Wednesday, August 11, 2004
Famous places down the street where I work
The Royal Academy (Burlington House)
Once the whole of Piccadilly used to be lined by palatial houses such as this, but now Burlington House is the only reminder of just how grand this street used to be. Really really grand. Burlington House was built in 1664 by Sir John Denham, Surveyor General to King Charles II, who was convinced that no-one would ever build in the fields and the woodland to the north and west. He was wrong. Next to own the property were a succession of Lord Burlingtons, esteemed patrons of the arts and sciences. The composer Handel lodged in the house for three years towards the end of his life while the scientist Henry Cavendish had a room here during his youth.
The Royal Academy became the main tenant in 1867, granted a 999-year-lease at a minimal rent. The building was extended to surround a courtyard with frontage onto Piccadilly, and a number of other societies moved in at the same time (Geological, Chemical, Astronomical and Linnean). It was at a meeting of the latter that Charles Darwin's paper on the Evolution of the Species was first read to an unsuspecting world. Following major renovation work earlier this year you can now stand in the long dark Reynolds Room at the front of the building and imagine the flame of Creationism flickering for the very first time. Or why not just come along to Burlington House to see the fountains, the art and what Piccadilly used to look like.
...or read more in my monthly archives
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