As a Tottenham resident, I thought it was time I dedicated a Missing Storeys entry to my local area. Passing the seventeenth century, grade one listed, manor house, Bruce Castle on Lordship Lane has lead me to repeatedly wonder about the history of my surroundings. Today the house serves as the
Bruce Castle Museum and the
archival centre for Harringey council and so to describe this as a 'missing storey' would be erroneous. Instead, the house is perhaps best understood as a fragmented history, as the property changed hands a number of times from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century and subsequently is representative of various transformations.
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| View of Bruce Castle from Lordship Lane |
The site acquired its current name 'Bruce Castle' in 1667 when Henry Hare 2nd Baron Colermain wanted to highlight his newly acquired property's association with the royal Scottish
House of Bruce. Prior to this, the house was known as Tottenham Manor. In the 15th century, the site consisted of three smaller manors but in 1427, John Gedney, a draper and later, the mayor of London, purchased the four sub properties to form one whole estate. Evidence from surviving accounts for the manor between 1443 and 1449 indicate that the rents acquired from the estate during this period were lucrative.
The house which stands today however, is that which was originally built by Sir William Compton, squire of the bedchamber to Henry VIII. Although the most significant modifications to the house were carried out by Rowland Hill, the inventor of the Penny Post who opened a boys school on the site in 1827, evidence of Bruce Castle's fragmented history can be found throughout.
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| T. S Claxton, Bruce Castle, south view, c.1850, Bruce Castle Musuem |
You can reach Bruce Castle by travelling to either Seven Sisters or Turnpike Lane underground station and catching a bus. Even closer however, is Bruce Grove overground station, which provides services to and from Liverpool Street every twenty minutes. Arriving at the gates of Bruce Castle appears much like the view by T.S Claxton c.1850. To the left of this view, and still visible today, stands a cylindrical tower covered in ivy. Although evidence of medieval chalk markings indicate that a house had been on the site earlier, this is the earliest surviving architectural fragment and dates from the Tudor period. Archaeological research carried out in 2006 by the
Museum of London has found that the tower continues beneath ground level, however its original purpose remains unclear. Daniel Lyon's 1792 account of the manor, proposes that the tower was constructed by the Compton family who owned the manor in the Tudor and Elizabethan periods. Evidence of this can be noted in Henry VIII's meeting with his sister Queen Margaret at 'Maister Compton's house besids Tottenham' and Queen Elizabeth's visit to Compton's grandson, Henry in May 1558.
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| The Tudor tower, Bruce Castle Park |
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| Detail of the 1619 Earl of Dorset's Survey of Tottenham |
The earliest depiction of a house on this site is in the Earl of Dorset's survey of Tottenham, made in 1619. In this survey a house marked 'The Lordship House, Sir T.Peniston' is depicted on the site of where Bruce Castle stands today. Evidence that this is indeed the same site, is supported by the depiction of
All Hallows Church, the 12th century church which also remains in situ.
During this period, the house was owned by Hugh Hare, 1st Baron Coleraine, a royalist nobleman, who
in 1620, had inherited £30,000 from his uncle and purchased Lordship house from Richard Sackville, Earl of Dorset. Sackville had inherited
Knole House as his principle residence, which still stands today and remains home to the Sackville family. (Virginnia Woolf fans may indeed be familiar with Knole as it was home to author and poet, Vita Sackville, Virginia's lover.) Sackville however struggled to maintain the property in Tottenham due to a significant accumulation of debt and was forced to sell. Here he is pictured below in some incredible shoes, lets hope he didn't have to sell those also!
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| William Larkin, Richard Sackville, 3rd Earl of Dorset, c.1613 Kenwood House, English Heritage |
Hare, followed his uncle and father into the inner temple. When his father died his mother remarried Sir Henry Montague, lord chief justice of the Kings bench and later, the 1st earl of Manchester. This match significantly enhanced Hare's social standing within court circles. It also led to the marriage of Hare to Montague's second daughter by his first wife, Lucy. As a result, Hare advanced quickly in royal favour and was made Baron Coleraine in 1625. Ownership of the manor on the Bruce Castle site was therefore an important asset which provided Hare with a noble residence within close proximity to the city. This allowed Hare to not only attend parliament and court but also entertain guests and demonstrate his own hospitality in order to strengthen social ties.
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| Attributed to Worlridge, Bruce Castle, 1686, Bruce Castle Museum. |
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| Hatfield House |
Following his death in 1667, Bruce Castle was inherited by his son, Sir Henry Hare, second baron Coleraine. Upon acquiring the property, Henry Hare carried out a significant amount of architectural improvements, adding a two-storey porch and a clock tower cupola as seen in Worlridge's view dated 1686 and much like that which was executed at Hatfield House for Robert Cecil, first Earl of Salisbury in 1611. A close inspection of this painting reveals that the south front was a facade to an internal court. This was a common architectural technique during the seventeenth century, providing a gateway into the house. This allowed for the easy passing of guests who would be greeted in the courtyard upon their arrival prior to entering the more private (or public depending on the purpose of their visit) realms of the household.
According to biographer Nicholas Doggett, Hare was greatly influenced by the antiquarian principles that had long been of interest to him whilst carrying out work at Bruce Castle. In his 1705 publication The History and Antiquities of the Town and Church of Tottenham, Hare noted how 'in respect to its great antiquity more than conveniency I keep the old brick tower (of the earlier house) in good repair.'
Hare died at Bruce Castle in 1708 and the estate was subsequently inherited by his son Henry Hare, third baron Coleraine and also a man of great antiquarian interest. Henry made two Grand Tours in Italy in which he accumulated an impressive collection of prints, drawings, paintings of antiquities and buildings. It was only during the period between these tours that Henry was resident at Bruce Castle. Despite his absence, the house still underwent architectural modifications which included an extra range of rooms to be added to the north of the house. The family coat of arms were also incorporated into the north facing side of the house. This was a feature designed to be an indication of the family's status and intended to be noted by those arriving in the courtyard. It was also perhaps an attempt to reflect Hare's presence and control over the property despite long periods of absence due to his long sojourns in Italy. The coat of arms is still visible today when standing in Bruce Castle Park.
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| Bruce Castle, north facing side of the house displaying the Coleraine coat of arms |
Hare died in 1749, leaving Bruce Castle to his only child, four year old Henrietta, the child borne from his love affair with a French woman Rosa Duplessis, the daughter of a French clergyman. The claim was rejected however on account of Henrietta's French nationality and was only granted after much legal dispute once Henrietta married James Townsend in 1763. Under Townsend's ownership, the house was once again remodelled and the entrance was moved to the east side of the house and designed in the typical Georgian style. Evidence of these modifications are still visible today.
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| Bruce Castle, east facing side of the house, constructed in the late eighteenth century and made the entrance of the residence |
These amendments perhaps mark the final phase of Bruce Castle's development. Henry Hare Townsend, James and Henrietta's son had little interest in the local area and did not care for the status of landowner. Instead, the property was leased to various tenants. During the early nineteenth century, the west wing was demolished, leaving what is now a skewed building. During the nineteenth century the property was home to the Hill School for boys and subsequently no further developments were made. I however, am grateful no further architectural changes were carried out. The combination of architectural styles which survive on the site range from Tudor, Jacobean and Georgian and thus provide visitors with an invaluable insight into the types of architectural styles that were adopted for an important suburban manor.
It is this broken, fragmented history of Bruce Castle which makes it an important historical site in London and whilst it is not overlooked by local residents it seems lost to many other Londoners unfamiliar with the area. I encourage any historian to pay a visit and enjoy the grounds where the great five hundred year old Oak tree stands overlooking the house, serving as a reminder of all that has passed on the grounds of Bruce Castle.
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| The Oak tree in Bruce Castle Park |
