I have to immediately admit my first reason for wanting to visit Queens House in Greenwich was to see the much instagrammed Tulip Staircase. All its blue and white and elegant curves were calling out to me and my camera. What I hadn’t banked on was the treat the rest of the house turned out to be too.
I love the background to the creation of The Queens House. The story goes that King James I’s wife Anne of Denmark commissioned the architect Inigo Jones to design the classical in 1616 house. It was a gift to her from the King after he supposedly swore in front of her after she killed one of his favourite dogs during a hunt! Sadly Anne never saw the completed house which wasn’t finished until 1636.
The Inhabaitants
After Queen Anne’s death the house was passed on to Henrietta Maria the wife of Charles I, King James son. Sadly civil war broke out in 1642 just a few short years after it was completed so Hernietta had little time to enjoy it. She went into exile, Charles was executed and the house was seized by the state. It was 1660 before she got back to it. `Until 1805 it was used by various members of the royal family. George III then gifted it to The Royal Naval Asylum. A charity set up for the orphans of seaman. In 1933 the school moved to leafy Suffolk and the house was taken over by the Naitional Maritime Museum.
The Great Hall
The first room you enter is the Great Hall which is instantly striking and impressive. It was designed by Inigo Jones to be a perfect cube. The floor is perfectly chequered black and white marble and the ceiling is a myriad of gold leaf swirls designed by the Turner Prize-winning artist Richard Wright’. We visited on a Saturday in early January and had the place almost to ourselves.
The Tulip Staircase
This is without doubt one fabulous staircase and it provides the link from the Great Hall to the upstairs galleries of the house. It is one of the original features and the first geometric self-supporting spiral stair in Britain You will certainly want to photograph this from every angle and sweep up and down it more than once! You may also want to keep one eye out for the legendary ghost who rumour has it was captured on a photograph taken by a visiting clergy man in 1966….
The Art Collection
Today the Queens House is an art gallery housing work from the likes of Reynolds, Turner and Hogarth. The collection of art is quite overwhelming. We spent a good couple of hours there and really didn’t see all of the paintings. There are enough royal portraits to satisfy any scholar of royal history. There are some stunning sea scapes and naval paintings and a smattering of contemporary paintings too.
The Jewel in the crown though is without doubt the Armada Portrait of Elizabeth I. This is said to be one of the most important and iconic portraits in British history. The portrait comemorated the failed invasion of England by the Spanish Armarda in 1588. The painting is on permanent display in the Queens House. As you start the tour of the house there is a very interesting video charting the painstaking restoration work of the painting. There is no doubt from this portrait about the power and majesty of Elizabeth. She is a striking and formidable figure.
Now is a good time to visit as from 13th February it is will be possible to see the 3 surviving versions of this iconic paining side by side in the Faces of a Queen exhibition.
The View
The view down to the river Thames is uninteruppted. When the The Royal Naval College was built Queen Mary requested that it would not block the view. Sir Christopher Wren who designed the naval college kindly agreed to this and the view from the Queens house remains as clear and beautiful today as it always has. Obviously the skyline in the city of London has changed. I wonder what Queen Mary would make of that if she could see it today
Visting
Its free – which is astonishing.
Visit Faces of A Queen from 13th February
Travel there via boat (always my favourite), DLR to Cutty Sark or Greenwich Rail Station.
Although we wandered around by ourselves, their are guided tours which I feel sure would give a wonderful insight into the many stories this building must harbour.
