Sutton House Society Newsletter
April 2005
For all interested in the past, present and future of Sutton House
Sutton House Society Newsletter
April 2005
For all interested in the past, present and future of Sutton House
Welcome to the first newsletter of 2005.
The
Red House, Bexleyheath; 2pm on Friday 20th May 2005
Sutton
House forthcoming events
Sutton
House Music Society concerts
The
Red House, Bexleyheath; 2pm on Friday 20th May 2005
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The Sutton House Society has kindly funded the purchase of six chairs and two armchairs for the Great Chamber at Sutton House. The National Trust has purchased an additional two chairs for the Little Chamber.
These replica chairs
replace the late 17th century walnut and cane armchairs. These were lovely chairs but they were
constantly on the move as we catered for school parties and weddings. This constant moving made them vulnerable to
damage, as did the daily wear and tear at the property. The new chairs are an excellent buy for a
busy house like Sutton House. We no
longer have to move them out for weddings and school groups, and they are used
by the registrars and the couple at the weddings, and by the schoolchildren
during their role-play sessions during their visits. An added bonus is that we have doubled the amount of rest
space we have in the house. Now visitors
who are less mobile can sit down in the Great Chamber for a much-needed rest
after the exertion of climbing up to the first floor. The 17th century chairs have now
gone to Paycocke’s, a Trust property in Coggeshall, Essex, where I am sure they
are much appreciated. (The Sutton House
Society summer outing in 1994 included a visit to Paycocke’s.)
The following is a description by craftsman Nicholas Berry of the process of selecting designs for the chairs and making them.
We submitted a number of armchair illustrations to Sutton House, dating from the early 1500s to the mid 1700s. We kept to armchairs for this purpose, as opposed to chairs, as a lot more earlier examples exist today. Surviving chairs appear only to date back as far as the start of the seventeenth century. Contemporary illustrations prove they definitely existed before then, just that none (as far as is known), are still around today. Early armchairs were designated to only the most important household members or dignitaries (at the time everyone else normally had to make do with stools), and thus being more valuable (in terms of both cost and pride of ownership), must contribute to their survival in relatively larger numbers today.
Sutton House’s final choice of armchair (in this case, it was actually a child’s armchair) was dated between 1580 and 1630. The style of construction of this example, although clearly in a scaled-down form, resembles the Caqueteuse type of armchair. These became fashionable during the later half of Elizabeth I’s reign and their popularity lasted for the next hundred years. They can be best identified by the horizontal arms of the chair bending inwards to meet the narrower back and the (usually) lighter construction.
We kept the overall height, width and depth dimensions of the armchairs somewhat larger than the chairs for the importance reasons stated above. The chairs also differ in that, being smaller, from plan view they are rectangular rather than tapered. However, they share identical construction methods, just as their original counterparts, utilizing a framed construction jointed together with mortise-and-tenon joints and oak pegs (this is where the terms joined and joinery originate from). To help to prevent splitting, through the natural movement across the grain of wide wooden boards, the fielded panels of the backs can expand and contract freely within grooves cut in the upper frame members. This simple yet clever system, known as “framed and panelled”, was developed during the medieval period and is still in common use today.
The legs are simple turned Doric columns enriched with astragals and this style was replicated in large numbers on many types of furniture from the late sixteenth to the middle of the eighteenth century. They are joined by plain stretchers which are set quite low down, typically in keeping with other chairs of the period. The chairs and armchairs all have hand-carved “sunburst” cresting rails and have been made from kiln-dried solid English oak.
Further details of Nicholas’ work can be found on his website: www.earlyoakspecialists.co.uk.
We are pleased to welcome Louise Ayres to Sutton House as
of 25th April. Louise will be
taking over as House and Visitor Services Manager. She has a strong background in house
management, having worked at Ham House, the Treasurer’s House in
We hope to be able to come back to you in the next newsletter with the launch of a fund-raising campaign to clean up the land.
Red House was acquired by the National Trust in 2003 and opened in the same year. Commissioned by William Morris in 1859 and designed by Philip Webb, Red House is of enormous international significance in the history of domestic architecture and garden design. The garden is a delight, and should be one of the highlights of our visit providing it is a nice day! (We may be able to arrange a picnic in the garden before the tour.)
Please return the booking form if you are interested in coming. Parking is very limited at the Red House, so we will aim to get there by public transport. However, there is parking about 15 minutes away from Red House, so if you are intending to drive please indicate on your booking form whether you would be happy to offer a lift to someone else. Further details (about transport and about meeting for lunch beforehand) will be sent to you on booking.
Local artist Esther Collins is forming an organisation of artists to trade tasks and conversation with residents on the Kingsmead Estate.
Costumes, designs and words based on the children’s dreams and aspirations.
Young people from a Hackney secondary school will be taking part in the popular Sutton House Art Prize. Come and see the work of these artists on display for the first time.
Guided tours at 3.00pm on the first Sunday of each month from February to November. Please contact Sutton House for further details.
Every Wednesday afternoon at Sutton House is dedicated to people who are aged over 55. On offer is a programme of free talks, tours, art-and-craft sessions and activities. Contact Sutton House for further details.
A series of special days where visitors are invited to capture Sutton House with assistance from a professional artist and free art materials. Free after admission to the house.
Explore the many different spaces of Sutton House! Storytellers will share tales to delight and surprise you, while the team will be here to help you create your own arty response to our magical spaces. Free activity-packed days for all ages, each with a different theme.
The Open University returns to Sutton House with a series of lectures on local history. Admission is free but booking is advisable. Call 020-8525 9055.
This
Our very popular talk-and-walk series led by Michael Berlin of Birkbeck College, examining the contribution of French Protestant Huguenot immigrants to the development of East London. Adult £6 per event. Tickets from the Box Office.
Mark Berresford, jazz writer, will be presenting this
upbeat talk that brings to life the dominant influence of black musicians on
Western culture. Mark will be using rare
film, photographs and recordings to illustrate his talk. Free after admission to the house
Our popular spring fair returns to Sutton House. Fill your baskets with plants and herbs, and
buy pots and planters by local craft workers.
We will also have a selection of related crafts to buy. Adult £2.00, accompanied children free. Tickets available on the door.
Ticket prices per concert are £9 (one or two concerts), £7 (three or more concerts), £6 (concessions), £20 (families), £8 (groups) and £5 (concessionary groups), obtainable on 01494-755 572.
The last concert in Richard Tunnicliffe’s series of all of Bach’s solo cello suites — also featuring Britten’s great final suite for solo cello.
The thirteenth in the Fitzwilliam String Quartet’s acclaimed series of the complete Shostakovich string quartets at Sutton House, in which they are also joined by Penelope Roskell for Schumann’s Piano Quintet.
Tamsin Coombs returns to Sutton House to perform with Lilian Wilson an attractive programme of songs by Mozart, Schubert, Wolf, Poulenc and English composers.
Please
fill in this form if you would like to come on the outing and send it with a
cheque payable to the National Trust (if applicable) to Sutton House, 2&
Name .....................................................................................................................................................
Address ...............................................................................................................................................
.................................................................................................................................................................
Telephone ...........................................................................................................................................
Email ....................................................................................................................................................
|
|
Number of people |
Cost per person |
Total cost |
|
NT members |
|
free |
£0 |
|
Non-NT members |
|
£5 |
£ |
|
Total |
|
|
£ |
Please tick one.
□... I/we shall travel independently.
□... I/we shall travel by car from ………………………,
and can offer lifts to ………… people.
□... I/we should like a lift (if possible)
from ………………………
I/we should / should not be interested in meeting before the tour for
lunch.
Signed ..................................................................................................................................................
Date ......................................................................................................................................................
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