Elements in the Seasons
Plasterwork ceiling showing the four seasons, with putti holding symbols of the classical elements.
In the Drawing Room, the House of St Barnabas
1 Greek Street
Originally a mansion house of the late 1670s; remodelled in the mid-1740s, it was bought in 1754 for £2,500 and then fitted out for Richard Beckford, MP, younger brother of Alderman William Beckford who lived at 22 Soho Square. The unobtrusive exterior is little decorated apart from obelisks each side of the door. The rococo interior has been described as the finest in Soho (where a surprising number of 18th-century houses remain) and is characteristic of the taste of the period. The staircase has a fine wrought-iron handrail in a cantilevered flight, and richly stuccoed wall panels and ceiling. There is similar decoration in the ground floor room and in the sequence of three major rooms on the first floor. The first of these has a fine fireplace and richly carved surrounds to the doors and windows. The second has an elaborate rococo plasterwork ceiling and, in the third, an oval panel has putti representing the four elements and heads of older men representing the four seasons in medallion busts.Beckford died early in 1756 and the house was sold for £6,300. In 1811 it served as the administrative offices of the Commissioners of Sewers, and then of the Metropolitan Board of Works. Joseph Bazalgette became the MBW’s Engineer in 1855 when the house was extended.It was sold to the House of Charity for £6,400. When the charity moved to No 1 Greek Street in 1862, Catherine Gladstone laid the foundation stone of a remarkable Gothic revival chapel by Joseph Clarke with five apses and particularly fine stained glass, early work, 1957/8, by John Hayward.The charity, set up in 1846 by Dr Henry Monro and others, had two principal objects: "to afford temporary relief to deserving persons specially recommended or selected" and "to enable persons whose time is much occupied by professions or other active duties, as well as those who have leisure, to co-operate in works of charity under fixed regulation". The House of St Barnabas continues to sustain its founders' objectives. The charity's current model, an integrated Employment Academy and social business "a not-for-profit private members' club" operates at the heart of the Grade l listed building, and supports those affected by homelessness and social exclusion back into lasting work.
[Open House London]
Elements in the Seasons
Plasterwork ceiling showing the four seasons, with putti holding symbols of the classical elements.
In the Drawing Room, the House of St Barnabas
1 Greek Street
Originally a mansion house of the late 1670s; remodelled in the mid-1740s, it was bought in 1754 for £2,500 and then fitted out for Richard Beckford, MP, younger brother of Alderman William Beckford who lived at 22 Soho Square. The unobtrusive exterior is little decorated apart from obelisks each side of the door. The rococo interior has been described as the finest in Soho (where a surprising number of 18th-century houses remain) and is characteristic of the taste of the period. The staircase has a fine wrought-iron handrail in a cantilevered flight, and richly stuccoed wall panels and ceiling. There is similar decoration in the ground floor room and in the sequence of three major rooms on the first floor. The first of these has a fine fireplace and richly carved surrounds to the doors and windows. The second has an elaborate rococo plasterwork ceiling and, in the third, an oval panel has putti representing the four elements and heads of older men representing the four seasons in medallion busts.Beckford died early in 1756 and the house was sold for £6,300. In 1811 it served as the administrative offices of the Commissioners of Sewers, and then of the Metropolitan Board of Works. Joseph Bazalgette became the MBW’s Engineer in 1855 when the house was extended.It was sold to the House of Charity for £6,400. When the charity moved to No 1 Greek Street in 1862, Catherine Gladstone laid the foundation stone of a remarkable Gothic revival chapel by Joseph Clarke with five apses and particularly fine stained glass, early work, 1957/8, by John Hayward.The charity, set up in 1846 by Dr Henry Monro and others, had two principal objects: "to afford temporary relief to deserving persons specially recommended or selected" and "to enable persons whose time is much occupied by professions or other active duties, as well as those who have leisure, to co-operate in works of charity under fixed regulation". The House of St Barnabas continues to sustain its founders' objectives. The charity's current model, an integrated Employment Academy and social business "a not-for-profit private members' club" operates at the heart of the Grade l listed building, and supports those affected by homelessness and social exclusion back into lasting work.
[Open House London]