: Fiona Rule
: The Oldest House in London
: The History Press
: 9780750986472
: 1
: CHF 1.40
:
: Architektur
: English
: 288
: Wasserzeichen
: PC/MAC/eReader/Tablet
: ePUB
London's old buildings hold a wealth of clues to the city's rich and vibrant past. The histories of some, such as the Tower of London and Westminster Abbey, are well documented. However, these magnificent, world-renowned attractions are not the only places with fascinating tales to tell. Down a narrow, medieval lane on the outskirts of Smithfield stands 41-42 Cloth Fair - the oldest house in the City of London. Fiona Rule uncovers the fascinating survival story of this extraordinary property and the people who owned it and lived in it, set against the backdrop of an ever-changing city that has prevailed over war, disease, fire and economic crises.

FIONA RULE is a writer, researcher and historian. A regular contributor to television and radio programmes, Fiona also has her own company, House Histories, which specialises in researching the history of people's homes. She holds an Advanced Diploma in Local History from the University of Oxford.

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The Eagle& Child


The Oldest House in London is Built


Richard Rich’s carefully tended relationship with the Tudor dynasty was successfully maintained by his grandson, Robert. However, Elizabeth I’s death heralded a new era. In 1603, James I (who had reigned as King of Scotland since 1567) acceded to the English throne. Keen to curry favour with the new monarch, Robert Rich lost no time in introducing him to his 13-year-old son, Henry, who made an instant and lasting impression on the middle-aged monarch. By all accounts, young Henry’s ‘features and pleasant aspect equalled the most beautiful of women’ and were combined with a personality described by the chronicler Clarendon as ‘a lovely and winning presence, to which he added the charm of genteel conversation’. James I soon became infatuated, showering him with gifts, usually of the monetary variety – the historian James Granger claimed that the king ‘wantonly lavished £3,000 upon him at one time’.

The precise nature of Henry Rich’s relationship with James I is unproven, but there is evidence that he may have cynically exploited the ageing monarch’s infatuation. In 1847 the American journalist Eliakim Littell declared, ‘From the dawn of his youth, true to his ancestral characteristics, Henry Rich was a selfish politician’, adding that his handsome countenance concealed a dark heart. ‘In private life he was violent and haughty; nay more, he was a man of utmost selfishness, unmitigated by any of those loftier qualities which sometimes, coupled with a fiery, overbearing disposition … will not permit us quite to hate.’ Walter Scott’sSecret History of the Court of James I went further, stating, ‘Rich, losing that opportunity his curious face and complexion afforded him, by turning aside and spitting after the king had slabered his mouth.’

Whatever the truth of his association with the king, Henry Rich prospered at the royal court and in 1612 his social status was elevated further when he announced his engagement to Isabel, the daughter and heir of Sir Walter Cope – an immensely wealthy landowner who presided over his vast estates from an enormous mansion known as Cope Castle, the grounds of which stretched across the modern west London enclave of Kensington.

Delighted to be forging links with the influential Cope family, Henry’s father Robert rewarded him with the valuable deeds to the St Bartholomew estate. Determined to squeeze as much profit as possible from his wedding gift, Henry resolved to develop its last available plot of land – Launders Green.

Although it promised to be a lucrative speculation, Henry Rich’s plan for Launders Green received a lukewarm reception from both the locals and the C