I only discovered Charterhouse relatively recently because it’s tucked away in a spot where no tourist ever goes – a few minutes north of Smithfield Market. I don’t think many Londoners even know that this place exists – but what a surprise! It’s like a cross between a Cambridge college and the cloisters at Westminster Abbey. One of the cobbled courtyards is very reminiscent of Hampton Court Palace, with its dirty red bricks and muddy-coloured roof tiles.
The Carthusian Priory
The original 14th-century priory came to a bloody end during Henry VIII’s Dissolution of the Monasteries when the monks put up a very spirited fight – half of them were carted off to Newgate Prison and the Prior himself was hung, drawn and quartered at Tyburn. So that was the end of them. No more monks. The buildings were then handed over to one of Henry VIII’s courtiers who knocked a lot of them down, and built a Tudor mansion in their place.
Most of what remains today dates from this Tudor period (with a few alterations courtesy of Hitler’s Luftwaffe), and the buildings have become flats and almshouses for gentlemen pensioners. It was one of these ‘Brothers’ that did our tour today.
Brothers and the Almshouse
The Brothers are a bit like the Chelsea Pensioners at the Royal Hospital, but without their military war record. They don’t seem to be anybody special – they’re just normal everyday blokes in need of financial support. He was telling us that anybody can apply to live there as long as they’re skint and over sixty.
When I arrived at two o’clock I found a group of ten people already waiting by the gate, slowly going frozen in the cold, so he led us straight into the chapel and sat us down in the warm, and launched into his history of the place.
The guy who built the Tudor mansion led a very interesting life around the time of Elizabeth I. If you know the story of Elizabeth and Mary Queen of Scots, then you’ll know that they weren’t exactly best buddies. Lets just say that they were polite pen-pals (they said nice things in their letters, but terrible things behind each other’s back).
Elizabeth viewed Mary as her biggest threat so when this guy came up with the totally daft idea of marrying Mary behind her back she wasn’t very happy (she went nuts!), and she put him under house arrest – in this very house.
The Chapel and Great Chamber
After the chapel he takes you into the Dining Hall and Presence Chamber, but it’s the exterior of the building that will really knock your socks off. The outside is absolutely fantastic – it’s just like an ancient Cambridge college.
Unfortunately the Germans firebombed this whole area and wrecked a lot of the original ceilings, which is why the interiors aren’t as grand as they might otherwise have been, but when you’re standing outside you don’t notice any of that. So if you like admiring old buildings then you should definitely have a look.
If you enjoy this then try Lincoln’s Inn (walk it in 14 mins or take a tube journey from Barbican to Holborn); St. John’s Gate (you can walk it in less than 3 mins) and Temple Church (walk it in 16 mins or travel from Barbican to Temple by tube). If you enjoy the architecture of Charterhouse then you might like to take a day trip to Hampton Court and Cambridge