Charlton House

What’s happening at Charlton House? An update from Cllr Gary Parker

Darryl Chamberlain

Charlton House

Here’s the latest on Charlton House and the Royal Greenwich Heritage Trust (the body that runs it) from Charlton ward councillor Gary Parker…

This is a summary of the work I have been involved in with Board members, staff, volunteers and the public with regard to the Royal Greenwich Heritage Trust/ Charlton House.
Councillor Gary Parker

Charlton House

Donald Insall Associates, who completed the Condition Survey for Charlton House, hosted a seminar about Jacobean architecture with speakers including Professor Malcolm Airs of the University of Oxford, who returned a key to the Charlton House team, gifted to him 50 years previously by a former caretaker!

Charlton House key

Making Woolwich

Royal Greenwich Heritage Trust is delighted to announce the opening of the new permanent exhibition Making Woolwich – The Royal Regiment of Artillery in Woolwich 1716-2016 at Greenwich Heritage Centre, on the historic Royal Arsenal, Woolwich.

Developed in collaboration with the people of Woolwich and the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The museum team talked to over 300 residents to discover their stories and histories of military life in Woolwich.

Opening addresses were given by Len Duvall OBE, Chair of Royal Greenwich Heritage Trust; Major General Nick Eeles, Royal Artillery; and Cllr Denise Hyland, Leader of Greenwich Council.

The gallery was formally opened by the daughters of Woolwich men who served in the First World War, and whose stories are shared in Making Woolwich. The project is funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Royal Regiment of Artillery, Royal Artillery Museums Ltd, Friends of the Royal Artillery Collections and the Royal Artillery Historical Trust.

41 Pattison Road

Focusing on one Plumstead home, this new exhibition at the Heritage Centre explores the lives of the residents of 41 Pattison Road, through the museum & archive of Royal Greenwich. The story – spans one hundred years including two World Wars – and tells the story of the day-to-day life of the Downar family and features items including motor car ration books, national identity cards and aircraft damage insurance details.

Horn Fair

Moved back to the original date in autumn to coincide with the Feast of St Luke, Horn Fair took place on 16 October 2016. In its second year the event was a great success with craft demonstrations including stone masonry, stone carving, decorative plasterwork, and a Delft tile design workshop. Traditional music was again provided by Trustee Malcolm Woods and friends. A marketplace featured stalls from local businesses including Roger Wharf, Charlton House beekeeper who did a roaring trade in sales of our very own honey!

We will begin planning for Horn Fair 2017 in the new year, with a proposed date of 22 October 2017.

Charlton noticeboard

The Trust have recently refurbished a community notice board at Charlton Assembly Rooms. Requests for items to be posted should be made to the Trust at office[at]rght.org.uk.

Charlton’s Horn Fair returns this Sunday 

Neil Clasper2 Comments

Charlton’s Horn Fair – banned for an excess of drunken behaviour in 1874 – is back for a second year in its new guise as a family-friendly, heritage-themed event run by Royal Greenwich Heritage Trust.

Taking place at Charlton House on Sunday October 16th from 10am-4pm, the event promises: “…a day for all ages. With activities from Stone Masonry by the Building Crafts College, plaster workshops from Philip Gaches, and our very own WWI Nurse Ivy and Devoted Frank. Amongst all the music and revelry of the day come along and enjoy our range of short talks, food and drink treats, and lots of children’s activities that are on offer”.

What’s happening at Charlton House? Local councillor Gary Parker explains

Darryl Chamberlain3 Comments

Charlton House

Charlton ward councillor Gary Parker has sent us a report on what he’s been up to over the past few months. We’re presenting this in two parts – the first is about his work on the board of the Royal Greenwich Heritage Trust, which runs Charlton House.

The Royal Greenwich Heritage Trust was formed in 2014 and I have been a board member since its inception. The special report below highlights the work myself, staff, volunteers and trustees have been involved with recently. The Trust launched a range of leaflets and promotional materials earlier this year, along with their new website where details of all events can be found at www.greenwichheritage.org.

You can also follow the Trust on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, join the mailing list, or sign up to the newsletter online for regular updates. Some recent projects include:

Here Come the Girls – The Heritage Lottery-funded project has been a great success this year. The project introduced Ivy the Nurse, Nell the Munitionette and May from the Progress Estate, 3 local women who share their stories of the First World War with the people of the borough.

Ivy was a Nurse at Charlton House, and the Family Fun Day there in the summer was a huge success. Charlton residents came to meet Nell, the rest of the nurses, and some wounded soldiers in a convalescence hospital recreated for the day. The project continues to tour the Borough with further events in Eltham and Woolwich before the end of September.

Making Woolwich – Generously supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund and Royal Artillery Museums Ltd, including the Friends of Firepower, this new gallery for the Greenwich Heritage Centre will tell the story of a Royal Artillery soldier from 1716-2016.

World Monuments Fund – The Trust’s work with the World Monuments Fund continues. Thanks to WMF funding, Donald Insall Associates have now completed the Condition Survey and Measured Drawings at Charlton House. Yale University Scholar, Lily Higgins, recently presented the findings of her research work over the summer to the Friends of Charlton House, Trustees and other invited guests. The Trust are now working on next steps toward a Heritage Lottery Fund application in partnership with the World Monuments Fund.

Other activities – The Trust delivered a programme of heritage events that continue throughout the year including Summer activities for children through August. London Open House takes place this year on Sunday 18 September, from 10am – 4pm supported by the Friends of Charlton House.

Your Devoted Frank is a dramatic performance inspired by First World War love letters found in a Plumstead home. The performance, first delivered for Valentine’s Day at Greenwich Heritage Centre, will come to Charlton House on Friday 11 November at7pm. Tickets are available from Charlton House for just £8.

I have been using my professional skills to advise the Trust on fundraising and how to generate income. I briefed Tracey Stringfellow, the CEO, on this recently and there are likely to be some new initiatives coming forward including a potential crowdfunding project – watch this space.

Charlton House continues to be a fantastic community resource and I am working with many others to improve and develop it.

The second part of Gary’s update will follow in a day or two. If you want to contact Gary Parker or any Greenwich councillor, find their details on the Greenwich Council website.

Charlton & Woolwich Free Film Festival 2016 programme announced!

Neil Clasper1 Comment

Charlton Woolwich Free Film Festival programmeClick the image above for a full-screen version.

The line-up for the inaugural Charlton & Woolwich Free Film Festival – a programme of film screenings across SE7 and SE18 organised and run by volunteers – has been announced. Charlton highlights include:

Shaun of the Dead at the White Swan pub: Sunday 11th September, 7.30pm.

Shaun The Sheep at Charlton Park Academy: Wednesday 14th September, 6pm.

A trio of Blow Up-themed events, taking in a location walk around Maryon Park, a screening of the film at Charlton House, and an After-Party event with era-appropriate DJ Sounds of 66 at the White Swan pub.

A Field In England, screening in Charlton House on Sunday 11th September, 2.30pm, preceded by local film collective SELect18’s short film A Car Park In Charlton.

 

All events are free to attend and will operate on a first come, first served basis. If you’d like to get involved or keep up to date with what’s going on, you can find the Charlton & Woolwich Free Film festival online at their website, on Facebook, and on Twitter.

Local historical records ‘rediscovered’ at Charlton House

Neil Clasper4 Comments

Royal Greenwich Heritage Trust have been in touch with news of a discovery in the cellar of Charlton House: 

WW1 History of Greenwich Borough uncovered as Charlton House’s Locked Vault is opened for the first time in memory.

Staff and volunteers at Charlton House in London have made an extraordinary discovery, in the cellar of the historic building.

Charlton House, part of the Royal Greenwich Heritage Trust, has ‘rediscovered’ historical records and leather bound documents relating to the local area, and dating back more than 150 years.

Hidden deep in the basement of Charlton House, the vault containing the records has been locked since before the building was handed over to the Trust 8 years ago. Amongst the items discovered inside is the First World War Memorial Book for the Borough, containing the names of local men who served during the 1914-1918 war and a 100 year old log book for the local church – St Luke’s, which details all services and is annotated with significant events such as the Silvertown Explosion.

Tracy Stringfellow, Chief Executive of Royal Greenwich Heritage Trust explained: “We don’t know exactly how long it is since the vault was last opened, but the documents inside are very exciting and likely to be of significant interest to local historians and genealogists”

The Trust plans to display the discoveries at their forthcoming Great War exhibition, which takes place at the Greenwich Heritage Centre in February.

The documents and books will now be examined by preservation experts to ensure that their condition does not deteriorate.

There’s not been much information available on progress with Charlton House since it was quietly transferred to Royal Greenwich Heritage Trust in 2014, so we’re glad to hear that things are happening, and hope to see more video updates from the Heritage Trust. A shame, though, that their latest finds aren’t going on display in Charlton House itself.

What’s the future for Charlton House? Get inside and take a look around this Sunday

Darryl Chamberlain5 Comments

Charlton House

Ever walked past Charlton House and wondered what’s inside? You’ll be able to take free tours one the capital’s best surviving Jacobean mansions this Sunday as part of the annual Open House London event.

The 400-year-old Grade I-listed building features original period detail including wood panelling and plasterwork. The tours are run by the Friends of Charlton House and it’s a chance to get to know a fascinating building whose importance to the area is often overlooked.

It also comes during a period of change for the house, which was spun off by Greenwich Council last year into the Royal Greenwich Heritage Trust, along with its heritage centre in Woolwich and some war memorials.

The past year has mainly been spent setting up the trust and finding its feet – we’re told disentangling its computer systems from that of the council has been a challenge. If you look inside, it’ll be obvious that the building is in need of refurbishment, and the independent charity is charged with finding a sustainable future for the house.

The archway in the house’s grounds needs work done to it, and the trust recently got a £35,000 grant to fund a survey of the whole site.

Currently, the house runs as a community centre, and is also home to the borough’s least-used lending library, a Japanese language school, Charlton Toy Library, and the Mulberry Tea Rooms – bafflingly only usually open during weekday day times. It’s also frequently hired out for weddings.

We’ve written before about the shaky publicity given to events there – the trust has taken some steps to address that, although billing Charlton House in a press release for Open House as being in “the heart of Greenwich” suggests the old local authority mindset perhaps hasn’t quite gone away.

The trust also has the old summer house opposite St Luke’s Church (most recently used as a public toilet) and the Charlton Assembly Rooms (the red brick building at the Woolwich end of the village) – so it’ll be a big player in any discussion about the future of Charlton. It hasn’t inherited the stable buildings next door to the house, which remain in council hands.

William Morris Gallery, 2 July 2015
The future? The William Morris Gallery in Walthamstow, restored by Waltham Forest Council in 2012

What’s the future for Charlton House? Maybe one clue is over in Walthamstow, where the William Morris Gallery – the former home of the celebrated designer – reopened in 2012 after a multi-million pound revamp. It now houses a museum devoted to Morris as well as guest exhibitions. On a sunny weekday visit in early July, it was doing a roaring trade.

Interestingly, Waltham Forest Council still owns the 1740s building and obtained funding as part of an Olympic legacy project. In Charlton, it’s the new trust that’s been left with the mammoth job of finding a new future for the district’s most historic building.

If you want to find out more about the building’s past and present, pop along on Sunday and take a look. As for the future, your thoughts would be welcome below.

Charlton House Open House

Neil Clasper
Charlton House Old Library
Charlton House Old Library

Open House London weekend is rolling around again, and Charlton House is opening its doors for the public to have a nose around on Sunday 21st September, 10am to 4pm. More details can be found on the Open House London website. This will be the first Open House weekend since Charlton House and related assets were transferred to Royal Greenwich Heritage Trust – hopefully the new Trust will take the opportunity to explain to visitors what it all means for Charlton House’s future.

The full list of participating properties across the borough can be found here.

(PS. There’s nothing about this event on charlton-house.org yet, but perhaps it’ll be updated once Charlton House returns from its long weekend in Woolwich).