2010 News

Strawberry Hill House Reopens

Strawberry Hill House – the historic property on the northern fringe of St Mary's University College, Twickenham's Strawberry Hill campus – will reopen to the public this October following extensive renovation work.

Formerly known colloquially as Walpole House, Strawberry Hill House was built by Horace Walpole, writer and son of Britain's first Prime Minister, between 1747 and 1792. Walpole's Gothic villa was later bought by the Catholic Education Council in 1923 and St Mary's was moved to Strawberry Hill from its original Brook Green location two years later.

Over the years the property gradually fell into a state of disrepair and in order to ensure it was restored, the Strawberry Hill Trust signed a 120 year lease with St Mary's on the historic building and its four acres of gardens.

This allowed the Trust to raise millions of pounds in funding from major institutions and hundreds of private donors, including many former St Mary's students. Donations were matched by further funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund, allowing a total of nearly £9 million to be allocated to the project.

Expert craftsmen from the principal contractor E Bowman & Sons of Lincolnshire, alongside architects Inskip + Jenkins, agonised over every aspect of the villa, ensuring that the project became a restoration in the most accurate sense of the word, presenting the building and its decor as it was recorded to be in the late 18th century.

Visitors to the newly reopened villa will be enthralled by the shimmering whitewashed exterior, sumptuous silk wall coverings, and the glittering gilded vaults of the Gallery and Tribune.

To help them understand Walpole's extraordinary construction, an informative and witty audioguide has been produced. Additionally, every visitor will receive an abridged copy of Walpole's own Description – the guide to the house written and printed at Strawberry Hill.

Tickets, priced at £8 for adults, can be purchased on the Strawberry Hill website.

Article adapted from a piece written for The Simmarian Online by Nick Smith,Property Manager, Strawberry Hill.