Showing posts with label Fenton House. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fenton House. Show all posts

Wednesday, 23 April 2008

The oldest building in the area?

What is the oldest building in Hampstead and Kilburn?

A daft question you might think but with no remaining habitable fragment of Kilburn Priory and no surviving medieval church I think this is a harder question that might be thought...

My instinct and guess is that it is Fenton House in Hampstead.
http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/w-fentonhouse/

It is dated to 1693 - Willam and Mary are on the throne of England, the dodo becomes extinct in this year, France is at war with the Palatine (Germany) and John Harrison, a famous clockmaker buried in Hampstead parish churchyard is born.

The house was owned by Joshua Gee who was a silk merchant (i.e. wealthy) and this was a classic mansion house of it's period. The name of the house however comes from Philip Fenton another merchant who bought the house in 1793. This family made a number of the changes and features that survive today in particular the walled garden.

Some pictures of the house and gardens can be found here http://www.flickr.com/search/?w=all&q=Fenton+House&m=text

But more to the point, is there anything older in Hampstead and Kilburn?