Rutland House

Rutland House was the name of at least two

Dukes of Rutland

. That on Aldersgate Street was leased by playwright Sir William Davenant, who converted a room of it into a private theatre in the 1650s. That in Knightsbridge was a six-acre site until its demolition in the 1830s.

Rutland House, Aldersgate Street

Rutland House on

Smithfield Market, was leased by the playwright and impresario Sir William Davenant

(1606–1668).

In 1656, freshly released from imprisonment, Davenant turned a room of the house into what was, at first, a private

Puritan government of Oliver Cromwell

.

The house seems to have been not totally suitable for theatrical use; however, a low narrow hall, or

salon, at the rear of the house was adapted for the performances. Rather than sitting in comfort, the audience had to sit on improvised benches, and so confined was the space available that the benches had to be arranged at an angle to the small stage to accommodate the large audiences who came. The small stage, described by Davenant as a "Cup-board stage", was adorned with gold and purple curtains. Above the stage in what was contemporarily described as a "louver hole" was concealed a small orchestra

.

Davenant had seen Italian

actress, Mrs. Coleman ^[1] and was later transferred to the Cockpit Theatre in Drury Lane.^[2]

Davenant established at least two other "private performance houses" in Lincoln's Inn Fields and Drury Lane. After Davenant opened more conventional theatres, he continued to use Rutland House to preview new productions, to gauge audience reaction.

Rutland House, Knightsbridge

Crop of Christopher and John Greenwood's 8 inch-to-mile map published in 1827 from an 1830 republication (click to view all). In the far west is Kingston House. In the north-east is Hyde Park Barracks.

This was built for John Manners, 3rd Duke of Rutland.^[3] It enjoyed at first a rectangular plot of 6 acres (2.4 ha) in Knightsbridge London, however by its destruction had sold off the north-east quarter for two large houses, one of which, Kent House, likely already served as a subsidiary.

The house stood from the mid 18th century until it was demolished in 1836.^[3]

Rutland Gate

Rutland Gate, a double-square of grand houses around two tree-planted narrow communal greens was engineered and erected on its site, save for №s 48C to 65 which come from the land to the west.[3]^[4] Many of its buildings are listed.

References

^ "Transcription of diary". www.gutenberg.org. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
^ "Transcription of diary". www.gutenberg.org. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
^ ^a ^b ^c Manners, Walter Evelyn (9 April 1899). "Some Account of the Military, Political, and Social Life of the Right Hon. John Manners, Marquis of Granby". Macmillan and Company, limited – via Google Books.
^ "Rutland Gate | British History Online". www.british-history.ac.uk.

External links

51°31′09″N 0°05′49″W / 51.519052°N 0.096946°W / 51.519052; -0.096946

[1] "Transcription of diary". www.gutenberg.org. Retrieved 9 April 2020.

[2] "Transcription of diary". www.gutenberg.org. Retrieved 9 April 2020.

[surv-3] Manners, Walter Evelyn (9 April 1899). "Some Account of the Military, Political, and Social Life of the Right Hon. John Manners, Marquis of Granby". Macmillan and Company, limited – via Google Books.

[4] "Rutland Gate | British History Online". www.british-history.ac.uk.

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