For the Love of the British Isles: CHARTERHOUSE SQUARE

.........and Hercule Poirot.

Yes, one side of the square is taken up for the greater part, with the amazing Art Deco block of apartments called Florin Court, once home to the renowned Belgian detective Hercule Poirot

But my main interest lies with the Charterhouse itself. Today, its' core purpose is to offer a community for elderly people in financial and social need. More than 40 Brothers have their homes here.

Visitors cannot access the residences obviously, but there is an excellent museum detailing the history and life of the Charterhouse, a learning centre, the chapel, and the beautiful gardens in the Square to explore - and it's all free!

In 1371 Sir Walter de Manny, one of Edward III's most senior advisers, joined with the Bishop of London to establish a monastery for Carthusian monks from La Grande Chartreuse near Grenoble in France. The name 'Charterhouse' is an English mangling of the French 'Chartreuse', and all Carthusian monasteries in England were dubbed Charterhouse in English.

The London site was the fourth Carthusian monastery in England and became one of the most important. The monastery was officially called 'The House of the Salutation of the Mother of God' and Sir Walter endowed it with 13 acres and one rod (272.25 square feet) of land.

The monks lived in silence, never speaking to one another, and dwelt in solitary cells, meeting only for meals on important feast days.

The Carthusian order was never as popular as other monastic orders, probably because the life was so strict and severe. Sir Thomas More, who would later become Henry VIII's chief advisor, spent four years living at Charterhouse, though he never became a monk.

The monks of Charterhouse initially resisted Henry VIII's religious reforms, and in 1535 Prior Houghton was sent to the Tower of London before being hanged, drawn, and quartered at Tyburn. Sir Thomas More was also in the Tower at that time and is said to have watched the prior and his fellows being led to their executions. His turn would soon come.

Prior Houghton's severed head was impaled on a spike over the gates of Charterhouse as a warning to others who might oppose Henry. If the gesture was meant to quell opposition, it failed. Three more monks were executed, and in 1537 the remaining brothers told the king's commissioners that they refused to acknowledge Henry as supreme head on earth of the English Church. Ten monks were imprisoned in Newgate. Nine starved to death, and the last was executed after four years of misery in that notorious prison.

After the monastery was finally suppressed it passed through several hands until it was purchased by Sir Edward North, who converted the monastic buildings into a comfortable Tudor residence. Elizabeth I stayed at Charterhouse before her coronation in 1558 and returned to stay with Lord North in 1561.

The royal visit almost bankrupted Lord North. His son sold Charterhouse to the Duke of Norfolk in 1565. The Duke was heavily involved in plotting to place Mary, Queen of Scots on the throne. Incriminating letters were discovered under the doormat to his bedchamber and others under the eaves of the house. He was executed for treason in 1572 and Charterhouse was seized by the Crown.

After the death of Mary, Queen of Scots, Elizabeth returned Charterhouse to the Howard family, and the residence was named Howard House. James I visited Howard House and made Lord Howard Earl of Suffolk. The Earl, in turn, sold Howard House to Thomas Sutton, and under Sutton's care Charterhouse began a new chapter. Sutton was said to be the richest commoner in England and built a fortune from coal trading, property, and money lending.

Thomas Sutton was a man with a mission. His dream was to establish a benevolent institution, a combination school and residence. In 1611 he bought Howard House and founded 'The Hospital of King James' as a home for retired military captains, sick or maimed soldiers, and 'men fallen into decay through shipwreck, casualty or fire'. The 'Hospital' is what we would call an almshouse. Beside the Hospital Sutton established a school for 40 poor scholars. The term 'poor' is relative; what he really meant was the sons of clergymen, lawyers, and doctors, rather than those from the landed gentry.

Everywhere you go, you will see the Arms of Thomas Sutton, the founder of the school and the associated community. Here, they decorate the apex of the arches in the chapel:

In the garden is a model of how the monastery would have looked.

Thomas Sutton petitioned Parliament for leave to establish his charity. He died shortly afterwards, and his executors continued to fulfill his wishes.

The long form of the Charity's name is 'Sutton's Hospital in Charterhouse' after the founder, Thomas Sutton (1532-1611) and he is buried in the chapel, in a most magnificent marble edifice.

Thomas was a self-made man, whose shrewd business dealings made him into England's wealthiest commoner. He used his wealth to establish a school for the young and an almshouse for the old.

His coat of arms is surmounted by a Medieval Hunting Dog (very much like an over-sized greyhound in shape), and these dogs can also be seen on pew ends in the Chapel, and in the plaster ceilings.

Sutton founded his combination Hospital and school under a board of governors and a Master, and left it the bulk of his large fortune. The Governors included the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Lord Chancellor of England. Sutton's heirs were not pleased to see the greater part of their inheritance given to Charterhouse, and they contested the will, but the influence of the Governors meant that the terms of the will were upheld.

Charterhouse opened in 1614 and admitted 80 elderly pensioners, or 'brothers'. The 40 students, or 'Gownboys' were all between 10 and 15 years old. As the school's reputation grew it began to accept 'town-boys' as well; commoners who had to apply for admission. The school continued to grow, though it suffered during Cromwell's Commonwealth when the Schoolmaster and Preacher were removed from office for their alleged Royalist sympathies.

In 1614, Sutton's Hospital opened to the first scholars and Poor Brothers. However, in 1687, the staunchly Protestant Governers defied James II's request to admit a Catholic as a Brother.

Over the centuries, Charterhouse has been home to many notable people. Among them was Tobias Hume, who died in 1645.

Tobias was a professional soldier, who also composed pieces for the viola da gamba.

Hume - Love's Farewell

Little is known of his life. Some have suggested that he was born in 1579 because he was admitted to the London Charterhouse in 1629, a prerequisite to which was being at least 50 years old, though there is no certainty over this. He had made his living as a professional soldier, serving as an officer with the Swedish and Russian armies.

Hume was also known as a prankster, as some of his somewhat unusual compositions illustrate. His most notorious piece was "An Invention for Two to Play upone one Viole", also known as Prince's Almayne. Two bows are required and the smaller of the two players is obliged to sit in the lap of the larger player!

Many others are remembered with plaques in the church and the vestibule, which was originally part of the old church. Famous scholars to attend Charterhouse school include John Wesley, founder of Methodism, novelist William Makepeace Thackery, and Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the Scout movement.

By the 19th century the Charterhouse area had become run-down and was little more than a slum. The school moved its premises to Godalming in Surrey, where it still operates. When the school moved, the Charterhouse foundation split in two, with separate boards for the School and Sutton Hospital.

In 1717 Elizabeth Holford bequeathed £4,700 to provide university scholarships for the schoolboys.

In 1872, Charterhouse School moved to Godalming in Surrey, and the Merchant Taylor's School bought the vacated site for £90,000

The buildings came very close to being demolished in 1886, but the proposal was withdrawn before assent was given - which is why we still have this lovely complex today.

In 1919, it was decreed that the Brothers no longer had to wear black cloaks in public.

The Hospital was struck by bombs in 1941 and badly damaged. During the rebuilding of the site, the foundations of the original medieval monastery were discovered and partly preserved. The doors were reopened in 1951.

The Hospital still acts as a home for retired military men, businessmen, artists, and clergy, much as Sutton envisaged. Each brother has a separate apartment, and there is an infirmary on site.

The museum provides a fascinating look at Charterhouse from its time as a monastery through its role as a mansion and a school. There are archaeological finds from the site, including the skeleton of the Charterhouse founder, Sir Walter de Manny.

The chapel is entered through the ante-chapel, where you can see examples of the medieval monastic vaulting and ceiling bosses, dated to about 1512. In the tower over the chapel hangs a bell cast in 1631. The main aisle was part of the monk's chapter house. where the community met to discuss the administration of the monastery. It was here that the monks would have discussed their defiant stand against Henry VIII's religious reforms.

When Charterhouse school was built the chapel was extended with the addition of a new aisle, and here you can see the ornate memorial to Thomas Sutton. The size and magnificence of the monument reflect Sutton's enormous wealth. The monument was carved by Nicholas Jansen and Edmund Kinsman of London, with the aid of Nicholas Stone, who would become one of the most celebrated sculptors of his age.

The sculptors were paid 40 pounds, which included the cost of a small wall monument to John Law, executor of Sutton's will. The Sutton monument is embellished with figures depicting Faith, Hope, and Charity. Over his effigy is a relief panel depicting a gathering of the Hospital's Poor Brothers in their gowns, watched by young boys, presumably representing scholars.

Beside Sutton's magnificent tomb is a fragment of a 17th-century reredos, with carved figures of Moses and Aaron. The reredos was removed in the 1640s when such figures were deemed idolatrous. It was discovered stored in a basement in the 1970s.

The chapel is filled with marvellous 17th-century woodwork, including the beautifully carved organ loft, pulpit, and screen. The communion table was made in 1613 and bears the Sutton coat of arms.

In the courtyard outside the chapel you can see foundation walls of the medieval monastic church and a large table tomb marking the burial place of Sir Walter de Manny.The chapel is open to the public, with the museum (entrance free) Tuesday to Sunday 11am to 4.45pm.

Since 1613 it has been the place of worship for the beneficiaries (called Brothers) of the charity, Sutton’s Hospital, and until 1872, the boys and staff of Charterhouse school. The chapel is approached through Charterhouse Square. The most striking external feature of the chapel is the squat tower, which dates from the 14th century.

Inside, access to the chapel is through a vaulted chamber from the last phase of the Carthusians’ building, in 1521. The screen designed by Blore in the 1840s, which divides this space from the south nave has some curious little carved Indian heads on it.

The south nave occupies the footprint of the monks’ Chapter House. It was here that the last Prior, John Houghton, declared his intention to refuse to accede to the Act of Supremacy, by which Henry VIII became Head of the Church in England in 1534. Houghton became the first martyr of the English Reformation.

The 1840s collegiate style seating along the south wall, and the corresponding seating on the north side of the building remind us that this was where the boys of the school gathered with the Brothers from 1614 to 1872, when the school moved to Godalming.

OK, so you rock up to Charterhouse and go through the pretty formal garden. That itself, is interesting

This garden was built on the site of the original Priory church. The stone slab towards the top of the picture, marks the burial site of the monastery's principal founder, Walter Manny, who died in 1372. The plaque above commemorates the monks and lay brothers who resisted the religious reforms of Henry VIII. They were put to death, the monastery was closed, and the buildings left in ruins.

The Museum is a fascinating insight into the history of the Charterhouse - from the founding by Sir Thomas Sutton, to the skeleton of a young man, accidentally discovered during works in the garden, who died of the Black Death in 1348-9. Probably now the oldest Charterhouse resident.

In 1348 the Black Death came to England. The disease, born by rats, spread quickly throughout the country, devastating the population, especially in large urban areas like London, where sanitation was poor and people were crowded close together. People died so quickly and in such large numbers that traditional burial grounds were overwhelmed, and new sites were needed for mass graves.

One of those burial sites was created in what is now Charterhouse Square, and large numbers of plague victims were interred in mass graves. At that time the area was outside the city walls of London.

In a darkened room, beneath a glass pane, lies the mottled skeleton of a medieval man. The remains are gently lit by the flickering hue of hundreds of electric candles placed nearby. You are now staring into the hollow eye sockets of a man who died of the greatest calamity in human history, the Black Death.

The Black Death or "Great Plague" that swept across Eurasia in the 14th century was unparalleled in its colossal death toll. The contagion killed approximately 200 million people. In the city of London alone it is estimated that over 60 percent of the population perished over a four-year period. In the face of such unimaginable suffering, it's easy to see why the plague was interpreted in Europe as being a sign of an impending apocalypse and the wrath of a furious God bent on punishing humanity.

The skeleton of the plague victim now on display at the Charterhouse was unearthed by London Crossrail workers while digging in Charterhouse Square for the new city rail line. Archeologists found it belonged to a man in the prime of his life, in his mid-twenties, when he was struck down by the Black Death. It's believed he died at some point between 1348 and 1349, at the height of the pandemic.

At the time, the Charterhouse had not yet been built and the land it now sits on was used as a burial ground or "plague pit" by the city authorities. Here, the mortal remains of thousands of victims of the Black Death were buried, including that of the Charterhouse skeleton. Isotope analysis of the skeleton's teeth has since revealed that the young man was born and grew up in a rural area of East Anglia county before moving to London where he met his sad fate.

It was known that the gardens in the Square outside the Priory, were laid on a plague pit. There were many of these across London, where bodies were just thrown into a pit, unmarked and unmourned, because there were so many of them.

However, in the garden next to where the original Priory church stood, was found a grave containing 25 holy brothers, victims of that same plague. In this case, the bodies had been gently laid to rest in an orderly fashion.

24 of them were re-buried with respect due to them. The 25th. skeleton, the young man, was taken for gentle examination, where his teeth proved the cause of death. He was then reverently re-buried in an open coffin and placed in the Museum. Whether you feel that is right and proper is your decision, and it's not my business to discuss or judge here.

Among the many artefacts in the museum, are examples of works by former scholars. These are examples of decorated envelopes sent to his cildren by William Chignell

And books written by inmate Simon Raven (oh dear, that makes him sound like a prisoner :D )

Two fragments from Sir Walter Manny's tomb have survived, which shows how splendid it must have been. It was originally in front of the altar of the Priory church.

There are several albums of old photographs of Charterhouse

Entering the complex, the vestibule on the right, was once part of the original church. It is full of plaques and tablets, commemorating many past brothers, and students of Charterhouse School, before its move to leafy Surrey. The church also holds many memorials.

One of the first items to draw the eye is a replica of a Carthusian monk's habit. It is still the same as it has always been - still made from undyed wool

Before we get onto all the plaques, and the glories of the church itself, here are one or two other oddities and notable points

Here's a door. Or precisely, the remains of a door, now affixed to the wall next to the doorway it used to fill.

It is here as a reminder of the great fire of 1941, that happened as the result of a direct hit of an incendiary bomb. The door was hastily closed to protect the niterior of the chapel.

This is the beautifully carved screen that cordons off a side chapel

Equally Exquisite is the west organ gallery, bearing the arms of Sir Thomas Sutton.

This is the main altar - stunning in its' simplicity, and even more so in it's setting

The arcade has the arms of Sir Thomas at every apex, and, although they're hard to see, the ceiling above is scattered with tiny dogs' head carvings.

And so onto notable people - both Brothers and Scholars. Some you will know, others less so.

These two lists are self-explanatory, so I'll just leave them here.

And onto the plethora of tablets, plaques and memorials. Sadly, I couldn't photograph all of them, so these are just a taster.

Lieutenant-General Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, OM, GCMG, GCVO, KCB, KStJ, DL was a British Army officer, writer, founder of The Boy Scouts Association and its first Chief Scout, and founder, with his sister Agnes, of The Girl Guides.

Mrs. Ann Kemshead, who died age 61, in 1798, was once Matron of the Charterhouse School.

Sir Richmond Campbell Shakespear KGB, who died 1861, formerly of the Bengal Artillery and agent to the Governor General for Central India. He was an Indian-born British Indian Army officer. He helped to influence the Khan of Khiva to abolish the capture and selling of Russian slaves in Khiva. This likely forestalled the Russian conquest of the Khiva, although it ultimately did not prevent it.

Richmond Shakespear was the youngest son of John Talbot Shakespear and Amelia Thackeray, who both served in the Bengal Civil Service. Amelia was the eldest daughter of William Makepeace Thackeray, grandfather of the novelist of the same name.

Roger Williams was an English-born New England Baptist minister, theologian, author, and founder of the Providence Plantations, which became the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations and later the State of Rhode Island.

He was a staunch advocate for religious liberty, separation of church and state, and fair dealings with the Native Americans.

Williams was expelled by the Puritan leaders from the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and he established Providence Plantations in 1636 as a refuge, offering what he termed "liberty of conscience" making Rhode Island the first government in the Western world to guarantee religious freedom in its founding charter. His ideas on religious tolerance and civil government directly influenced the principles later enshrined in the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

Williams studied the language of the New England Native Americans and published the first book-length study of it in English.

John Wesley - if you're British you won't need any introduction to him. He was an English cleric, theologian, and evangelist who was a principal leader of a revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism. The societies he founded became the dominant form of the independent Methodist movement that continues to this day.

Throughout his life, Wesley remained within the established Church of England, insisting that the Methodist movement lay well within its tradition. In his early ministry years, Wesley was barred from preaching in many parish churches and the Methodists were persecuted; he later became widely respected, and by the end of his life, was described as "the best-loved man in England".

John Hullah (1812-1884) was a composer and Professor of Vocal Music at King's College from 1843 until 1874.
He trained at the Royal Academy of Music and achieved an early success co-writing a comic opera with Charles Dickens entitled The Village Coquettes, which ran from 1836-1837.
Hullah composed numerous songs and operas but achieved lasting distinction as a leading advocate of the reform of music teaching, in particular by popularising Wilhem's method of teaching song in which the untutored and groups could easily participate.
He was organist at Charterhouse from 1858 and from 1872 was musical inspector of training schools for the Royal Academy of Music. He died in 1884.

Former headmaster of Charterhouse,

1832–1853: The Revd Dr Augustus Page Saunders

Nicholas Mann (died 1753) was an English antiquary and Master of Charterhouse.

He travelled in France and Italy, and on his return was appointed king's waiter at the custom house, and keeper of the standing wardrobe at Windsor. Through the interest of the Marlborough family he was elected master of the Charterhouse on 19 August 1737. At his institution he is said to have shocked the Archbishop of Canterbury by professing himself an Arian. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1738 and was appointed a vice-president of the society in 1751.

Following the departure of Charterhouse School to Surrey, in 1875 the buildings were taken over by the Merchant Taylor's School They remained there until 1933

The vestibule leading into the church, once formed part of the original Priory church. There are many tomb slabs inset into the floor, and these have been conserved and restored where possible with the support of the Worshipful Company of Grocers, one of the many Guilds active in the City of London.

Sir William Yorke, 1st Baronet PC (c. 1700 – 30 September 1776) was an English-born politician and judge in eighteenth-century Ireland, who held office as Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas and as Chancellor of the Exchequer of Ireland. His last years were plagued by ill health.

Yorke, who was suffering agonies from a kidney stone, had been prescribed laudanum (liquid opium) to alleviate the pain. Although the servant had been instructed by the apothecary as to the proper dosage, on the day in question he evidently forgot his instructions, and simply handed the full bottle of laudanum to Yorke, who was in such pain from his kidney stone that he drank it all at one sitting. He died an hour later from the effects of the overdose.

John Jones (1728 – 1796) was an English organist, who served at the St Paul's Cathedral. He was a composer of two volumes of harpsichord lessons, as well as some of the earliest Anglican psalm chants.

William Ramsden, wife and son. William Ramsden was a Doctor of Divinity and Master of Charterhouse

Richard John Samuel Stevens (27 March 1757 – 23 September 1837) was an English composer and organist. Stevens's chief claim to attention is as a composer of glees. He was not prolific, considering the length of his life; the bulk of his composing was done between 1780 and 1800.

He was Organist of Charterhouse 1796-1837

1769–1791: The Revd Dr Samuel Berdmore, Master of Charterhouse

George Edward Jelf D.D., Master of Charterhouse. In 1907 he was appointed Master of Charterhouse in succession to William Haig Brown. He was in poor health shortly after moving to London, and he died on 19 November 1908 at the Master's lodge, Charterhouse.

Alfred Chune Fletcher, Medical Officer to Charterhouse, member of the Royal College of Surgeons of England; Senior House Surgeon, St Bartholemew’s Hospital, London.