Students’ fieldtrips
I used to organise student fieldtrips to explore English hidden cultural heritage at National Trust sites and English Heritage properties. A few years ago, I and Chungwen Li (Dean of Ming Ai Institute) took our students to Kenwood House to conduct data collection on arts tourism and English heritage conservation. That was also our first collaboration to evaluate the relations between Asian and English heritage practices.
The 17th Century House
The first house on the site was probably a brick structure built by John Bill, King James I’s printer, who purchased the estate in 1616. Ownership of the property was passed down to his son and grandson until it was sold to Brook Bridges in 1690 for £3,400. At the time of the sale, the house was already quite substantial, as evidenced by the recording of 24 hearths in the 1665 Hearth Tax assessment.
Around 1700, the house underwent significant modifications, possibly carried out by William Bridges, the son of Brook Bridges and owner of Kenwood from 1694 to 1705. The result was a new two-storey red brick building featuring stone quoins, large sash windows, a hipped roof, and a projecting central section with a triangular pediment. These changes transformed the appearance of the house. (Source: English Heritage)
Now
During the Second World War, Kenwood housed servicemen. In 1949, realising the need for significant repair work, the Iveagh Bequest Trustees handed it over to London County Council. It was taken over by English Heritage in 1986.
Following an extensive repair and conservation project began in 2012, part-funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, Kenwood reopened in late 2013. Work included repairing the Westmorland slate roof and redecorating the exterior and interior of the house, based on new paint research on the original Adam scheme, and a redisplay of the Iveagh Bequest paintings in the south front rooms. (English Heritage)
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