The Story Behind The Beautiful Kenwood House

One of my favourite walks in London is to go across Hampstead Heath, heading North up the hill. You emerge from the woodland and in the distance, gleaming on the hilltop, is the 18th century facade of Kenwood House.

Kenwood House is a former aristocratic villa that has some lovely interiors and is also home to a wonderful art collection. It is free to visit and is surrounded by acres of gorgeous parkland, what is not to like!

17th Century Beginnings

The first house on the site was probably built in the early 17th century. It was a brick structure constructed by John Bill, King James I’s printer, who purchased the estate in 1616.

The large property (24 fireplaces were recorded here in 1665) then passed through various hands and was remodelled and enhanced over the decades.

In 1746 John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute, acquired the house and most likely added the Orangery.

Lord Mansfield

In 1754 William Murray, who went on to become 1st Earl of Mansfield in 1774, purchased the house.

He was an influential barrister and judge. Mansfield helped to transform Britain’s law system in the 18th century and was appointed as Lord Chief Justice in 1754.

He and his wife Elizabeth used Kenwood as their country retreat. The pair never had any children but took on the care of their niece Anne Murray and two great-nieces Elizabeth Murray and Dido Elizabeth Bell.

Dido Elizabeth Bell

Mansfield’s nephew Sir John Lindsay, a naval officer, had an illegitimate daughter with a formerly enslaved black women called Maria Bell whilst stationed in the West Indies. When he returned to Britain he brought the child, named Dido Elizabeth Bell, with him.

She was educated and raised as one of the family at Kenwood House, highly unusual for the time.

As she got older she became more involved in the care of Lord Mansfield.

During his time as a judge, Lord Mansfield was involved in law cases examining the legality of the slave trade, potentially partly motivated by his relationship with Dido. For example, in 1772, as Lord Chief Justice, he ruled that slavers could not legally send slaves in England away from the country.

Remodelling And Riots

In the 1760s the leading architect of the age, Robert Adam, was brought in to remodel the house and transform it into a neo-classical villa.

He created the amazing North frontage in 1764 with its huge pediment.

He also remodelled the South elevation with all of its intricate detail, pictured below.

He also updated the interiors and created the most spectacular room in the house: the library or ‘Great Room’, intended also for entertaining guests.

It is considered one of Adam’s greatest interiors anywhere with its neoclassical arrangement, decorative frieze and ceiling.

The design, with its curved ceiling, was inspired by Ancient Roman thermae (public bathhouses). The ceiling was completed in 1769 and features 13 paintings of classical scenes by Italian painter Antonio Zucchi.

In 1780, Lord Mansfield was targeted during the Gordon Riots: an extreme reaction to the Catholic Relief Act of 1778, from a majority Protestant country and the most destructive urban riots in English history.

Mansfield’s Bloomsbury townhouse was ransacked and burnt down, Kenwood House however was saved from a mob of rioters when the landlord at the Spaniards Inn down the road plied them with beer. They got so drunk that they never made it to Kenwood and reinforcements had arrived before any protesters arrived to the house.

A Lady’s dairy

The house then passed down through the succeeding Earls of Mansfield. Later additions included the dining room, music room, service wing and dairy.

The dairy, for example, was built in 1796 for Louisa, 2nd Countess of Mansfield. It was seen as fashionable for aristocratic ladies to tend to a small dairy, inspired by Marie Antoinette.

The dairymaid who lived in the building would likely have done most of the hard labour. The countess used one of the rooms as a tearoom to entertain friends.

It was also in this period that the grounds were remodelled by pre-eminent landscape gardener Humphry Repton. The grounds, with their winding paths, trees and flower garden still remain today, pretty much unchanged.

Repton created a grassy slope down to a lake, with a ‘contrived’ bridge, for aesthetics.

Kenwood House In The 20th Century

In 1922 the 6th Earl sold Kenwood House and many of its original furnishings.

Part of the grounds were purchased by the Kenwood Preservation Society and the rest bought by Lord Iveagh of the Guinness family in 1925 and gifted it to the nation in 1927 on his death. Many of the paintings in the house were from his collection, with works by artists including Vermeer, Gainsborough and Joshua Reynolds.

It was opened to the public by the London County Council and today is managed by English Heritage.

The house is totally free to visit and is generally open from 10am and shuts at 4pm. Find out more here.

They also have a light trail over Christmas!

Thank you for reading, more London history below…