NMC105/A NATIONAL MONUMENTS COUNCIL FILE NO@ For previous correspondence see old file No. (J O/\TLANDS PARK HOTEL Your Ref: 9/2/003/018 4 February 1994 Mr William A Martinson Architect North National Monuments Council PO Box 7888 Pretoria 0001 South Africa Dear Mr Martinson, I refer to your letter of 6th January 1994, addressed to our Manager. I regret very much that none of the information listed in your letter is available. I am however, taking the liberty of enclosing copies of some archive material in case it should prove of some interest. I would dearly love to have a photograph of Oatlands House, Grahamstown, approximately 24" x 24", which I will put up here, suitably framed and with an appropriate inscription. I could of course get this done locally if you could let me have a negative. Do come and visit Oatlands Park the next time you are in the U. K. You might even wish to stay here for a few days. Yours sine y, OAf LANDS PARK HOfTi. Managing Director Ameer Janmohamed (Past D.G., R.I., District 920) Managing Director ,----- 4 Adamson Road Oatlands Drive Swiss Cottage Weybridge London NW3 3111' Surrey KT13 9HB Tel: 01-722 2281 Tel: 0932847242 Telex: 297232 Telex: 915123 SWISCOG OATLNDG Oatlands Drive, Weybridge, Fax: (01) 483 4588 fax: 0932842252 Surrey, KT13 9HS Telephone: 0932 847242 Telex: 915123 OATLND G Fax: 0932 842252 Oatland~ Inv('~tm('ntq I,imil('d R"g, OHico: 20 Old B,i1ey I ,ondon F,C4M 7Hi I ~*** @) R<,g. in Fngl;l1ld No. 20111937 TELEPHONE ASHFIEr.D. W/l.I:rON- ON-THAMES e2U25 39 OATLANDS CHASE, CODES: UK (0932) XNTNL+44 (932) WEYBIUDGE, SURREY, J. P.HART KT139RP 20 July 1987 Mr Ameer Janmohamed Managing Director Oatlands Park Hotel Oatlands Surrey ~j t-P .... ,-,~e 4WJLd ~~ Er-.r ll-r 4 ....... Thank you for affording me the opportunity of meeting you and your colleagues last week. I have managed to obtain from the Editor of country Life a copy of the article "Princely Dweliings", ~ublished in the 24 July issue of last year, which I now ave pleasure in enclosing. The references in the text to Oatlands House contain a number of inaccuracies, which I shall endeavour to have corrected. The pictures (p. 217) are most pleasing and of interest. I am in the process of trying to trace the whereabouts of the originals, with a view to finding out if larger reproductions might be obtainable. Suitably framed, they would I feel look well in the hotel. I understand the pictures may be in the ..ownership of H.M. the Queen' ... 4 I was interested to hear of your plans to restore and upgrade the hotel. As you know history always attracts overseas visitors, particularly Americans, and I feel strongly that everything possible should be done to protect the ~rounds around the buildin~~ which provide its essential sett1ng. In this connection, the preservation of the carria e drive and its continued use as the main a roach to the hotel 1S w1dely regarded as of t e utmost J.mportance. As I told you, the SecreEarx of StaEe for Ehe Environment has rUled to this effect. I will be in touch with you when I have traced the pictures. U h,,--J. M.~.l.s jtil.....-! ~...;:.~l .J ~ ... )-b.r'{, 216 COUNTRY LIFE-JULY 24, 1986 I-CUMBERLAND LODGE, HOME OF GEORGE U'S SECOND SON. William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, who employed Thomus Sundby to add tbis £"ont, i8 Bcen here with friends, auhniring his horscs PRINCELY DWELLINGS HOUSES OF THE ROYAL YOUNGER SONS By CLIVE ASLET WIlere does • younger son liver 11u8 a,·uele describe8 !lle hOllses occupied by the younger 80ne of the Royal Family u·om tbe Hanoverian accession 10 tbe early 20lb cenlllry. VEN now that the wedding has taken place, not quite all the questions that a E dedicated royal watcher would want to ask about the Prince and Princess's future have been answered. One of the most intriguing of these is where they will live in the country, assuming that they will choose to do so in due course. It may therefore be timely to look at the manner in which the earher Qun er sons of rtnce n few S aml youse t emse ves'" . unld the early 20th century. Flot all their "Oomestlc arrangements, alas,f could be con­ sidered fit examples for emulation. But one thing thaI the review will show is that, if precedence is a factor, the royal couple's housing options are unexpectedly wide. George I had only one SOil, so the first younger SOil of the Hanoverian line is William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, the third but second surviving SOil of George II-the Butcher of Culloden. He was sufficiently interested in architecture to lend his support to Henry Flitcroft and was of some help to him when the latter was under attack at the Office of Works from the Earl of Bath. Flitcroft built various structures in Windsor Great Park, 2--GLOUCESTER LODGE, HOME OF THE DUKE;. OF GLOUCESTER, PAINTED BY where the Duke was Ranger, including a bridge THE FUTURE DUKE OF SUSSEX WilEN HE WAS 7t "One younger son salutes another" over Virginia Water and the triangular Bel­ vedere Tower, which became the nucleus of Fort Belvedere. But an even more popular figure was Thomas Sandby, whom the Dukr seems to :",bave mad~ Deputy Ranger and employed to add "ll'l":::",.': a new front to Cumberland Lodge (Fig 1). The Duke lived in Cranbourn Lodge (later remodelled by Wyatt), while the work was goinl! on (Fig 3). From his damming of the lake at Virginia Water, Salldby earned the nickname of "Tommy Sandbank". George II's eldest SOil, Frederick Prince of Wales-immortalised as Poor Fred in an unkind verse after his early death in 1751-did not live to be king, so his three younger sons, the brothers of George III, are strictly outside the range of this survey. Architecturally the most significant was the eldest, Edward, Duke of York. He commissioned Chambers to design York House in Pall Mall, but unfor­ tunately this scheme was not realised. The architect employed instead was Matthew Brettingham whose building (since demolished) WaS illustrated in Vilruvlu, Britannic"" volume four. After the Duke's death in 1767 it was occupied by his youngest brother, Henry, Duke of Cumberland, who had it altered by Robert Adam. A charming salute from one younger son to another exists in Figure 2, a watercolour by George Ill's sixth son, Prince Au!!"'tus Frederick, of Gloucester Lodge (otherWISe St Leonard's Hill), Windsor, home of the Duke of 3-CHANBOURN LODGE, ENGllAVED BY HOLLYEH. Lived in temporarily hy Ihe Gloucester. The latter was the fourth of Poor Duk. of Cumberland. Thi. view .how. it after Wyatt'. alt.mUons in 1804-05 Fred's sons., The painting is inscribed with the ~. ,~ :0:'. COUNTRY LIFB-JULY 24, 1986 217 Prince's ·age 71 years, and it is easy to detect the influence of his drawinjl master Paul Sandby, who was no doubt 1•• 111118 over hi' ,houlder as he did it. Given their father's iuterest in architecture and their eldest brother's extravagance, it is only to be expected th.t the younger ,ons of George III should have been busy at building. They .11 showed their characters in what they did, while having some preferences­ P!l.rtkutarly in terms of location-·in common. Whe!. they •• t.bU,hed the",s.lve. 0111,1.1. 1.",,<1011, di.~ neve. Went very rar .field. ""', generally, aid they .tay very 1011g­ anticipating by several generations the taste for weekending that is generally associated with Edward VII. Frederick, Duke of York had, his first countr nouse III YOrkSolre. 6ut shord belore hIS marrla e in an some t re Ul an an scapi! y t e u e or-mwcaslc 10 the mla 18th centur~3 with a sr~o, Une mght m 17 ,while t e Duke 01 York was with the army in Flanders, fire broke out and the house was destroyed. He had Henry Holland rebuild it in what, for him, was an unaccustomed Gothic style: presumably Gothic had been chosen to perpetuate the Tudor associations. A descriptive letter publilhed in the Gelllle",an', Magazine in 1808 (an editorial note endearingly explains that it had been mislaid since 1801) was critical of the general disposition, but admired the details .. These were the work of the antiquarian and ar"chitect John Carter. Carter himself was so proud of them that he used an en ravm of U.tlana, 'as t e ront1s~lece to IS e n"en rc II ec ute 0 4-OATLANDS HOUSE, SURREY, REBUILT BY HENRY HOLLAND FOR THE DUKE ~I 06), wllich he dedicated to t e u e OF YORK, WITH DETAILS BY JOHN CAUTER. Th. previous hou •• burnt in 1793 5-OATLANDS, WITH CARTEH'S CLOCK TOWEll, SUPPOSEDLY MODELLED ON WELLS CATHEDll.AL. Th. Dueh••• of York lived here in retirement, surrounded by animals. Paiuted in the early 19th century by the same anonymous artist as Figure 4 . 218 COUNTRY LIFE-JULY 24, 1986 . "., '~".'''''' 6-BUSHEY PARl( IN 1839, BY H. B. ZIEGLER. The Duke of Clarence (William IV) and IU8 mi,tr••• Mrs Jordan lived her. for many ye ...; it wao improved .. ftor hl. marriage 10 Princ••• Adelaide in 1618 of York, Figures 4 and 5 show Oatlonds to have been a pretty house, if not very convincingly Gothic. The Gothic element consists largely of battlemented parapets, buttresses, pointed windows to the ground lIoor and clock on a turret insptred by WeUs Cathedral.