by [[Nicholas Barbon]], a developer who mortgaged it to [[Child & Co.|Child's Bank]] and then died in debt around 1698. As a result of a mortgage default, by the early 1710s, the estate came into the ownership of Sir [[Francis Child (died 1713)|Francis Child]], the founder of Child's Bank. In 1761, Sir Francis's grandsons, [[Francis Child (died 1763)|Francis]] and [[Robert Child (Wells MP)|Robert]], employed Scottish architect [[Robert Adam]] (who was just emerging as one of the most fashionable architects in Britain) to remodel the house. When Francis Child died in 1763, the project was taken up by his brother and heir, Robert Child, for whom the interiors were created.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Weinreb |first=Ben |url=http://archive.org/details/londonencycloped00ias |title=The London encyclopedia |publisher=Adler & Adler |year=1986 |isbn=978-0-917561-07-8 |location=Bethesda, MD |pages=568 |language=en}}</ref>
⚫
[[File:Osterley Park - design for the Etruscan room.jpg|thumb|A design for one of the walls of the Estruscan dressing room at Osterley Park by Robert Adam.]]
⚫
Two hundred years later the manor house was falling into disrepair, when, as the result of a mortgage default, it came into the ownership of Sir [[Francis Child (died 1713)|Francis Child]], the founder of [[Child & Co|Child's Bank]]. In 1761 Sir Francis's grandsons, Francis and Robert, employed Scottish architect [[Robert Adam]], who was just emerging as one of the most fashionable architects in Britain, to remodel the house. When Francis died in 1763, the project was taken up by his brother and heir [[Robert Child (Wells MP)|Robert Child]], for whom the interiors were created.


The house is of red brick with white stone details and is approximately square, with turrets in the four corners. Adam's design, which incorporates some of the earlier structure, is highly unusual, and differs greatly in style from the original construction. One side is left almost open and is spanned by an [[Ionic order|Ionic]] pedimented screen which is approached by a broad flight of steps and leads to a central courtyard, which is at ''[[piano nobile]]'' level.
The house is of red brick with white stone details and is approximately square, with turrets in the four corners. Adam's design, which incorporates some of the earlier structure, is highly unusual, and it differs greatly in style from the original construction. One side is left almost open and is spanned by an [[Ionic order|Ionic]] pedimented screen, which is approached by a broad flight of steps and leads to a central courtyard, which is at ''[[piano nobile]]'' level.


⚫
[[File:Osterley Park - design for the Etruscan room.jpg|thumb|[[Robert Adam]]'s design for one of the walls of the [[Etruscan civilization|Estruscan]] dressing room]]
Adam's neoclassical interiors are among his most notable sequences of rooms. [[Horace Walpole]] described the drawing room as "worthy of [[Eve]] before [[Fall of Man|the fall]]."{{citation needed|date=May 2016}} The rooms are characterised by elaborate but restrained plasterwork, rich, highly varied colour schemes, and a degree of coordination between decor and furnishings unusual in English neoclassical interiors. Notable rooms include the entrance hall, which has large semi-circular alcoves at each end, and the Etruscan dressing room, which Adam said was inspired by the Etruscan vases in Sir [[William Hamilton (diplomat)#Vases|William Hamilton's collection]], illustrations of which had recently been published. Adam also designed some of the furniture, including the opulent domed state bed, still in the house.
Adam's neoclassical interiors are among his most notable sequences of rooms. [[Horace Walpole]] described the drawing room as "worthy of [[Eve]] before [[Fall of Man|the fall]]".<ref name=":0" /> The rooms are characterised by elaborate but restrained plasterwork, rich, highly varied colour schemes, and a degree of coordination between decor and furnishings unusual in English neoclassical interiors. Notable rooms include the entrance hall, which has large semi-circular alcoves at each end, and the Etruscan dressing room, which Adam said was inspired by the "[[Etruscan civilization|Etruscan]]" vases (as they were then regarded, now recognised as [[Ancient Greece|Greek]]) in Sir [[William Hamilton (diplomat)#Vases|William Hamilton's collection]], illustrations of which had recently been published. Adam also designed some of the furniture, including the opulent domed state bed, which is still in the house.
⚫
[[File:Osterley Park aerial view.jpg|thumb|Osterley Park from the air]]
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[[File:2008-09-14 Osterley GardenHouse.jpg|thumb|Garden House]]


===After Child===
===After Robert Child===
Robert Child's only daughter, [[Sarah Fane, Countess of Westmorland|Sarah Anne Child]], married [[John Fane, 10th Earl of Westmorland]] in 1782. When Child died two months later, his will placed his vast holdings, including Osterley, in trust for any second-to-be born grandchild. This proved to be [[Sarah Villiers, Countess of Jersey|Lady Sarah Sophia Fane]], who was born in 1785.
Robert Child's only daughter, [[Sarah Fane, Countess of Westmorland|Sarah]], married [[John Fane, 10th Earl of Westmorland]], in 1782. When Child died two months later, his will placed his vast holdings, including Osterley, in trust for any second-to-be born grandchild. This proved to be [[Sarah Villiers, Countess of Jersey|Lady Sarah Fane]], who was born in 1785.


⚫
Child's will kept his property out of the hands of John Fane, his son-in-law. Under the doctrine of [[coverture]] then in force, if Child had given his daughter more than a life interest in any property, Fane would have had control of it. Fane had eloped with Child's daughter to [[Gretna Green]], as Child had not consented to the marriage. Child had wished his daughter to marry someone willing to take on the Child surname and ensure its continuation.<ref name="nt">{{cite book |last1=Greeves |first1=Lydia |title=Houses of the National Trust: outstanding buildings of Britain |date=2008 |publisher=National Trust |location=London |isbn=978-1-905400-66-9}}{{rp|238}}</ref>
⚫
Lady Sarah Fane married [[George Child-Villiers, 5th Earl of Jersey|George Villiers]] in 1804, and having children, the estate passed into the Villiers family. In 1819, George changed the family surname to Child-Villiers.


⚫
Child's eventual heiress, Lady Sarah Fane, married [[George Child Villiers, 5th Earl of Jersey|George Villiers]] in 1804 and, having children, the estate passed into the [[Villiers family]]. In 1819, George Villiers changed his surname to Child Villiers.
⚫
Child's passing of his holdings to Lady Sarah Fane bypassed any dealing with John Fane, his son-in-law. Such a right to dealings would have arisen if he had given his daughter more than a life interest, under the then still live doctrine of [[coverture]]. This was because Fane eloped with his daughter, Sarah, to [[Gretna Green]] on the basis of lack of bride's father's consent which was expected for such an aristocrat, as Child desired a non-noble pairing with someone willing to take and ensure continuation of his own surname.<ref name="nt">{{cite book |last1=Greeves |first1=Lydia |title=Houses of the National Trust : outstanding buildings of Britain |date=2008 |publisher=National Trust |location=London |isbn=978-1-905400-66-9}}{{rp|238}}</ref>

⚫
===Home Guard Training Establishment===
⚫
The grounds of Osterley Park were used for the training of the first members of the [[Local Defence Volunteers]] (forerunners of the [[Home Guard (United Kingdom)|Home Guard]]) when the 9th Earl, a friend of publisher [[Edward George Warris Hulton|Sir Edward Hulton]], allowed writer and military journalist Captain [[Tom Wintringham]] to establish the first Home Guard training school (which Hulton sponsored) at the park in May/June 1940, teaching the theory and practice of modern mechanical warfare, guerilla warfare techniques and using the estate workers' homes, then scheduled for demolition, to teach street fighting techniques.<ref name=history>[http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/tom_wintringham.htm ''Tom Wintringham'' (History Learning Site)] accessed 29 Jan 2008</ref> Painter [[Roland Penrose]] taught camouflaging here, an extension of work he had developed with the paintbrush in avant-garde paintings to protect the modesty of his lover, [[Lee Miller|Elizabeth 'Lee' Miller]] (married to Aziz E. Bey).<ref>Newark, Tim ''Now you see it... Now You Don't'', (March 2007) ''[[History Today]]''</ref> {{Abbreviation|Maj.|Major}} [[Wilfred Vernon]] taught the art of mixing home-made explosives, and his explosives store can still be seen at the rear of the house, while Canadian [[Yank Levy|Bert "Yank" Levy]], who had served under Wintringham in the [[Spanish Civil War]], taught knife fighting and [[hand-to-hand combat]]. Despite winning world fame in newsreels and newspaper articles around the world (particularly in the US), the school was disapproved of by the [[War Office]] and [[Winston Churchill]], and was taken over in September 1940. Closed in 1941, its staff and courses were reallocated to other newly opened [[War Office]]-approved Home Guard schools.<ref name=history/>


=== Later history ===
=== Later history ===
⚫
[[File:Osterley Park aerial view.jpg|thumb|Osterley Park from the air]]
⚫
[[George Child Villiers, 9th Earl of Jersey]], opened Osterley to the public in 1939 after having received many requests to see its historic interior.<ref name=IndAug98>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/obituary-the-earl-of-jersey-1173731.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220524/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/obituary-the-earl-of-jersey-1173731.html |archive-date=24 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Obituary: The Earl of Jersey|author=Anthea Palmer|publisher=[[The Independent]]|date=24 August 1998|access-date=24 July 2014}}</ref> The Earl justified his decision by saying that it was "sufficient answer that he did not live in it and that many others wished to see it" – 12,000 people visited the house in its first month of opening.<ref name=IndAug98/> A series of exhibitions of artworks by living artists were staged by the Earl in the top-floor rooms to contrast with the 18th-century interiors on the ground floor.<ref name=IndAug98/> Though it never came to fruition, the Earl planned to create an arboretum in the grounds.<ref name=IndAug98/>
⚫
[[File:2008-09-14 Osterley GardenHouse.jpg|thumb|Garden House]]
⚫
[[George Child Villiers, 9th Earl of Jersey]], opened Osterley to the public in 1939 after having received many requests from people wishing to see its historic interior.<ref name=IndAug98>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/obituary-the-earl-of-jersey-1173731.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220524/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/obituary-the-earl-of-jersey-1173731.html |archive-date=24 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Obituary: The Earl of Jersey|author=Anthea Palmer|work=[[The Independent]]|date=24 August 1998|access-date=24 July 2014}}</ref> He justified his decision by saying that it was "sufficient answer that he did not live in it and that many others wished to see it". Some 12,000 people visited the house during its first month of opening.<ref name=IndAug98/> Villiers staged a series of exhibitions of artworks by living artists in the top-floor rooms to contrast with the 18th-century interiors on the ground floor.<ref name=IndAug98/> He also planned to create an [[arboretum]] in the grounds, although that never came to fruition.<ref name=IndAug98/>


⚫
====Home Guard training establishment====
⚫
After the Second World War, the Earl approached [[Middlesex County Council]], who had shown interest in buying the estate, but eventually decided to give the house and its park to the [[National Trust]].<ref name=IndAug98/> The furniture was sold to the [[Victoria & Albert Museum]].<ref name=IndAug98/> The 9th Earl moved to the island of [[Jersey]] in 1947, taking many pictures from Osterley's collection with him.<ref name=IndAug98/> Some were destroyed in a warehouse fire on the island soon after.<ref name=IndAug98/> The Earl assisted the Ministry of Works and V&A in their restoration of the house to its present late-18th-century state.<ref name=IndAug98/>
The grounds of Osterley Park were used for the training of the first members of the [[Local Defence Volunteers]] (forerunners of the [[Home Guard (United Kingdom)|Home Guard]]) when the 9th Earl, a friend of publisher [[Edward George Warris Hulton|Sir Edward Hulton]], allowed writer and military journalist Captain [[Tom Wintringham]] to establish the first Home Guard training school (which Hulton sponsored) at the park in May–June 1940. It included teaching the theory and practice of modern mechanical warfare, guerilla-warfare techniques and street-fighting techniques, making use of some estate workers' houses that had been scheduled for demolition.<ref name=history>[http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/tom_wintringham.htm ''Tom Wintringham'' (History Learning Site)] accessed 29 Jan 2008</ref>


⚫
Painter [[Roland Penrose]] taught camouflaging here, an extension of work he had developed with the paintbrush in avant-garde paintings to protect the modesty of his lover, [[Lee Miller|Elizabeth 'Lee' Miller]] (married to Aziz E. Bey).<ref>Newark, Tim ''Now you see it... Now You Don't'', (March 2007) ''[[History Today]]''</ref> {{Abbreviation|Maj.|Major}} [[Wilfred Vernon]] taught the art of mixing home-made explosives, and his explosives store can still be seen at the rear of the house, while Canadian [[Yank Levy|Bert "Yank" Levy]], who had served under Wintringham in the [[Spanish Civil War]], taught knife fighting and [[hand-to-hand combat]]. Despite winning world fame in newsreels and newspaper articles around the world (particularly in the US), the school was disapproved of by the [[War Office]] and [[Winston Churchill]], and it was taken over in September 1940. Closed in 1941, its staff and courses were reallocated to other newly opened [[War Office]]-approved Home Guard schools.<ref name=history/>
⚫
The National Trust took charge of Osterley in 1991. The house enjoys loans and gifts from Lord Jersey including items of silver, porcelain, furniture and miniatures.<ref name=IndAug98/> The trust commissioned portraits of Lord Jersey and his wife by [[Howard J. Morgan]] – which hang upstairs.<ref name=IndAug98/> In 2014 a ten-year loan to Osterley of portraits of the Child family was arranged by [[William Villiers, 10th Earl of Jersey]], the present Earl.<ref name=GuardFeb14>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/feb/26/osterley-park-family-portraits-national-trust|title=Osterley Park welcomes home its family portraits|author=Maev Kennedy|publisher=[[The Guardian]]|date=26 February 2014|access-date=24 July 2014}}</ref> Portraits included in the 2014 loan include [[Allan Ramsay (artist)|Allan Ramsay]]'s portrait of [[Francis Child (died 1763)|Francis Child]] (1758), and [[George Romney (painter)|George Romney]]'s portrait of Francis's brother, [[Robert Child (Wells MP)|Robert]].<ref name=GuardFeb14/>


====National Trust====
⚫
The house and small formal gardens are open to the public. They account for 30,000 paying visitors per year. Many hundreds of thousands of visitors per year walk the footpaths and enjoy the woodland of the surrounding park at no cost.<ref name="Strat">{{cite web|title=Strategis – Osterley|url=http://www.strategis.co.uk/experiential/osterley.cfm|publisher=Strategis|access-date=21 July 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140729221257/http://www.strategis.co.uk/experiential/osterley.cfm|archive-date=29 July 2014|df=dmy-all}}</ref> The park is the site of a weekly [[5,000 meters|5k]] [[Parkrun]].<ref name="Parkrun">{{cite web|title=Parkrun – Osterley|url=http://www.parkrun.org.uk/osterley/|publisher=Parkrun|access-date=21 July 2014}}</ref>
⚫
After the Second World War, Lord Jersey approached [[Middlesex County Council]], which had shown interest in buying the estate, but eventually decided to give the house and its park to the [[National Trust]].<ref name=IndAug98/> The furniture was sold to the [[Victoria & Albert Museum]].<ref name=IndAug98/> In 1947, Lord Jersey moved to the island of [[Jersey]], taking with him many pictures from the collection at Osterley.<ref name=IndAug98/> Some were destroyed in a warehouse fire on the island soon after.<ref name=IndAug98/> Lord Jersey assisted the Ministry of Works and the V&A in their restoration of the house to its present late-18th-century state.<ref name=IndAug98/>


⚫
The National Trust took charge of Osterley in 1991. The house has enjoyed loans and gifts from Lord Jersey, including items of silver, porcelain, furniture and miniatures.<ref name=IndAug98/> The trust commissioned portraits of Lord Jersey and his wife by [[Howard J. Morgan]], which hang upstairs.<ref name=IndAug98/> In 2014, [[William Villiers, 10th Earl of Jersey]], the present Earl, arranged a ten-year loan to Osterley of portraits of the Child family.<ref name=GuardFeb14>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/feb/26/osterley-park-family-portraits-national-trust|title=Osterley Park welcomes home its family portraits|author-link=Maev Kennedy|author= Kennedy, Maev|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=26 February 2014|access-date=24 July 2014}}</ref> The pictures that are part of the loan include [[Allan Ramsay (artist)|Allan Ramsay]]'s portrait of [[Francis Child (died 1763)|Francis Child]] (1758), and [[George Romney (painter)|George Romney]]'s portrait of Francis's brother, [[Robert Child (Wells MP)|Robert]].<ref name=GuardFeb14/>
⚫
The house saw its latest restoration from 2018 to 2021. This repaired structural deterioration and discolouring of the external brickwork.


⚫
The house and small formal gardens are open to the public. They account for 30,000 paying visitors per year. Many hundreds of thousands of visitors per year walk the footpaths and enjoy the woodland of the surrounding park at no cost.<ref name="Strat">{{cite web|title=Strategis – Osterley|url=http://www.strategis.co.uk/experiential/osterley.cfm|publisher=Strategis|access-date=21 July 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140729221257/http://www.strategis.co.uk/experiential/osterley.cfm|archive-date=29 July 2014|df=dmy-all}}</ref> A weekly [[5,000 meters|5k]] [[Parkrun]] takes place in the park.<ref name="Parkrun">{{cite web|title=Parkrun – Osterley|url=http://www.parkrun.org.uk/osterley/|publisher=Parkrun|access-date=21 July 2014}}</ref>
==In popular culture==
[[File:OsterleyHercules.JPG|right|upright|thumb|[[Hercules]] stands in the entrance hall]]


⚫
The house saw its latest restoration from 2018 to 2021. This repaired structural deterioration and discolouring of the external brickwork.{{Cn|date=July 2022}}
===Television===
{{unreferenced section|date=March 2021}}
* The house featured in several [[ITC Entertainment|ITC]] series in the 1960s and 70s, including an episode of ''[[The Saint (TV series)|The Saint]]'' entitled "The Angel's Eye" starring Roger Moore, and an episode of ''[[The Persuaders!]]'' called "The Morning After" which also starred Moore, alongside Tony Curtis.
* Osterley Park was originally proposed as the setting (and location) for the 1973 [[Doctor Who]] serial ''[[Day of the Daleks]]''. The name was changed to "Auderley" in the finished programme, and was renamed "Austerley" in the novel of the serial. The location eventually used was [[Dropmore Park]] in Buckinghamshire.
*The entrance hall of the house also appeared as a room in an upmarket central London hotel in the denouement of the 2007 ITV adaptation of ''[[At Bertram's Hotel#Film, TV or theatrical adaptations|At Bertram's Hotel]]''.
* Osterley Park was used as the home of billionaire Sir Peter Maxwell, for the 2006 TV pilot, 'Maxwell: Inside the Empire'.
* Episodes of ''[[ChuckleVision]]'' were filmed in Osterley Park.
* Many of the ''[[Horrible Histories (2009 TV series)|Horrible Histories]]'' episodes were filmed in Osterley House and Gardens.
* Osterley Park was used as a filming location for the 2020 Amazon Prime adaptation of ''[[Alex Rider (TV series)|Alex Rider]]''. The house was portrayed as "Friend Hall".

===Film===
* The 1960 film ''[[The Grass Is Greener]]'', starring [[Cary Grant]], [[Deborah Kerr]], and [[Robert Mitchum]], was set and partly shot at Osterley Park House.
* The 1984 film ''[[Top Secret!]]'', starring [[Val Kilmer]] and [[Omar Sharif]], features Osterley as East Berlin Town Hall, when the various cultural ambassadors are presented with medals by the East German Women's Olympic Team.
*In 1991, the gardens were used in the Bollywood film ''Kabhi Khushi Khabi Gham''.{{citation needed|date=June 2020}}
* Osterley Park has been used for Buckingham Palace scenes, including Victoria's sitting room and anteroom, in the 2009 film ''[[The Young Victoria]]'' starring [[Emily Blunt]] and [[Rupert Friend]].
* In the 2012 Batman film ''[[The Dark Knight Rises]]'', the interior of Osterley Park mansion is used as a double for [[Wayne Manor]].<ref>{{cite web|author=73 Like27 Dislike0 28 May 2011 by B. Alan Orange |url=http://www.movieweb.com/news/the-dark-knight-rises-wayne-manor-photo |title=The Dark Knight Rises |publisher=Movieweb.com |date=2011-05-28 |access-date=2013-09-09}}</ref>
*In [[Rebecca (2020 film)|''Rebecca'']], the interior of Osterley was partly used for [[Manderley]]'s kitchen.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Where Was Rebecca Filmed? Your Guide To Manderley {{!}} Netflix – YouTube|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRnLOHP7BAw|access-date=2020-11-06|website=www.youtube.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Elizabeth|first=Mary|last2=riotis|date=2020-10-22|title=You Can Visit These Houses From Netflix’s "Rebecca"|url=https://www.housebeautiful.com/design-inspiration/a34449949/manor-houses-netflix-rebecca-filming-locations/|access-date=2020-11-06|website=House Beautiful|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Desowitz|first=Bill|date=2020-10-23|title=In Netflix Remake ‘Rebecca,’ Manderley Is the Most Essential Character|url=https://www.indiewire.com/2020/10/netflix-remake-rebecca-manderley-1234594621/|access-date=2020-11-06|website=IndieWire|language=en}}</ref>

===Literature===
* Osterley Park features in [[John Banville]]'s novel ''[[The Untouchable (novel)|The Untouchable]]''.

===Music===
* The cover photograph for [[Paul McCartney and Wings]]' 1973 LP, ''[[Band On The Run]]'', was taken at Osterley Park on 28 October 1973 by photographer Clive Arrowsmith.

===Video games===
* Osterley Park House is one of the possible burglary targets in the 1994 game ''[[The Clue!]]''.


==Gallery==
==Gallery==
<gallery mode="packed">
<gallery mode="packed">
File:Main mansion at Osterley Park.jpg|The main mansion
File:Main mansion at Osterley Park.jpg|The house
File:Side of Osterley Park Mansion.jpg|A side of the mansion
File:Side of Osterley Park Mansion.jpg|A side view
File:Courtyard of Osterley Park.jpg|Courtyard of the mansion
File:Courtyard of Osterley Park.jpg|The courtyard
File:Ceiling detail at Osterley Park.jpg|Ceiling of portico
File:Ceiling detail at Osterley Park.jpg|Portico ceiling
File:Columns of Osterley Park.jpg|Columns at the front of the mansion
File:Columns of Osterley Park.jpg|Columns at the front of the house
File:View from Osterley Park.jpg|View from the mansion over the estate, over stone eagle finial to balustrade
File:View from Osterley Park.jpg|View from the house over the estate
File:Stables at Osterley .jpg|Former stables, now a cafe
File:Stables at Osterley .jpg|Former stables, now a cafe
File:Turret at Osterley Park Stable.jpg|Turret at the stable
File:Turret at Osterley Park Stable.jpg|Turret at the stable
File:Farmland at Osterley Park.jpg|Farmland in Osterley Park
File:Farmland at Osterley Park.jpg|Farmland in Osterley Park
File:Ranken, William Bruce Ellis; Osterley Park, London, Interior.jpg|Osterley House, London, Interior, 1931
File:Ranken, William Bruce Ellis; Osterley Park, London, Interior.jpg|Interior of the house in 1931
File:Ranken, William Bruce Ellis; State Bed at Osterley Park.jpg|State Bed at Osterley House
File:Ranken, William Bruce Ellis; State Bed at Osterley Park.jpg|State Bed at Osterley House
</gallery>
</gallery>


==See also==
==References ==
⚫
*[https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:WikiProject_sum_of_all_paintings/Collection/Osterley_Park List of paintings on view]

==References and footnotes==
===Citations===
{{Reflist}}
{{Reflist}}

===Footnotes===
{{Notelist}}


==External links==
==External links==
Line 139: Line 103:
*[https://www.flickr.com/search/?w=all&q=Osterley+Park&m=text Flickr images tagged Osterley Park]
*[https://www.flickr.com/search/?w=all&q=Osterley+Park&m=text Flickr images tagged Osterley Park]
*[http://libmma.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/p16028coll4/id/1497 A Brief History of Osterly Park] by the Dowager Countess of Jersey, 1920
*[http://libmma.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/p16028coll4/id/1497 A Brief History of Osterly Park] by the Dowager Countess of Jersey, 1920
⚫
*[https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:WikiProject_sum_of_all_paintings/Collection/Osterley_Park List of paintings on view]


{{LB Hounslow}}{{LB Ealing}}{{London landmarks}}
{{LB Hounslow}}
{{LB Ealing}}
{{London landmarks}}
{{London museums and galleries}}
{{London museums and galleries}}
{{Parks and open spaces in London}}
{{Parks and open spaces in London}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Authority control}}


[[Category:1570s establishments in England]]
[[Category:Country houses in London]]
[[Category:Country houses in London]]
[[Category:Isleworth]]
[[Category:Georgian architecture in London]]
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[[Category:Grade II* listed parks and gardens in London]]
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[[Category:Houses in the London Borough of Hounslow]]
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[[Category:Museums in the London Borough of Hounslow]]
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[[Category:Historic house museums in London]]
[[Category:Parks and open spaces in the London Borough of Hounslow]]
[[Category:Grade I listed buildings in the London Borough of Hounslow]]
[[Category:Grade I listed buildings in the London Borough of Hounslow]]
[[Category:Grade I listed houses in London]]
[[Category:Grade I listed houses in London]]
[[Category:Grade I listed museum buildings]]
[[Category:Grade I listed museum buildings]]
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[[Category:Grade II* listed parks and gardens in London]]
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[[Category:Historic house museums in London]]
[[Category:History of the London Borough of Hounslow]]
[[Category:History of the London Borough of Hounslow]]
[[Category:History of Middlesex]]
[[Category:History of Middlesex]]
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[[Category:Houses in the London Borough of Hounslow]]
[[Category:Isleworth]]
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[[Category:Museums in the London Borough of Hounslow]]
[[Category:National Trust properties in London]]
[[Category:National Trust properties in London]]
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[[Category:Robert Adam buildings]]
[[Category:Georgian architecture in London]]
[[Category:Neoclassical architecture in London]]
[[Category:Neoclassical architecture in London]]
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[[Category:Parks and open spaces in the London Borough of Hounslow]]
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[[Category:Robert Adam buildings]]

Latest revision as of 03:48, 27 April 2024

Osterley House
TypeCountry house
LocationJersey Road, Isleworth, UK
Coordinates51°29′21.75″N 00°21′07.14″W / 51.4893750°N 0.3519833°W / 51.4893750; -0.3519833
Built1570s
Built forSir Thomas Gresham
Rebuilt1761–1765
Current useHistoric house museum
ArchitectRobert Adam (1760s)
OwnerNational Trust
Listed Building – Grade I
Official nameOsterley House
Designated21 May 1973
Reference no.1080308
Osterley Park is located in London Borough of Hounslow
Osterley Park
Location of Osterley House in London Borough of Hounslow

Osterley Park is a Georgian country estate in west London,[1] which straddles the London boroughs of Ealing and Hounslow.[2][3] Originally dating from the 1570s, the estate contains a number of Grade I and II listed buildings, with the park listed as Grade II*.[4] The main building (Osterley House) was remodelled by Robert Adam between 1761 and 1765.[3] The National Trust took charge of Osterley in 1991, and the house and park are open to visitors.

History

[edit]

Early history

[edit]

The original building on this site was a manor house built in the 1570s for banker Sir Thomas Gresham, who purchased the manor of Osterley in 1562.[5] The "faire and stately brick house" was completed in 1576. It is known that Queen Elizabeth I visited.[6] The stable block from that period remains at Osterley Park. Gresham, the founder of the Royal Exchange, also bought the neighbouring Manor of Boston in 1572.[citation needed]

Acquisition by the Child family

[edit]

During the late 17th century, the estate was owned by Nicholas Barbon, a developer who mortgaged it to Child's Bank and then died in debt around 1698. As a result of a mortgage default, by the early 1710s, the estate came into the ownership of Sir Francis Child, the founder of Child's Bank. In 1761, Sir Francis's grandsons, Francis and Robert, employed Scottish architect Robert Adam (who was just emerging as one of the most fashionable architects in Britain) to remodel the house. When Francis Child died in 1763, the project was taken up by his brother and heir, Robert Child, for whom the interiors were created.[7]

The house is of red brick with white stone details and is approximately square, with turrets in the four corners. Adam's design, which incorporates some of the earlier structure, is highly unusual, and it differs greatly in style from the original construction. One side is left almost open and is spanned by an Ionic pedimented screen, which is approached by a broad flight of steps and leads to a central courtyard, which is at piano nobile level.

Robert Adam's design for one of the walls of the Estruscan dressing room

Adam's neoclassical interiors are among his most notable sequences of rooms. Horace Walpole described the drawing room as "worthy of Eve before the fall".[7] The rooms are characterised by elaborate but restrained plasterwork, rich, highly varied colour schemes, and a degree of coordination between decor and furnishings unusual in English neoclassical interiors. Notable rooms include the entrance hall, which has large semi-circular alcoves at each end, and the Etruscan dressing room, which Adam said was inspired by the "Etruscan" vases (as they were then regarded, now recognised as Greek) in Sir William Hamilton's collection, illustrations of which had recently been published. Adam also designed some of the furniture, including the opulent domed state bed, which is still in the house.

After Robert Child

[edit]

Robert Child's only daughter, Sarah, married John Fane, 10th Earl of Westmorland, in 1782. When Child died two months later, his will placed his vast holdings, including Osterley, in trust for any second-to-be born grandchild. This proved to be Lady Sarah Fane, who was born in 1785.

Child's will kept his property out of the hands of John Fane, his son-in-law. Under the doctrine of coverture then in force, if Child had given his daughter more than a life interest in any property, Fane would have had control of it. Fane had eloped with Child's daughter to Gretna Green, as Child had not consented to the marriage. Child had wished his daughter to marry someone willing to take on the Child surname and ensure its continuation.[8]

Child's eventual heiress, Lady Sarah Fane, married George Villiers in 1804 and, having children, the estate passed into the Villiers family. In 1819, George Villiers changed his surname to Child Villiers.

Later history

[edit]
Osterley Park from the air
Garden House

George Child Villiers, 9th Earl of Jersey, opened Osterley to the public in 1939 after having received many requests from people wishing to see its historic interior.[9] He justified his decision by saying that it was "sufficient answer that he did not live in it and that many others wished to see it". Some 12,000 people visited the house during its first month of opening.[9] Villiers staged a series of exhibitions of artworks by living artists in the top-floor rooms to contrast with the 18th-century interiors on the ground floor.[9] He also planned to create an arboretum in the grounds, although that never came to fruition.[9]

Home Guard training establishment

[edit]

The grounds of Osterley Park were used for the training of the first members of the Local Defence Volunteers (forerunners of the Home Guard) when the 9th Earl, a friend of publisher Sir Edward Hulton, allowed writer and military journalist Captain Tom Wintringham to establish the first Home Guard training school (which Hulton sponsored) at the park in May–June 1940. It included teaching the theory and practice of modern mechanical warfare, guerilla-warfare techniques and street-fighting techniques, making use of some estate workers' houses that had been scheduled for demolition.[10]

Painter Roland Penrose taught camouflaging here, an extension of work he had developed with the paintbrush in avant-garde paintings to protect the modesty of his lover, Elizabeth 'Lee' Miller (married to Aziz E. Bey).[11] Maj. Wilfred Vernon taught the art of mixing home-made explosives, and his explosives store can still be seen at the rear of the house, while Canadian Bert "Yank" Levy, who had served under Wintringham in the Spanish Civil War, taught knife fighting and hand-to-hand combat. Despite winning world fame in newsreels and newspaper articles around the world (particularly in the US), the school was disapproved of by the War Office and Winston Churchill, and it was taken over in September 1940. Closed in 1941, its staff and courses were reallocated to other newly opened War Office-approved Home Guard schools.[10]

National Trust

[edit]

After the Second World War, Lord Jersey approached Middlesex County Council, which had shown interest in buying the estate, but eventually decided to give the house and its park to the National Trust.[9] The furniture was sold to the Victoria & Albert Museum.[9] In 1947, Lord Jersey moved to the island of Jersey, taking with him many pictures from the collection at Osterley.[9] Some were destroyed in a warehouse fire on the island soon after.[9] Lord Jersey assisted the Ministry of Works and the V&A in their restoration of the house to its present late-18th-century state.[9]

The National Trust took charge of Osterley in 1991. The house has enjoyed loans and gifts from Lord Jersey, including items of silver, porcelain, furniture and miniatures.[9] The trust commissioned portraits of Lord Jersey and his wife by Howard J. Morgan, which hang upstairs.[9] In 2014, William Villiers, 10th Earl of Jersey, the present Earl, arranged a ten-year loan to Osterley of portraits of the Child family.[12] The pictures that are part of the loan include Allan Ramsay's portrait of Francis Child (1758), and George Romney's portrait of Francis's brother, Robert.[12]

The house and small formal gardens are open to the public. They account for 30,000 paying visitors per year. Many hundreds of thousands of visitors per year walk the footpaths and enjoy the woodland of the surrounding park at no cost.[13] A weekly 5k Parkrun takes place in the park.[14]

The house saw its latest restoration from 2018 to 2021. This repaired structural deterioration and discolouring of the external brickwork.[citation needed]

[edit]
  • The house
    The house
  • A side view
    A side view
  • The courtyard
    The courtyard
  • Portico ceiling
    Portico ceiling
  • Columns at the front of the house
    Columns at the front of the house
  • View from the house over the estate
    View from the house over the estate
  • Former stables, now a cafe
    Former stables, now a cafe
  • Turret at the stable
    Turret at the stable
  • Farmland in Osterley Park
    Farmland in Osterley Park
  • Interior of the house in 1931
    Interior of the house in 1931
  • State Bed at Osterley House
    State Bed at Osterley House

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Osterley Park and House". National Trust. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  2. ^ Historic England. "Osterley Park (Grade II*) (1000287)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  3. ^ a b Historic England. "Osterley House (Grade I) (1080308)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  4. ^ "Historic England – Championing England's heritage | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  5. ^ Hardy, John; Tomlin, Maurice (1985). Osterley Park House. London: Victoria and Albert Museum. ISBN 0948107146.
  6. ^ Nichols, John (2014). John Nichols's The progresses and public processions of Queen Elizabeth I (A new of the early modern sources ed.). Oxford, United Kingdom. ISBN 9780199551422.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  7. ^ a b Weinreb, Ben (1986). The London encyclopedia. Bethesda, MD: Adler & Adler. p. 568. ISBN 978-0-917561-07-8.
  8. ^ Greeves, Lydia (2008). Houses of the National Trust: outstanding buildings of Britain. London: National Trust. ISBN 978-1-905400-66-9.: 238 
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Anthea Palmer (24 August 1998). "Obituary: The Earl of Jersey". The Independent. Archived from the original on 24 May 2022. Retrieved 24 July 2014.
  10. ^ a b Tom Wintringham (History Learning Site) accessed 29 Jan 2008
  11. ^ Newark, Tim Now you see it... Now You Don't, (March 2007) History Today
  12. ^ a b Kennedy, Maev (26 February 2014). "Osterley Park welcomes home its family portraits". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 July 2014.
  13. ^ "Strategis – Osterley". Strategis. Archived from the original on 29 July 2014. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  14. ^ "Parkrun – Osterley". Parkrun. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
[edit]
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