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'''Verulam House''' was a building in [[St Albans]], built by [[Francis Bacon]] to supplement his family home of [[Old Gorhambury House|Gorhambury]].<ref name="Gor">{{Cite web|url=https://sirbacon.org/links/gorhambury.html|title=Gorhambury, the Bacon Family and the Eight Shakespeare Quartos|year=1997|author=Lawrence Gerald}}</ref> The main source describing it is [[John Aubrey]]'s ''[[Brief Lives]]'' (1669-1696).<ref name="Aub">{{cite web|url=https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/47787/pg47787-images.html|title='Brief Lives,' chiefly of Contemporaries, set down by John Aubrey, between the Years 1669 & 1696 EDITED FROM THE AUTHOR'S MSS. BY ANDREW CLARK M.A., LINCOLN COLLEGE, OXFORD; M.A. AND LL.D., ST. ANDREWS WITH FACSIMILES - VOLUME I. (A-H)|location=Oxford|year=1898}}</ref> It was named after [[Verulamium]], the ancient Roman city of St Albans, though it was not sited within that city's walls as Aubrey asserted.<ref name="Soc"></ref>
'''Verulam House''' was a building in [[St Albans]], built by [[Francis Bacon]] to supplement his family home of [[Old Gorhambury House|Gorhambury]].<ref name="Gor">{{Cite web|url=https://sirbacon.org/links/gorhambury.html|title=Gorhambury, the Bacon Family and the Eight Shakespeare Quartos|year=1997|author=Lawrence Gerald}}</ref> The main source describing it is [[John Aubrey]]'s ''[[Brief Lives]]'' (1669-1696).<ref name="Aub">{{cite web|url=https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/47787/pg47787-images.html|title='Brief Lives,' chiefly of Contemporaries, set down by John Aubrey, between the Years 1669 & 1696 EDITED FROM THE AUTHOR'S MSS. BY ANDREW CLARK M.A., LINCOLN COLLEGE, OXFORD; M.A. AND LL.D., ST. ANDREWS WITH FACSIMILES - VOLUME I. (A-H)|location=Oxford|year=1898}}</ref> It was named after [[Verulamium]], the ancient Roman city of St Albans, though it was not sited within that city's walls as Aubrey asserted.<ref name="Soc"></ref>


Bacon completed it around 1617, partly motivated by a drought which starved the advanced plumbing system built at Gorhambury by his father - Bacon stated that "since he could not carry the water to his house, he would carry his house to the water".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bartleby.com/lit-hub/apophthegms-new-and-old/contained-in-the-second-edition-of-the-resuscitatio-1661-and-not-in-the-original-collection/|title=Apophthegms Contained in the Second Edition of the Resuscitatio (1661), and Not in the Original Collection}}</ref> He picked a site next to water gardens he had already constructed<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1469638|title=The Pondyards, Gorhambury|publisher=Historic England}}</ref> and Aubrey writes that he was assisted in the designs by the father of the painter [[William Dobson]].<ref name="Soc">{{Cite web|url=https://www.stalbanshistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/1933_03_with_cover.pdf|title=The Manor and Houses of Gorhambury|author=J C Rogers|year=1933|pages=52, 57, 60-67}}</ref> Again according to Aubrey, it cost £9000-£10,000 and included underground larders, an underground kitchen and two rooms for [[Turkish baths]].<ref name="Aub"></ref>
Bacon completed it around 1617, partly motivated by a drought which starved the advanced plumbing system built at Gorhambury by his father - Bacon stated that "since he could not carry the water to his house, he would carry his house to the water".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bartleby.com/lit-hub/apophthegms-new-and-old/contained-in-the-second-edition-of-the-resuscitatio-1661-and-not-in-the-original-collection/|title=Apophthegms Contained in the Second Edition of the Resuscitatio (1661), and Not in the Original Collection|date=9 July 2022 }}</ref> He picked a site next to water gardens he had already constructed<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1469638|title=The Pondyards, Gorhambury|publisher=Historic England}}</ref> and Aubrey writes that he was assisted in the designs by the father of the painter [[William Dobson]].<ref name="Soc">{{Cite web|url=https://www.stalbanshistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/1933_03_with_cover.pdf|title=The Manor and Houses of Gorhambury|author=J C Rogers|year=1933|pages=52, 57, 60-67}}</ref> Again according to Aubrey, it cost £9000-£10,000 and included underground larders, an underground kitchen and two rooms for [[Turkish baths]].<ref name="Aub"></ref>


Bacon died childless and so Gorhambury and Verulam House were both inherited by [[Thomas Meautys]] then passed to his widow Anne's second husband [[Sir Harbottle Grimston, 2nd Baronet|Sir Harbottle Grimston]], who assigned Verulam House to his son George upon the latter's marriage.<ref name="Soc"></ref> It was occupied by George's widow after his death without issue.<ref name="Soc"></ref> Neglected during the [[English Civil War]], it was demolished in 1663 or 1665-1666 and the materials sold off to two carpenters for £400, who then sold it on for double the price they had paid for it.<ref name="Gor"></ref><ref name="Aub"></ref>
Bacon died childless and so his will conveyed Verulam House to trustees for the use of his secretary [[Thomas Meautys]]. It then passed to his widow Anne's second husband [[Sir Harbottle Grimston, 2nd Baronet|Sir Harbottle Grimston]], who assigned Verulam House to his son George upon the latter's marriage.<ref name="Soc"></ref> It was occupied by George's widow after his death without issue.<ref name="Soc"></ref> Neglected during the [[English Civil War]], it was demolished in 1663 or 1665-1666 and the materials sold off to two carpenters for £400, who then sold them on for double the price they had paid for it.<ref name="Gor"></ref><ref name="Aub"></ref>


==References==
==References==

Revision as of 08:13, 24 June 2024

Verulam House, from The Oxford cabinet, consisting of engravings from original pictures, in the Ashmolean Museum, and other public and private collections; with biographical anecdotes, by John Aubrey, F.R.S. and other celebrated writers (1797)

Verulam House was a building in St Albans, built by Francis Bacon to supplement his family home of Gorhambury.[1] The main source describing it is John Aubrey's Brief Lives (1669-1696).[2] It was named after Verulamium, the ancient Roman city of St Albans, though it was not sited within that city's walls as Aubrey asserted.[3]

Bacon completed it around 1617, partly motivated by a drought which starved the advanced plumbing system built at Gorhambury by his father - Bacon stated that "since he could not carry the water to his house, he would carry his house to the water".[4] He picked a site next to water gardens he had already constructed[5] and Aubrey writes that he was assisted in the designs by the father of the painter William Dobson.[3] Again according to Aubrey, it cost £9000-£10,000 and included underground larders, an underground kitchen and two rooms for Turkish baths.[2]

Bacon died childless and so his will conveyed Verulam House to trustees for the use of his secretary Thomas Meautys. It then passed to his widow Anne's second husband Sir Harbottle Grimston, who assigned Verulam House to his son George upon the latter's marriage.[3] It was occupied by George's widow after his death without issue.[3] Neglected during the English Civil War, it was demolished in 1663 or 1665-1666 and the materials sold off to two carpenters for £400, who then sold them on for double the price they had paid for it.[1][2]

References

  1. ^ a b Lawrence Gerald (1997). "Gorhambury, the Bacon Family and the Eight Shakespeare Quartos".
  2. ^ a b c "'Brief Lives,' chiefly of Contemporaries, set down by John Aubrey, between the Years 1669 & 1696 EDITED FROM THE AUTHOR'S MSS. BY ANDREW CLARK M.A., LINCOLN COLLEGE, OXFORD; M.A. AND LL.D., ST. ANDREWS WITH FACSIMILES - VOLUME I. (A-H)". Oxford. 1898.
  3. ^ a b c d J C Rogers (1933). "The Manor and Houses of Gorhambury" (PDF). pp. 52, 57, 60–67.
  4. ^ "Apophthegms Contained in the Second Edition of the Resuscitatio (1661), and Not in the Original Collection". 9 July 2022.
  5. ^ "The Pondyards, Gorhambury". Historic England.