Ham House (Richmond)

Member Name: caro

Product:	Richmond
Date:	17/04/01 (75 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Interesting, well worth a visit

Disadvantages: Not the easiest access by public transport

Ham House is a seventeenth century National Trust property in Ham, just outside Richmond. Most visitors seem to arrive by car, but you can get there by public transport, provided you don’t mind a reasonable walk from the station or bus stop. I arrived by bus, and found the walk a pleasant one, although it was a pity that they didn’t signpost a shortcut (via a public path) which would have taken a good five minutes off.

INTRODUCTION

As you enter the gardens of Ham House, the first thing you see is a wall topped with stone pineapples, in front of a stone statue… or do you? Actually, you don’t: they are made of Coade stone, an artificial stone whose secret is now lost. These are the first of many memorable features of the house.

Start your visit to the side of the house, in the courtyard. Here, there is a ten-minute introductory video which explains the history of the building and its owners. It’s ten minutes well spent, as it helps make sense of what you see in the house itself. Most importantly, the house was built for the Knight Marshal of James I and was later in the ownership of a childhood friend of Charles I; his daughter and heir married one of Charles II’s ministers. The wealth and power of these early owners is reflected in the house’s lavish interior.

THE INTERIOR

Cabinets were a status symbol, and it is therefore unsurprising that a house with such influential owners should contain a number of cabinets. On certain days, particularly bank holidays, many of the cabinets are open. I was lucky enough to visit on one such day. Most have some kind of surprise: one appears to contain dozens of small drawers, but in fact most are false fronts for larger drawers; another has gilt figures, plus pillars and a tiled ‘floor’ reflected in mirrors angled to give a sense of perspective.

The rooms are lushly decorated with tapestries, paintings, an
d superb plasterwork and carving. Perhaps one of the more surprising aspects of them, however, is that they are generally not as large as one might associate with a stately home. The first room you enter, the Great Hall, is simply not that great in terms of dimensions.

However, a tour of the house took me well in excess of an hour, and there was plenty to see in each room. The house even has its own chapel. Also of particular note are the main staircase, elaborately carved with military motifs, the wonderful textiles in the Museum Room (the toilet set with matching gown and slippers were a particular favourite of mine), the North Drawing Room’s elaborately carved fireplace, the rich green wallhangings of the Green Closet (this is hung with miniatures whose hooks were actually sewn onto the wall coverings rather than nailed into the wall), the strong-box in the Duchess’s bedchamber, and the artwork throughout.

The basement lacks the finery and visually stunning nature of the upstairs rooms, but has its own atmosphere and interest. Before entering the kitchen, examine the ‘handling collection’ of objects and see if you can work out what they are. The beer cellar holds various antique objects not currently used for display: fire grates, a wheelchair, a water heater for laundry, a huge metal pot, fragments of panelling. These have the same fascination as bric-a-brac shops: that same sort of collection of interesting but unrelated objects. There is also a final example of the luxury from upstairs: the Duchess’s Bathroom. Apparently she bathed here far more often than was customary for the time!

THE GARDENS

Immediately to the front and back of the house are the gardens, which are being restored to their original design. Their formal structure is best appreciated from the windows of the house, but they are also lovely to wander around. The little summer-houses, with shapes reminiscent of doveco
tes, are particular fun. There are wilderness areas, arranged in ‘compartments’ with mown grass walks between; carefully groomed shrubs creating geometric patterns; and a lawn which was being used for an Easter Egg hunt during my visit.

If you would like refreshments, there is a coffee shop in the Orangery. Like many National Trust cafes, it has a delicious selection of home-made cakes. Be a little careful, however: meals (including rolls) are not served after 2.30pm, and on some days the coffee shop closes at 4pm, earlier than the house.

There is also a shop, selling a range of National Trust gifts as well as books on the history of the house and the Richmond area. Next to the shop, you can look down into the Icehouse.

AFER YOUR VISIT

Ham House is set in meadows, and you can walk through these back to the road, or simply wander through the grounds of the property. If you walk straight on from the gates as you leave, you will reach the river in a few steps. From here, you can take a ferry across to Twickenham or walk along the towpath to Richmond Bridge. I did the latter and enjoyed the walk (about a mile) very much – the path is quite rough though, so wear appropriate footwear.

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