Description

ISLINGTON

TQ3181NE CHARTERHOUSE SQUARE
635-1/77/228 (North side)
29/12/50 The Charterhouse

GV I

The Charterhouse buildings reflect five principal building
periods. The first is the building of the Carthusian Priory of
the Salutation of the Virgin Mary, founded by Sir Walter Manny
in 1371; the early buildings of the Priory are attributed to
Henry Yevele. The second is the transformation of the monastic
buildings into a Tudor mansion, following the suppression of
the Priory in 1537; this happened in two stages, first and
principally under the hand of Sir Edward North, from 1545, and
secondly under that of Thomas Howard, fourth Duke of Norfolk,
from 1565. The third is the adaptation of the mansion to the
purposes of the Hospital of King James in Charterhouse,
generally known as Sutton's Hospital, founded in 1611 by
Thomas Sutton, partly as a free school for forty boys and
partly as almshouses for eighty male pensioners; these works
were carried out in 1613-14 and were to the design of Francis
Carter; the almshouses continue to this day. The fourth stage
consists of alterations to the existing buildings and the
addition of Preachers' Court and Pensioners' Court by Edward
Blore in 1826-40; Preachers' Court was largely demolished
after the Second World War; Pensioners' Court is separately
listed. The fifth stage was the reconstruction of the
buildings following bomb damage of 1941 when all four sides of
Master's Court were burned out, the great staircase was
destroyed and the Great Hall and Great Chamber were badly
damaged. The reconstruction was carried out by Seely and
Paget, architects, and ended in 1959; it also involved the
removal of work by Blore to bring the buildings nearer to
their original condition.
Inner gateway
An early C16 four-centred arch of stone with hollow chamfer,
set in a wall of stretcher bond brickwork with a Lombard
frieze to the tiled coping.
Conduit House
The south-western conduit house of the Priory, abutting the
inner gateway. Much restored. Red brick in Flemish and English
bond, with stone dressings, roof of copper. Square in plan.
Steps up on the north-east side to Tudor-arched stone doorway;
Lombard frieze; steep hipped roof with inswept profile, by
Seely and Paget, similar to one in existence in 1755.
Master's Court
The principal part of the Tudor mansion, built over the site
of the monastic Little Cloister and incorporating stonework
from the monastic church, particularly in the east range.
c.1550. Kentish ragstone with freestone dressings, stair tower
in the inner north-west corner of red brick in English bond,
porch to north range and bay to south face of south range
faced with ashlar, some red brick dressings also to north
range; roof of tiles. Two storeys with dormers except for the
Great Hall in the north range; windows generally of two, three
and four lights, and Tudor-arched with hoodmoulds. The south
face of the south range is all but symmetrical: central
entrance gateway with basket arch and Thomas Sutton's arms and
the date 1611 over, flanked by two-light windows and then by
external stacks; then a two-window range to the right and
one-and-a-half to the left, then outer, gabled, bays with
carved emblematic figures to kneelers and apex, dating from
the restoration of the 1950s and carved by Michael Groser; the
centre bay also gabled with similar figures; the outer bays
have, on the right, a two-storey bay with two-light
flat-arched window to the ground floor and a five-light, one
transom, flat-arched window above, and parapet; and, to the
left, a two-storey bay with round-arched window to first floor
and lean-to roof. Hipped dormers; offset stacks with diagonal
linked shafts.
Within the Court, there are five-window ranges to east, south
and west; four-centred-arched doorway leading to Washhouse
Court to the west; staircase tower built by Thomas Howard in
north-west corner with a flat-arched three-light window with
two transoms and ovolo mouldings. In the middle of the north
range is the Great Hall of four bays: single-storey porch to
west end of late C17 date, elliptical-arched with keystone and
chamfered quoins, cornice, brick parapet with Royal Coat of
Arms upstanding to centre, Tudor-arched doorway to hall; two
four-centred, five-light and one-transom windows to the right
with ogee tracery, hoodmoulds and gauged brick heads above,
and a panelled buttress with offsets between them; then an
oriel window with five Tudor-arched lights and two transoms to
the south, cornice and blocking course; a band of blank
quatrefoils, presumably reused from the monastic buildings,
runs below the windows on this range; the upper windows are of
three lights, that to the left with one transom; cornice,
brick parapet, and pedimented sundial to the centre. Lead
rainwater butts to the south range, one with the initials SIM
and the date 1738, another with the date 1806.
The north side of the north range is of five bays, the end
bays projecting under hipped roofs; five flat-arched windows
to ground floor, chiefly of three lights with one transom; the
first floor has similar windows with panelled king mullions
of, from right to left, eight, four, four and six lights, and
then in the last bay, the window is four-centred with a wooden
casement inserted; two brick buttresses with offsets between
the centre windows, the right-hand bay with clasping
buttresses with offsets; west return has ashlar porch, and
five-light, two-transom, window above dating from Blore's
work.
INTERIOR: . The Great Hall has fielded panelling; the oriel
window is framed by a four-centred arch with cusped panels to
the soffit and jambs; at the west end, a five-bay screen dated
1571 in the frieze with the initials of Thomas Howard: three
round-arched openings to the centre with elaborately detailed
archivolts flanked by Corinthian columns; the columns and
lion-head consoles support a frieze of interlaced work and
bosses; panelled gallery divided by term figures with cornice
breaking back and forth. On the north side of the hall,
breaking into the north bay of the screen, is a coved gallery
of early C17 date with tapering pilasters, term figures and
tapering Ionic columns projecting above the balustrade; stone
chimneypiece of 1614 by Francis Carter to the north wall with
tapering pilasters, lintel on bracket with lionhead straps,
the overmantel, flanked by stone canons, bearing Sutton's arms
flanked by pilasters with strapwork. Roof of four bays with
hammerbeam trusses, arched principals and elaborate pendants.
North of the Great Hall is the former Priory frater, now the
Brothers' Library, a room of five bays with beams carried on
wooden Doric columns, and an early C17 chimneypiece with
strapwork, consoles and pedimented central panel by Francis
Carter. Part of the footings of the Priory cloister are
exposed at the east end of the room, and part are below the
existing floor; the C14 pointed-arched doorway at the
north-east corner would originally have given onto the
cloister. The building above the frater was reconstructed in
the late C16 to form the Great Chamber with a decorative
plaster ceiling of interlacing ribs, the panels decorated with
the arms and motto of the Howard family; chimneypiece with
painted decoration of late C16 with additional painting of
1626 by Rowland Buckett: the fireplace flanked by pairs of
Tuscan engaged columns, the superstructure with projecting
outer bays carrying a pair of Ionic columns each and
entablature, the inner spaces and Ionic columns painted with
the arms of Charles I to the central oval panel and of Thomas
Sutton in the panel below.
The Cloister Walk
Otherwise known as the Norfolk gallery. Built in 1571 by
Thomas Howard as a covered way and terrace leading to a tennis
court, incorporating part of the western alley of the Great
Cloister. Red brick in English bond, with Flemish bond to the
upper parts of the east side and yellow brick dressings. One
storey; eleven- window range to east side. Entrance in
southernmost bay, segmental-arched with simple brick pilasters
and pediment; windows segmental-arched with brick architraves
and yellow brick heads, wooden casements, rectangular and
lozenge-shaped panels of brick below and rectangular panels
between; the seventh window from the south in a canted bay;
brick storey band; parapet. The west side has five
Tudor-arched entrances, all blocked except the northernmost,
and metal lettering inserted in the wall reading 'ANNO 1571'.
Inside, the Walk has a brick barrel vault, and the stone
pointed-arched doorway to the Priory's cell 'B' is preserved
at the south end.
Wash-house Court
Formerly the Priory lay-brothers' quarters. Early C16, and
presumably of at least two builds. Kentish ragstone in random
rubble with freestone dressings principally to east and south
ranges and part of the north range; most of the west range and
half of the north of red brick set in English bond. Two
storeys with dormers, the east range higher than the rest; to
the interior of the court there is a five-bay range to east,
and four bays to the rest. Pointed-arched entrances dressed in
stone to each range and a four-centred arch of brick in the
west range. Windows generally of one, two and three lights,
Tudor-arched; but there are two flat-arched three-light
windows in the east range, one with a transom; and in the
south range there is a pair of wooden casement windows to each
floor, segmental-arched to ground floor and flat-arched to
first floor; a third wooden casement to ground floor is inset
under what appears to be a former four-centred arch; corbelled
brick external stack to each range truncated at the eaves;
hipped dormers to east, south and west, flat-arched
lead-covered dormers to north.
The west side of the west range is of nine bays; one
four-centred arch to passage; scattered fenestration of one,
two and four lights, some flat-arched, some Tudor-arched, some
casements, the mullions generally double-chamfered;
four-centred relieving arch near ground level to centre;
pattern of IH and a cross in blue bricks also near centre; two
external stacks corbelled out from first floor, one now
truncated, and one additional panelled stack to centre; the
south corner is chamfered, two bays of snecked stone. The
north side of the north range has scatttered fenestration of
one, two and three lights, chiefly Tudor-arched; three
corbelled external stacks, with offsets and diagonal shafts;
diaper brickwork to the west end, one hipped dormer.
Chapel Court
On the west side is the east range of Master's Court: Kentish
ragstone in random rubble with Bath stone dressings, red brick
set in English bond, roof of tiles. Three storeys, three bays.
All windows flat-arched with hollow-chamfered mullions and of
one, two and three lights; flat-arched entrance to right; two
external stacks of stone with some brick infill, the shafts of
brick and, in one case, breaking through a run of flat-arched
dormers, brick external stack near centre corbelled out from
first floor. Five-sided staircase tower with hipped roof to
south end.
Chapel cloister of 1612-13 by Francis Carter. Ashlar and
render to the south, red brick in English bond with stone
dressings to the north, roof of tiles. Two storeys, three
bays. On the south side, the ground floor is an arcade of
ashlar with round arches, enclosed and glazed, with simple
pilasters, keystones and projecting courses of stone giving
the effect of rustication, ovolo cornice; the first floor has
three flat-arched windows with wood casements, the intervening
space panelled in render; frieze of lozenge pattern; three
gables, their faces decorated with Sutton's crest, restored by
Seely and Paget following a C18 view of the Charterhouse. The
north side, much restored, is of two storeys and four-window
range. Flat-arched windows of two and four lights with ovolo
mullions; five-sided embattled tower at west end. Within the
cloister the entrance to the chapel matches the south
ground-floor arcade with the addition of straps, rings and
pendants, the entablature interrupted by a mid-C19 memorial
tablet.
The Treasury Tower, that is, the former vestibule to the
Priory chapterhouse with treasury at first-floor level. C14
with additions of c.1512, including the vaulting of the former
treasury, and the upper stages of the tower, including bell
turret and cupola, of 1613. Snecked stone and random rubble,
with dressings of brick and stone. Square in plan. The south
front has a three-light Tudor-arched window to ground floor,
two-light flat-arched window above and a flat-arched wood
casement above that; the west front has a two-light
pointed-arched window above cloister level, and a five-sided
stair turret with flat-arched window under a hipped roof; the
north front has a Tudor-arched entrance with a flat-arched
window above, three lights, one transom; corbel table to eaves
and balustraded parapet; stair tower in the angle; brick angle
buttress to south-west corner with three offsets, of 1613,
stepped parapet coped with stone; arcaded wooden bell turret,
square in plan, surmounted by an octagonal cupola with keyed
oculi, cyma recta cornice and lead-covered dome with weather
vane. On the ground floor, in the vestibule to the present
chapel, the tower has a quadripartite vault with tiercerons,
the bosses carved with emblems of the Passion; the former
treasury on the first floor has a similar vault, with foliage
carving to the bosses, a squint to the south, and a two-light
window with ogee tracery to the north, now blocked.
A border of stone paving marks the former sanctuary of the
Priory church; east wall of random rubble with pointed-arched
opening at north end, and a tablet commemorating the
Carthusian monks and lay brothers murdered in 1535-37.
The Chapel
Of c.1613-14 and 1824. Brown brick set in English bond, random
rubble with stone dressings and some flint work, stucco, roof
of Welsh slate. Nave, north aisle of almost the same
dimensions as the nave, and a further bay added to the north
in 1824. East end has two windows with four-centred arches and
Y-tracery, five lights to the nave, four to the aisle;
parapet. South side has two similar windows of three lights,
three buttresses of random rubble with offsets, and a pointed
arch surrounded by earlier stonework towards the west end. On
the north side the 1824 bay is stuccoed with angle buttresses,
a lower tier of flat-arched windows with three lights and one
transom under a hoodmould, and an upper tier of
four-centred-arched windows of three lights under a hoodmould;
parapet.
INTERIOR: of the chapel. The nave panelled to east, south and
west walls, the north side a three-bay round-arched arcade of
Tuscan columns decorated with strapwork of 1613-14; panelled
plasterwork to ceilings. Communion table of c.1613; communion
rail with turned balusters; wooden polygonal pulpit on
pedestal of 1613 by F.Blunt, Thomas Herring and Edward Mayes;
stalls to the south wall integral with the panelling; panelled
pews with Sutton's emblems, 1613 by J.Ryder. Five-bay screen
to northern bay of 1841, the three-bay screen to west end
presumably of a similar date; three-bay screen at west end of
north aisle of C17 date with pilasters decorated with musical
instruments and a bowed and angled gallery decorated with
perspective panels and arabesques; cartouche over central arch
flanked by consoles with putti and bearing Sutton's crest.
Gallery to the 1824 bay of 1841.
Tomb of Thomas Sutton at east end of north aisle, 1615 by
Nicholas Johnson and Nicholas Stone. Of four stages: an
alabaster chest tomb with recumbent effigy; an aedicule of
black marble Corinthian columns and entablature, framing an
inscription tablet flanked by figures of gentlemen and
surmounted by emblems of old age and vanity; a bas-relief
panel showing a preacher and congregation; and Sutton's arms
in a setting of scrolled feathers; the third and fourth stages
surmounted by emblematic figures. The tomb is surrounded by
iron railings with spearhead finials by William Shawe.
Memorial tablet to Francis Beaumont, c.1624, at east end of
north aisle: kneeling figure surrounded by armorial bearings.
Memorial tablet in the south wall, to Lord Ellenborough,
c.1818 by Chantrey and to Matthew Raine, c.1811, by Flaxman.
Memorial tablet over the west end to John Law. c.1614, by
Johnson and Stone, a bas-relief bust flanked by angels. East
window of 1844 by Charles Clutterbuck.
(Arthur Oswald: The London Charterhouse Restored: London:
1959-).

Listing NGR: TQ3191181995

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• The Charterhouse at Wikipedia
• The Charterhouse official website
• Wikidata Q6670230

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

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