Syon House and Grounds
 Stately Homes |
Nearest railway station: Kew Bridge then cab or bus to Syon House. Address: Syon Park, Brentford Middlesex, TW 8JF, United Kingdom.
The London home of the Northumberland family for over 400 hundred years, Syon House is situated on the banks of the River Thames in the Brentford district of London and has been at the centre of English history since its founding by Henry V in 1415.
The property began life as an abbey and stood on the place of the present Syon House. The abbey soon acquired a reputation for its religious leaning and its large library which contained over 14,000 books and manuscripts. Unfortunately, virtually no sign of the library remains today, having been suppressed during the Protestant Reformation of the 1530s. The abbey then became Crown property and was host to some memorable historical events. Catherine Howard, the fifth wife of King Henry VII, was confined at the abbey before being executed in 1542. One of the most haunting occurrences at the abbey surrounds Henry VIII himself. When he died in 1547 his coffin lay in the abbey as it was making its way from Westminster to Windsor.
During the night a prophecy of a Franciscan friar, Petro, was fulfilled when in the morning a pack of dogs were found licking up some of Henry's remains that had seeped through the coffin form his bloated body. In 1535, Petro, Petro, when preaching before the King, had declared "that God's judgements were ready to fall upon his head .... And that the dogs would lick his blood as they had done Ahab's". The apparent fulfilment of the prophecy was seen as a punishment for Henry for having suppressed the abbey.In 1547 the property came into the hands of the Duke of Somerset, the Lord Protector to the infant king, Edward VI, and began to build a grand house, much of which survives to this very day. After Somerset's execution in 1552 for alleged treason, the property was secured by the newly created Duke of Northumberland. It was his son, the Lord Guilford Dudley, who married the granddaughter of Mary, the youngest sister of Henry VIII, and it was at Syon that Jane, reluctantly, accepted the Crown, which she kept for nine days, before being overthrown by her cousin, Mary Tudor., the daughter of Henry VIII. Northumberland was subsequently executed for plotting to secure the Protestant succession. The property experienced 50 years of uncertainty, after which it was given by King James I, in 1597, to Henry Percy, the IX Earl of Northumberland. It has remained with the family ever since.
Today Syon is full of architectural and artistic splendour such as the Great Hall which houses some of the best examples of neo-classical architecture in Britain, the Anti-room with its coloured scaglida floor and the Dining Room spectacular carved ceiling, polished floor and alcoves filled with neo-classical statues . The other highlight of the House is the Long Gallery, which stretches along its length. It contains thousands of books and is lavishly decorated with carvings and marquetry and has beautiful bay windows overlooking the River Thames. It is in the Long Gallery that the young Lady Jane Grey accepted the throne of England. From the Long Gallery leads a spectacular staircase to the bedrooms, each maintained in period style. The apartments include the quarters of the young Princess Victoria, who frequently stayed in the House before she became queen. Throughout the House one also encounters numerous works of art by such masters as Canaletto and antique furniture and beautiful ornaments like the Sevres Vase and carvings and decorations by the great architect, Robert Adams. . Surrounding the House are some of the most beautiful gardens and parkland to be found in any stately home. They contain their own meadows that are full of exotic plants and wild life including roaming peacocks, a Great Conservatory, lakes and woodlands. The grounds make for wonderful picnics and can be explored in a miniature railway that provides fun rides for the whole family.