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Published by The Strawberry Hill Trust, February 2015
www.strawberryhillhouse.org.uk
a description of strawberry hill
A
D E S C R I P T I O N
O F
T H E
V I L L A
OF
Mr. H O R A C E W A L P O L E
AT
Strawberry-Hill near Twickenham, Middlesex.

WELCOME TO
S T R AW B E R R Y H I LL
Horace Walpole, a politician, writer, collector, and the son
of Britain’s first Prime Minister Sir Robert Walpole, created
Strawberry Hill between 1748 and 1790 as his summer villa. It is
one of the earliest and finest examples of the Gothic revival
and established the style now known as Strawberry Hill Gothic.
This brief guide is an edited version of a book published by
Walpole in 1784 as a guide for visitors. It was printed here at
Strawberry Hill on a press kept in a building near the house.
The Description was a detailed account of the appearance
of the house and a catalogue of the extensive collection of
pictures, sculpture, furniture and artefacts it contained. The
collection was dispersed in a great sale in 1842 but we are
working to bring as much of it as possible back to the house.
You will see the beginnings of this effort as you tour the house,
in newly purchased objects, loans from museums and private
collectors, and some accurate reproductions.
We have added a modern commentary to Walpole’s guide,
which explains recent developments, including the restoration
and objects which have returned. A visit to Strawberry Hill was
always intended to be a theatrical experience and by following
the directions in this booklet you will discover the castle as its
creator intended.

In 2014 the Trust completed the restoration of the house with
work to six additional rooms on the first and second floors,
including Mr Walpole’s Bedchamber at the top of the house.
The eccentric design of the building means that you will
explore the house in two separate parts: going up the main
staircase to view all of the rooms leading from it, before
returning to the first floor to make your way through to the
luxurious State Apartment.
If you would like to find out more about Walpole’s extensive
collection you can visit the illustrated database that has been
built by the Lewis Walpole Library at Yale University. This can
be found online at www.library.yale.edu/walpole
Enjoy your visit!

GgRrOoUuNnDd FfLlOoOoRr
THE ROOMS
Y O U W I L L S E E T O D AY
IN THE HOUSE CREATED FROM CHOPP’D STRAW HALL
SERVANTS’
HALL /
MUSEUM
ROOM
GREAT CLOISTER / CAFÉ
1. The Entrance Hall
2. The Yellow Bedchamber (Discovery Room)
3. The Refectory or Great Parlour
4. The Breakfast Room
5. The Green Closet
6. The Blue Bedchamber
7. The Armoury
8. The Library
9. Mr Walpole’s Bedchamber
10.The Plaid Chamber
11. The Dressing Room
PANTRY
(EXHIBITION)
HALL
REFECTORY
OR
GREAT PARLOUR
SHOP
SHOP

LITTLE
PARLOUR
12. The Star Chamber
13. The Holbein Chamber
14. The Trunk Ceiled Passage
15. The Gallery
16.The Tribune
17. The Great North Bedchamber
18.The Round Drawing-Room
19. The Beauclerc Closet
YELLOW
BEDCHAMBER
(DISCOVERY
ROOM)
IN THE STATE APARTMENT


second floor
LEVEL 3
TRIBUNE
THE GALLERY
GREAT NORTH
BEDCHAMBER
FfI iRrSsTt FfLlOoOoRr
BEAUCLERK
CLOSET
ROUND
DRAWING
ROOM
HOLBEIN
CHAMBER
STAR
CHAMBER
RED
BEDCHAMBER
DRESSING
ROOM
GREEN
CLOSET
BREAKFAST
ROOM
PLAID
BEDCHAMBER
MR
WA L P O L E ’ S
BEDCHAMBER
LIBRARY
ARMOURY
BLUE
BEDCHAMBER



A
DESCRIPTION
OF THE VILLA
P R EFAC E
I
t will look, I fear, a little like arrogance in a private man to
give a printed description of his villa and collection, in which
almost everything is diminutive. It is not, however, intended for
public sale, and originally was meant only to assist those who
should visit the place.
In truth, I did not mean to make my house so Gothic as
to exclude convenience, and modern refinements in luxury.
The designs of the inside and outside are strictly ancient, but
the decorations are modern. Would our ancestors, before the
reformation of architecture, not have deposited in their gloomy
castles, antique statues and fine pictures, beautiful vases and
ornamental china, if they had possessed them – But I do not
mean to defend by argument a small capricious house. It was
built to please my own taste, and in sole degree to realize my
own vision.
Could I describe the tranquil scene where it stands, and
add the beauty of the landscape to the romantic cast of the
mansion, it would raise more pleasing sensations than a dry list
of curiosities can excite: at least the prospect would recall the
good humour of those who might be disposed to condemn the
fantastic fabric, and to think it a very proper habitation of, as it
is, the scene that inspired, the author of the Castle of Otranto.


The castle now existing was formed at different times, by
alterations and additions to the old small house. The library,
and refectory or great parlour, were entirely new built in 1753; the
gallery, round tower, great cloister and cabinet in 1760 and 1761;
the great north bed-chamber in 1770; and the Beauclerc tower
in 1776.
✤The ‘old small house’ known as Chopp’d Straw Hall belonged to
Mrs Elizabeth Chevenix, a well-known ‘toywoman’ or seller of
trinkets. This forms the core of the earlier rooms.
T he E ntrance
E
ntering by the Great North Gate, the first object that
presents itself is a small oratory enclosed with iron rails; in
front, an altar, on which stands a saint in bronze; open niches,
and stone basons of holy water; designed by John Chute Esq.
of the Vine in Hampshire. On the right hand is a small garden
called the Abbot’s garden, parted off by an open screen, taken
from the tomb of Robert Niger, Bishop of London in Old
St Pauls. Passing on the left by a small cloister is the entrance
to the house, the narrow front of which was designed by
Richard Bentley, only son of Dr. Bentley, the learned master
of Trinity College, Cambridge. Over the door are three shields
of Walpole, Shorter and Robsart.
Your ticket will allow you entry at a specific time. Please
feel free to look around the main garden, this courtyard
and the small Prior’s Garden while you wait. After a short
introduction to the house, enter through the front door.


THE HALL
Y
ou first enter a small gloomy hall paved with hexagon tiles,
and lighted by two narrow windows of painted glass. This
hall is united with the staircase, and both are hung with gothic
paper, painted by one Tudor, from the screen of Prince Arthur’s
tomb in the cathedral of Worcester. The balustrade was designed
by Mr Bentley; at every corner is an antelope (one of Lord
Orford’s supporters) holding a shield. In the well of the staircase,
by a cord of black and yellow, hangs a Gothic lanthorn of tin
japanned, designed by Mr Bentley, and filled with painted glass;
the door has an old pane with the arms of Vere Earl of Oxford.
✤The glass in the two narrow windows was lost in Walpole’s
life-time due to an explosion at a gun-powder works in
Hounslow in 1772. The glass you now see is a modern
replacement by John McLean.
✤The ‘Gothic’ paper on the staircase wall was covered by
subsequent generations and in the 1960s was painted over with
a salmon pink Gothic design. One of the most exciting moments
in the restoration was the discovery of areas of Walpole’s
original trompe l’oeil grey Gothic paper revealed beneath.
✤Richard Bentley was one of the ‘committee’ who together with
John Chute helped Walpole in the creation of Strawberry Hill.
✤The Gothic lanthorn is a copy of the original, given by the
Friends of Strawberry Hill.
Walk into the corridor opposite the front door and turn right,
into the Yellow Bedchamber.


THE YELLOW BEDCHAMBER
(DISCOVERY ROOM)
T
HE chimney-piece was designed by Mr Bentley. The room
is hung with grey spotted paper, the bed and chairs of yellow
silk and stuffed damask.
Nineteen small heads, in oil, of the court of Charles II copied
by Jarvis for himself, and bought with his house at Hampton by
Mr Lovibonde, at whose sale these....were purchased.
✤In 1775 Walpole arranged this room to show the beauties of the
court of Charles II. The nineteen portraits were joined by several
others which suggest the room was double--hung with pictures.
Before that it had been decorated with prints stuck to walls..
✤Today this room reveals the history of the house through
decorative layers, from the brickwork and panelling of
Chopp’d Straw Hall, through decoration added by Walpole and
Frances Waldegrave, to the 1970s Artex ceiling paper installed
by St Mary’s College.
✤The portrait of William III as Prince of Orange, by Charles
Jervas was purchased for the Trust in 2014 with support of
the V&A Grant Purchase Fund, the Beecroft Bequest, and
Lord Cholmondeley.
Walk back into the hall and walk through the short corridor to
the right of the front door.


THE REFECTORY OR
G R E AT PA R L O U R
T
HE chairs are black, of a gothic pattern, designed by
Mr Bentley and Mr Walpole.
On each side of the window, the top of which has some fine
painted glass and one ridiculous Dutch piece representing the
triumph of Fame who is accompanied by Cato, Cicero, and other
great men, in square caps and gowns of masters of arts, are two
looking glasses in Gothic frames of black and gold designed
by Mr Walpole. Inclosed in the tops of the frames, with their
arms and coronets, are portraits of George Walpole, third Earl
of Orford, and of George Chomondeley, Viscount Malpas,
eldest son of George Earl of Cholmondeley and of Mary second
daughter of Sir Robert Walpole.
There is another Dutch emblematic pane, on which Charles
II riding uppermost on the wheel of Fortune, and Rebellion
thrown down. Another pane is painted with a cobbler whistling
to a bird in a cage, by Pearson, scholar of Price.
✤ Although remarkably modern in appearance, the sofas, made by
students at London Metropolitan University, are copied from an
18th century watercolour.
✤ The Gothic chairs are reproductions of an original in the V&A.
The backs echo the shape of Gothic windows.
Walk up the stairs and turn immediately left, into the
Breakfast Room.
✤The Great Parlour was Walpole’s dining-room where, according to
the custom of the day, the tables were brought in for the occasion.
✤ On the south wall is a portrait of Walpole’s aunt, Dorothy,
Viscountess Townshend, by Charles Jervas which has been lent
by Dulwich Picture Gallery. The room was filled with portraits
of Walpole’s closest family.
✤ The gothic mirror, designed by Walpole, was acquired by
HM Treasury in lieu of inheritance tax and has been assigned to
Strawberry Hill, for which the Trust wishes to express our thanks
to the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport.


T H E B R E A K FA S T RO O M
F
URNISHED with blue paper, and blue and white linen.
Black and yellow painted glass is set in plain blue glass in the
bow window.
The chimney-piece and windows are not truly gothic but were
designed by Mr. W. Robinson of the Board of Works, before there
was any design of farther improvements to the house.
A most curious picture of Rose the royal gardener, presenting
the first pine-apple raised in England to Charles II. who is
standing in a garden: the house seems to be Dawny-court near
Windsor, the villa of the duchess of Cleveland.
✤This room has largely been restored to its early 20th century
appearance, when the house was owned by Herbert Stern, the
1st Lord Michelham, a wealthy banker. It was a probably used as
a smoking room.
✤ The East wall, leading through to the Green Closet, has been
restored to show Horace Walpole’s blue and white paper
of 1748, copied from surviving fragments A series of images
illustrates the room as it would have appeared in the 18th and
19th centuries.
✤ Walpole hung 80 works of art on the walls. The picture of
Charles II is now at Houghton Hall.
THE GREEN CLOSET
I
N the windows are some very curious pieces of painted glass.
One round pane (one of the best in the house) represents the
story of the law-giver, who having enacted a law for punishing
adultery with blindness, and his own son having been convicted
of it, her gave up one of his own eyes to save one of his son’s.
There are other curious panes: one with a rose impaling
a pomegranate, the device of Henry VIII and Catherine of
Arragon; others with a crown in a thorn-bush between the
letters H and E, the device of Henry VII which he assumed
after the battle of Bosworth, where Richard’s crown was found
in that manner.
✤Walpole probably wrote most of his correspondence in this
room, which was his study. Please do sit at the table to read
facsimiles of Walpole’s letters, or write a letter of your own
to Horace.
✤ Surviving fragments of the green and gold flock wallpaper were
found above the south window, from which a reproduction has
been created by a specialist firm.
✤ The extent to which Horace Walpole could have enjoyed his
wallpaper is unclear, due to the large number of paintings and
portrait miniatures hung here. The Description of the Villa
records more than 130 on the walls.
Off this room is a small space to the left of the entrance door.
Return to the staircase and turn left again to find the
Blue Bedchamber.


THE BLUE BED-CHAMBER
H
UNG with plain blue paper; a linen bed; eight chintz
chairs; a toilette worked by Mrs Clive; a looking glass in a
tortoiseshell frame, ornamented with silver… The chimney piece
was designed by Mr Bentley.
✤The bed is a copy, made by furniture students, of Sir Robert
Walpole’s bed at his London house, inherited by Horace
on his father’s death. The drapery has been hand-stitched
from appropriate fabric by a group of volunteers working in
the house.
✤The portraits of Horace Walpole, the poet Thomas Gray and the
artist and designer Richard Bentley were painted for this room
by John Giles Eccardt. They have been loaned to the Trust by
the National Portrait Gallery.
On exiting, walk up the stairs.


THE ARMOURY
THE LIBRARY
S an open vestibule of three gothic arches, lighted by a window
entirely of painted glass, and ornamented over the door and
niches with quarterings of the family of Walpole… an Indian
scimitar and a dagger of the same. An Indian sword, the blade
waving and damasked… an Indian lance… several other lances,
spears and bows.
HE books are ranged within Gothic arches of pierced
work, taken from a side door case to the choir in Dugdale’s
St Paul’s. The doors themselves were designed by Mr Chute.
The chimney piece is imitated from the tomb of John of Eltham
Earl of Cornwall, in Westminster Abbey: the stone work from
that of Thomas Duke of Clarence, at Canterbury.
The ceiling was painted by Clermont, from Mr Walpole’s
design drawn out by Mr Bentley. In the middle is the shield
of Walpole surrounded with the quarters borne by the family.
At each end in a round is a knight on horseback; that next to the
window bears the arms of Fitz Osbert, the other of Robsart.
The large window has a great deal of fine painted glass,
particularly Faith, Hope and Charity, whole figures in colour; a
large shield with the arms of England, and the heads of Charles I
and Charles II.
I
✤In the niche on the left, as you ascend the stairs, Walpole
displayed a suit of armour which he believed belonged to
Francis I of France. It is now at Schloss Eisenach, in Germany.
✤The Trust has recreated a trophy of arms, recorded in
contemporary watercolours, using reproduction and genuine
arms and armour.
✤On the stairs up to Walpole’s Bedchamber is a reproduction of
a painting of King Henry VII with St George and the dragon, now
in the Royal Collection at Hampton Court. Walpole thought it
showed King Henry V.
Now enter the room next to the window – The Library.
T
✤The books in the Library were sold in the great sale of 1842.
Many are now at the Lewis Walpole Library at Yale University,
formed by the Walpole collector, Wilmarth Sheldon Lewis from
the 1920s onwards. The Trust has received many kind loans
and gifts to help us repopulate the Library with volumes of
sympathetic appearance.
✤The painting above the fireplace is a reproduction of a picture
that Walpole believed to show the marriage of King Henry VI.
The original is now in a museum in Toledo, Ohio.
Please ascend the stairs to the second floor and turn left to
enter Mr Walpole’s Bedchamber.


M R WA L P O L E ’ S
BEDCHAMBER
T
HE chimney-piece was designed by Mr Chute, and has great
grace. In the window, composed of seven lights, are several
curious pieces of painted glass; as, the arms of Anne Boleyn; a
large lion coloured; four large angels in black and white; cypher
and portcullis of King Edward; arms of Clinton and Ratcliffe; fine
heads in black and white of Charlemagne, Prince William, and
Prince Maurice of Orange.
✤Walpole’s pictures in this room were a very private selection,
including his own watercolour after Watteau, portraits of
his dog and of his friend John Chute and a print of the death
warrant of King Charles 1st.
✤A cupboard added in 1856 has accidentally conserved both the
floral wallpaper of that time and Walpole’s own 1756 gold and
blue flock which has been reproduced.
✤It was in this room that Walpole dreamed that he saw ‘a gigantic
hand in armour’ on the top banister of the great staircase of an
ancient castle. This inspired him to write the first Gothic horror
novel, The Castle of Otranto.
Walk through the door to the right of the window and enter
the Plaid Chamber.


THE PLAID BEDCHAMBER
I
N the Plaid Bedchamber, in the South Tower, is the portrait of
Henry Walpole the Jesuit who was executed for attempting to
poison Queen Elizabeth. This picture came from Mr Walpole’s of
Lincolnshire, the last of the Roman Catholic branch of the family,
who died about the year 1748.
✤The room now hosts information about the Castle of Otranto
including a copy of the novel which you may sit and read and a
special piece of audio art recalling Mr Walpole’s dream.
✤The wallpaper has been block printed faithfully following
surviving fragments.
Continue next door into the Dressing Room, where you
will learn about Horace Walpole’s printing press and
Thomas Kirkgate, his printer.
Then exit to the staircase and walk downstairs, past the
Armoury to the first floor. Turn immediately right into the
Star Chamber.

T H E S TA R C H A M B E R
I
S a small ante-room, painted green with golden stars in mosaic.
It has a large window entirely of painted glass.
✤This is the last room of Mrs Chevenix’s small house and the grey
castle like part of the building: beyond are the State Rooms built
for public gaze and to house Walpole’s extensive collection.
✤The window has some particularly fine glass and demonstrates
the variety of subject matter and the imaginative skill with
which Walpole arranged the roundels; you can see the colourful
arms and shields of English and Flemish families of which
Walpole wrote ‘I call them the achievements of the old Counts
of Strawberry’, representations of Autumn and Winter in colour,
and biblical scenes in black and yellow.
✤The Trunk Ceiled Passage which follows was also known as ‘the
dusky corridor’. Originally it terminated with a painted glass
window and now is lit only by a sky-light.
Enter the dusky corridor and turn immediately right to find the
Holbein Chamber. Please mind the step!.

THE HOLBEIN CHAMBER
T
HE ceiling is taken from the Queen’s dressing-room at
Windsor. The chimney piece designed by Mr Bentley,
is chiefly taken from the tomb of Archbishop Warham at
Canterbury. Over it, a glass on a black and gold frame; In the
bow windows some fine painted glass, and the arms of England,
and those of George Prince of Denmark; the ground is a beautiful
mosaic of crimson, blue, and pearls, designed and painted by Price
of Hatton Garden.
The pierced arches of the screen from the gates of the choir at
Rouen; the rest of the screen was designed by Mr Bentley.
✤In this room was displayed Walpole’s collection of copies of
Holbein drawings.
✤The purple walls reflect the original ‘royal’ colour, chosen to
enhance the Tudor courtiers who were represented in the
display of drawings.
✤The alcove behind the screen contained a bed beside which
hung the red hat of Cardinal Wolseley.
✤Finding suitable ancient furniture for Strawberry Hill presented
Walpole with a challenge. He solved the problem by buying
large quantities of ebony chairs and table like this one, loaned
to the Trust by the Victoria and Albert Museum. Walpole
believed that this furniture was made in England in the early 16th
century. However they were in fact made in India some 150 years
later, and combined Indian motifs with forms suitable for their
European customers
At the end of the corridor open the door on the left hand side
and enter the Gallery. Please close the door behind you.


THE GALLERY
F
IFTY - SIX foot long and seventeen high, and thirteen wide
without the five recesses. The ceiling is taken from one of
the side aisles of Henry VIIth chapel at Westminster Abbey. In
the windows, by Peckitt, are all the quarterings of the family.
The great door is copied from the north door of Saint Alban’s,
and the two smaller are parts of the same design. The side
with the recesses, which are finished with a gold net-work over
looking glass, is taken from the tomb of Archbishop Bourchier at
Canterbury. The chimney piece was designed by Mr John Chute,
and Mr Thomas Pitt of Boconnoch. The room is hung with
crimson Norwich damask
✤The Gallery is the first of Walpole’s great state rooms. He once
said of it ‘I begin to be ashamed of my own magnificence’. This
room has been entirely re-gilded in the restoration and new
crimson damask woven for the walls.
✤In the course of restoration a chalk inscription by the craftsmen
who re-hung the red damask for Lady Waldegrave in January
1857 was discovered. After their names they added the comment
‘Weather very cold, no fires allowed’.
✤Walpole’s Description also tells us where the paintings were hung
enabling us to reproduce some in the correct positions here.
Enter the small door on the right hand side just before the end
of the room, to find the Tribune.


THE TRIBUNE
I
T is square with a semicircular recess in the middle of each
side, painted stone colour with gilt ornaments, and with
windows and niches, the latter taken from those on the sides of
the north door of the great church at St Alban’s; the roof, which
is taken from the chapter-house at York, is terminated by star of
yellow glass that throws a golden gloom all over the room, and
with the painted windows gives the solemn air of a rich chapel...
The grated door was designed by Sir Thomas Pitt.
✤This was Walpole’s ‘treasure house’ in which he kept some of
his most valuable possessions. The ‘grated’ door was built as in a
bank vault where visitors were allowed to peer through; only the
most favoured being allowed to enter.
✤In this room was the fine cabinet of rose-wood, designed by
Mr Walpole, now in the Victoria and Albert Museum, which
contained his priceless collection of miniatures and other
valuable items.
✤The windows were constructed in three layers: a clear glass
window, a coloured glass panel and a wooden shutter. All could
be retracted into the roof space.
✤A fitted carpet covered the floor with a star in the centre
echoing that in the ceiling. The Trust hopes to replicate this in
due course.
Now leave this room, turn left and continue until you reach
the Great North Bedchamber.


T H E G R E AT N O R T H
BEDCHAMBER
I
S hung with crimson Norwich damask. The bed is of tapestry
of Aubusson, festoons of flowers on a white ground, lined with
crimson silk; plumes of ostrich feathers at the corners.
The chimney was designed by Mr Walpole from the tomb of
W Dudley Bishop of Durham, in Westminster Abbey, and is of
Portland stone, gilt. Over the chimney, a large picture of Henry
VIII. And his children. On the chimney a bust of Francis II.
King of France, husband of Mary Queen of Scots.
In the bow window are ten coats of arms of painted glass
by Peckitt of York, with the principal matches of the family
of Walpole.
The ceiling was copied from one at the Vine in Hampshire.
In the closet-window is the head of queen Elizabeth in
painted glass, and another pane with men playing at cards,
very old.
✤The bed is now at Sudeley Castle.
✤Inscriptions on the chimney-piece relate to the bust of
Francis II and a bronze relief of Anne of Bretagne which were
displayed here.
✤In the glass closet by the window a rich variety of treasures was
displayed including Dr Dee’s mirror by which he summoned up
spirits in the days of Queen Elizabeth.
Return to the Gallery, turn right and walk through the large
double doors into the Round Drawing Room.


THE ROUND
D R AW I N G - R O O M
H
UNG with crimson Norwich damask; the design of the
chimney-piece is taken from the tomb of Edward the
Confessor in Westminster Abbey; improved by Mr Adam,
and beautifully executed in white marble inlaid with scagliuola,
by Richter.
The ceiling is taken from a round window in old Saint Paul’s;
the frieze was designed by Mr Adam The ceiling is taken from a
round window in old Saint Paul’s; the frieze was designed by
Mr Adam.
✤The State Rooms were used by Walpole for entertaining his
many visitors. Royalty, statesmen and foreign dignitaries were
received at Strawberry Hill and entertained with a tour of the
rooms and gardens and a visit to the Printing House.
✤Opposite the fireplace is a door which Lady Waldegrave
inserted. This leads through to her suite of entertainment rooms
which she added in the 1860s.
✤The glass with its rich display of coats of arms also dates from
Lady Waldegrave’s time.
Walk back through the door and turn immediately left to enter
the small room to the left of the stairs.


THE BEAUCLERC CLOSET
I
S a hexagon, built in 1776, and designed by Mr Essex, architect
of Cambridge, who drew the ceiling, door, window. In the
window is a lion and two fleurs de lys, royally crowned. The
closet is hung with Indian blue damask and was built on purpose
to receive seven incomparable drawings of Lady Diana Beauclerc
for Mr Walpole’s tragedy of The Mysterious Mother.
✤This is essentially a private room where Walpole took
only his most favoured guests. The Mysterious Mother was
considered shocking at the time and a copy was kept here. The
‘incomparable drawings’ were framed and glazed and displayed
on these walls.
✤Lady Diana Beauclerk was a talented designer and decorative
painter and one of Walpole’s several close female friends.
This ends the tour of the house. Please make your way
carefully down the back stairs.
If you turn to your left along the corridor, you will find on
your left the Museum Room, in Walpole’s Servants’ Hall. Here
you will find more displays about Strawberry Hill, its people
and its treasures.
Further along this corridor you reach Walpole’s Winding
Cloister where his medieval alabasters and classical reliefs are
displayed, together with a monumental brass of his medieval
ancestor Ralph Walpole engraved by Muntz in about 1758.


THE GARDEN
✤Walpole’s land originally descended through meadows to the
Thames. This land was built over from the 1920s, blocking the
view of the river.
✤The ‘open grove’ of limes – so called because the lower
branches are removed to allow a view underneath the trees
– replicates the ‘goose-foot’ pattern designed by Walpole to
create a view from the house to the south.
✤A faithful recreation of the Theatrical Border, at the north of the
garden near the shop, features flowering scented shrubs, roses,
and a number of heritage species planted in consultation with
experts from Painshill Park.
✤A reproduction of Walpole’s famous shell bench has been
commissioned, relying on two surviving drawings for its design.
In a letter Walpole mentioned that his three nieces, the Ladies
Waldegrave, were able to comfortably sit on the seat, which has
allowed us to estimate the size of the bench.
✤The Community Garden, next to the café, has become an
established vegetable and flower garden looked after by a
horticulture apprentice. It is used by visitors, schools and
community groups.
✤Don’t miss the ‘Walpole Oak’ at the end of the woodland walk.
This tree is the only example in the garden which has survived
from the late 18th century.
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
THE CHAPEL
I
N the south-west corner of the wood, it is built of brick, with
a beautiful front of Portland stone, executed by Mr Gayfere
of Westminster, and taken from the tomb of Edmund Audley,
bishop of Salisbury, in that cathedral. The roof was designed by
Mr Chute.
✤The Chapel remains part of St Mary’s University. It may be
found in their car park behind the large 20th century chapel.
It is usually closed but you can still see the ‘beautiful front of
Portland Stone’.
To locate the Chapel, find the path next to the café and
follow it away from the house. Presently you will see the large
20th century chapel of St Mary’s University. Turn to your right
before the chapel and walk through the modern brick arches.
Walpole’s Chapel in the Woods is on the other side of the
University’s central square, to your left.


P eacock A ppeal
£ 1 million challenge
D onate £ 1 0 today ?
As you know, we are just coming to the end of a £10 million
restoration of Strawberry Hill. This is a huge achievement
for such a small organisation. The visit you have just enjoyed
today is down to the wonderful contribution both staff and
volunteers make towards this success – not least the regular
input of the room stewards and the front of house team.
Our newly hung wallpaper is quite something too.
We have recently received a large donation from a trust
which means that we have raised over £300,000, a third of
our target. We have until 2016 to raise the rest and need all
the help we can get!
If everyone who visits Strawberry Hill contributed £10 we
would soon reach our target. It is easy to donate online at
www.strawberryhillhouse.org.uk/support/peacock or to
simply add a £10 donation when you book a ticket for a
visit or an event.
We hope you will feel our work is worth your while to
support and that you will encourage your own family and
friends to see the house.
Raising the first £10 million was also a great achievement.
We have been hugely helped by the Heritage Lottery Fund
which has contributed more than half of this.
Unfortunately fundraising has to continue – you can already
see that the exterior of the house could do with some
renewal of the paintwork and we need to plan a long term
maintenance programme to ensure that Strawberry Hill
remains well cared for in the future.
To this end we have set up The Peacock Endowment Appeal.
Once again the Heritage Lottery Fund has been generous
and will match every donation we receive up to our first
£1 million. So for every £10 donated we receive £20 and with
the addition of Gift Aid £22.50.


H ave you enjoyed
your visit today ?
Please give us your feedback by filling in our visitor
survey, talking to a member of staff, or e-mailing
[email protected]
We rely on volunteers to open and develop the house.
If you have appreciated our work, why not consider joining our
growing team as a Room Steward, in the shop as a member of
the Front of House team, or by assisting with the restoration
of the garden? Full training is given, alongside plenty of
tea and cake, and we pay travel expenses too. You will also
enjoy exclusive lectures, summer and Christmas parties, and
visits to other places of interest. Find out more by e-mailing
[email protected]


Design and Production by Trevor Wilson Design Ltd
Images courtesy of Pallas Athene Publishers Ltd
Published by The Strawberry Hill Trust
© 2015, The Strawberry Hill Trust
