Garrick's Temple to Shakespeare
51°24′45″N 0°21′34″W / 51.4124°N 0.3594°W | |
Location | Hampton, London |
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Type | Folly |
Material | Brick |
Beginning date | 1755 |
Completion date | 1756 |
Dedicated to | William Shakespeare |
Designations | |
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Listed Building – Grade I | |
Official name | Garrick's Shakespeare Temple |
Designated | 2 September 1952 |
Reference no. | 1065456 |
Garrick's Temple to Shakespeare is a small garden folly erected in 1756 on the north bank of the River Thames at Hampton in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Grade I listed,[1] it was built by the actor David Garrick to honour the playwright William Shakespeare, whose plays Garrick performed to great acclaim throughout his career. During his lifetime Garrick used it to house his extensive collection of Shakespearean relics and for entertaining his family and guests. It passed through a succession of owners until coming into public ownership in the 1930s, but it had fallen into serious disrepair by the end of the 20th century. After a campaign supported by distinguished actors and donations from the National Lottery's "good causes" fund, it was restored in the late 1990s and reopened to the public as a museum and memorial to the life and career of Garrick. It is reputedly the world's only shrine to Shakespeare.[2]
Description
The temple is an octagonal
History
Construction
Garrick built the temple on land adjoining
At some point in 1755 he decided to build a summer-house by the riverside which he intended to dedicate to his muse Shakespeare as a "temple" to the playwright. The temple's architect is unknown as his decision to build it is not recorded in his own papers.
On 4 August 1755, his neighbour and friend Horace Walpole wrote to a correspondent: "I have contracted a sort of intimacy with Garrick, who is my neighbour. He affects to study my taste; I lay it all upon you – he admires you. He is building a graceful temple to Shakespeare: I offered him this motto: Quod spiro et placeo, si placeo tuum est [If I inspire and give pleasure, it is because of you]."[4] A year later, Walpole wrote in another letter:
He has built a temple to his master Shakespear [sic], and I am going to adorn the outside, since his modesty would not let me decorate it within, as I proposed, with these mottos:
Quod spiro et placeo, si placeo, tuum est.
That I spirit have and nature,
That sense breaths in ev’ry feature
That I please, if please I do,
Shakespear, all I owe to you.[4]
The garden in front of the temple was laid out in accordance with Garrick's friend
Contents
The temple's interior was furnished as a shrine to Shakespeare. It was dominated by a statue of the playwright commissioned by Garrick from the French
Garrick exhibited his collection of Shakespeare relics in the temple, including a chair made from a mulberry tree which had supposedly been planted by Shakespeare in the grounds of
Usage
Garrick employed the temple not just as a museum but as a working building. As well as using it as a quiet place to learn his lines and write letters, the actor used it to entertain his wife and guests for
We had an excellent dinner nicely served, and then went over directly into the garden – a piece of irregular ground sloping down to the Thames, very well laid out, and planted for shade and shelter; and an opening to the river which appears beautiful from that spot, and from Shakespeare's Temple at the end of the Improvement, where we drank tea, and where there is a very fine statue of Shakespeare in white marble, and a great chair with a large carved frame, that was Shakespeare's own chair, made for him on some particular occasion, with a medallion fixed in the back. Many were the relics we saw of the favourite poet. At six o'clock Lady Weymouth's fine group of children walked into the garden, which added to the agreeableness of the scene.[11]
His visitors were encouraged to pay homage to the Bard by writing verses in Shakespeare's honour and placing them at the foot of the statue. Garrick had the best of them published anonymously in the London journals.
In August 1774, the temple and gardens were the centrepiece of Garrick's elaborate silver jubilee celebrations to celebrate 25 years of marriage. The London Chronicle reported:
Last night Mr Garrick gave a splendid entertainment or Fete Champetre at his gardens at Hampton. Signior Torre conducted a most brilliant fire-work; an elegant concert of music was performed; and the company, which consisted of a great number of Nobility and Gentry, expressed the utmost satisfaction on the occasion. The temple of Shakespeare, and gardens, were illuminated with 6000 lamps, and the forge of Vulcan made a splendid appearance.[4]
Garrick also opened the temple and garden to the public on special occasions. Each May Day, seated on the chair noted by Mrs Delany and accompanied by his wife, he would give the poor children of Hampton money and cakes.[6] A woman who attended one such May Day event later recalled: "When I was called up, I took my six [children] into the Temple, where Mr Garrick was sitting by the fine bust with great cakes before him; he took down all their names, and then gave a shilling and a piece of plum-cake to every individual one; not even leaving out poor babes in their mothers' arms."[14]
Preservation and restoration
The temple and villa remained in the hands of Garrick's wife until her death in 1822 at the age of 98. It was subsequently bought by her solicitor, Thomas Carr, who preserved it as a monument to Garrick and even erected a statue of him in the temple to replace the Roubiliac Shakespeare.[5] It changed hands several more times until, in 1923, the villa was converted into apartments. The riverside lawn was sold separately along with the temple and was bought by a Paul Glaize, who built a three-storey house alongside the temple. This caused such controversy and public outcry that in 1932 the site was bought by Hampton Urban District Council so that Glaize's Temple House could be demolished. The lawn and temple were subsequently opened to the public. They have remained in public ownership ever since.[15][16]
During the
By the 1990s the temple's condition had deteriorated again and it had suffered heavy vandalism. The
The restoration work was undertaken by Donald Insall Associates.[16] The temple was reopened to the public in late 1998, and in early 1999 the garden was replanted to replicate its original Georgian appearance. The British Museum provided a copy of Roubiliac's statue of Shakespeare to occupy the vacant niche where the original had once stood. The temple was populated with an exhibition on Garrick's life and career, including copies of portraits by Gainsborough, Reynolds and Zoffany.[2] The project was completed by April 1999.[16]
Today the temple is managed by Garrick's Temple Partnership, which brings together the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, the Garrick's Temple to Shakespeare Trust, the Temple Trust, the Thames Landscape Strategy and Hampton Riverside Trust.[4] The Garrick's Temple to Shakespeare Trust is chaired by the actor Clive Francis, and Liz Crowther is a member of the Temple Management Committee.[8] The temple is open to the public on Sunday afternoons between April and September.[4] It is used for concerts, annual general meetings and private events, and runs an educational programme for local schoolchildren in conjunction with the nearby Orleans House.[17]
See also
- Astoria (recording studio) (neighbour)
- seal ringthat may have belonged to William Shakespeare. Like the ring in Garrick's Temple, it also has the letters WS
References
- ^ a b c Historic England (2 September 1952). "Garrick's Shakespeare Temple (1065456)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 13 August 2011.
- ^ a b c Moore, Bruce (n.d.). "Ode to the Bard". Deccan Herald.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Ode to the Bard". The Green. April 2010.[permanent dead link]
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Local History Notes – Garrick's Villa and Temple to Shakespeare" (PDF). Richmond Libraries. Retrieved 13 August 2011.
- ^ a b c "Garrick's Villa: Hampton". The Twickenham Museum. Retrieved 13 August 2011.
- ^ a b c "Garrick's Temple to Shakespeare Newsletter" (PDF) (1). Garrick's Temple to Shakespeare Trust. Spring 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 September 2011. Retrieved 20 August 2011.
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(help) - ^ a b "The History of Garrick's Temple to Shakespeare at Hampton". Temple Trust. Retrieved 20 August 2011.
- ^ a b c "Garrick's Temple to Shakespeare Newsletter" (PDF) (2). Garrick's Temple to Shakespeare Trust. Spring 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 September 2011. Retrieved 20 August 2011.
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(help) - ^ ISBN 978-1-4165-4162-2.
- ISBN 978-0-8093-0833-0.
- ISBN 978-0-7112-3037-8.
- ISBN 978-1-135-91236-9.
- ISBN 978-1-107-04277-3.
- ^ Ripley, Henry (1884). The history and topography of Hampton-on-Thames. London: Wyman and sons. p. 15.
- ^ "Garrick's Temple: Hampton". The Twickenham Museum. Retrieved 13 August 2011.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7134-8834-0.
- ^ "Garrick's Temple to Shakespeare Newsletter" (PDF). Garrick's Temple to Shakespeare Trust. Spring 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 September 2011. Retrieved 20 August 2011.
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External links
- Media related to Garrick's Temple to Shakespeare at Wikimedia Commons
- Garrick's Temple to Shakespeare Trust