Kenwood House

Wednesday August 14, 2024.

We arrived at Kenwood House at about 11:20 and made our way into the Entrance Hall.

Here we were met by some English Heritage tour guides, who explained a little about the house, before pointing us in the right direction from where to start our tour.

We began by ascending the Deal Stairs to the upper floor, where we discovered fragile valuables, like cameos, belt and boot buckles, jewellery, and other miniature collectables.

We then made our way to Lady Mansfield's bedchamber, Miss Murray's bedchamber and Lord Mansfield's bedchamber, before entering the Upper Hall. 

All of these rooms are currently home to 'Strike a Pose: Stephen Farthing and the Swagger Portrait' exhibition.

From here we made our way to the Great Stairs and entered the Dining room lobby, followed by the Dining room.

We then visited the Library and the Antechamber, before heading into Lord Mansfield's Dressing Room and then the Breakfast room.

Lady Mansfield's Dressing room brought us to the Housekeeper's room, where replica clothing could be worn, by adults and children alike.

From here it was on to the Green room and the Music room.

Following a trip to the shop we made our way our and into the grounds, where we sat on a bench, on a tree-lined avenue, and ate our lunch.

Suitably filled with food we made our into the grounds and, from there, on to Hampstead Heath and back towards our hotel.

Gallery

Brief History

Kenwood House is believed to have been built in around 1616 by John Bill, the King's Printer. It came into the possession of William Brydges in 1694. William Brydges was Surveyor General of the Ordnance and he largely demolished Kenwood House, before rebuilding it. This rebuilt brick structure still exists under the 18rh century facade.

In 1704 William Brydges sold Kenwood House and it passed through numerous  hands before being purchased, in 1754, by William Murray. William Murray would later become 1st Earl of Mansfield and Chief Justice. William Murray employed Robert Adam to remodel the house, giving his ideas full scope.

Following Lord Mansfield's death, in 1793, his son and heir, David Murray, extended the property.

Up until 1793 Kenwood was separated from the Hampstead-Highgate Road by a forecourt and high wall. Between 1793-96 the 2nd Earl of Mansfield had the road diverted, leaving the house as it is today.

Kenwood House remained in the Mansfield family until 1922, when a great portion of the estate was sold by the 6th Earl to the Kenwood Preservation Council. This was an effort to prevent the estate from being sold to a building syndicate.

In 1925 King George V opened this land, along with other acquisitions, to the public.

Edward Cecil Guinness, 1st Earl of Iveagh, purchased Kenwood House and the remaining land, from Lord Mansfield, and it was here that he installed his collection of paintings which, together with the property, he bequeathed to the nation, in 1927.

Kenwood House was closed throughout World War II and became the administrative responsibility of London County Council, in 1949. It did reopen in 1950 and responsibility passed to the Greater London Council, in 1965.

Between 1955-59 the late 18th century extensions were restored.

From 1986, following the demise of the Greater London Council, English Heritage took over responsibility of the estate.

With some funding from the Heritage lottery Fund, major renovations were carried out from 2012 until late 2013. This included repairing the slate roof, redisplaying the Iveagh Bequest paintings and redecorating the structure. These repairs and renovations have brought Kenwood House closer to Robert Adam's original design.