On the Strand, between the City and Westminster, the imposing Somerset House one sees today dates from the eighteenth century. But its name and its site go back to one of the founding moments of Renaissance architecture in England: here, around 1550, rose one of the very first English palaces conceived in the classical vocabulary come from the continent.
The palace of the Lord Protector
The first Somerset House was built from 1547 to 1550 for Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset and Lord Protector of the realm during the minority of his nephew Edward VI — Seymour being the brother of Queen Jane Seymour, mother of the young king. His house adopted an openly Renaissance style, with Doric and Ionic pilasters: a novelty in the London scene, still dominated by brick and Tudor Gothic. The work, costly (some £10,000), was also brutal in its methods: part of the stone was taken, it is said, from the charnel house of old St Paul's Cathedral and from dismantled religious buildings — the Reformation supplying the materials of the palace.
From disgrace to crown
Splendour did not protect its builder: fallen from favour, Somerset was executed in 1552, and his house reverted to the Crown. It then took on a new importance: the young Princess Elizabeth resided here from 1553 until her accession to the throne in 1558 — it was partly from here that she waited, in the uncertainty and danger of her sister Mary's reign, for the hour to reign. The original Tudor building has now vanished, replaced after 1776 by the present edifice; but the place keeps the memory of this first monumental attempt at an English Renaissance. To see: the historic site and the interpretation of its Tudor past (the original palace no longer exists).
Did you know?
To build London's first Renaissance palace, the Lord Protector Somerset had church buildings taken down and the stone of a St Paul's charnel house salvaged. The realm's most modern style thus rose, literally, on the remains of the old faith — a striking image of what the English Reformation was.
Notes
Somerset House lies on the Strand, Westminster; the present building (after 1776) houses cultural institutions and exhibitions. The original Tudor palace has vanished; to be treated as a historic site/location.
Quiz
- For whom was the first Somerset House built (1547-1550)?
- Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset, Lord Protector
- Cardinal Wolsey
- Thomas Cromwell
- Which future queen resided here from 1553 to 1558?
- Princess Elizabeth
- Mary Stuart
- Lady Jane Grey
- What was new about its architecture?
- A classical Renaissance style (Doric/Ionic pilasters)
- An iron dome
- Gothic stained glass