Comments on: The Staircases of Old London

By: tovangar2

tovangar2 — Thu, 31 May 2018 23:18:05 +0000

No offense to the current occupant, the Ghana High Commission, but it is a great pity that Cromwell House (1637-8), Highgate’s only Grade I listed building, is not open to the public.

BTW, these days, the carved newel post statues are replacements, the originals having been stolen in the 1980s when the house was derelict.

By: Lesley Russell

Lesley Russell — Sat, 24 Dec 2016 16:31:28 +0000

Wonderful, evocative photos. An especial interest for me in the ones of Cromwell House. Now the High Commission of Ghana, the house was built by Richard Sprignell in 1637, the staircase’s motifs of military trophies alluding to his earlier military career. Looking at these photos it is easy to conjure up the ghosts of Sprignell, his wife Anne DeLaune and their large family living in the house. Easy too to imagine poor Richard Sprignell there, declared a lunatic in 1658 after several episodes of madness, and his father-in-law, Gideon DeLaune, an immensely wealthy one-time Royal Apothecary, who died, aged 94 and blind, here in 1659, just a few months after Richard. Only one of Richard and Anne’s sons married, and when he childless it was only a few years before the house passed out of Sprignell ownership.
The house was used as Great Ormond Street Hospital’s convalescent home From 1868 until 1924.

By: Paul Holland

Paul Holland — Tue, 23 Feb 2016 00:47:54 +0000

Alas most of these are now demolished, as are most of the architectural past gems of London. All lost is daily destruction forced upon London in the name of progress, modernisation, big business, too much money sloshing around and of course our dear dear heathen Lord Mayor of London who is hell bent on demolishing every building and replacing it with office sky scrapers and folly flats that noone lives in, just there as a speculative investment for the wealthy overseas bods. Even the streets are disappering in the city and certainly the allys and side passages are all either gone, going or likely to go in the near future. Londons very soul is dying, if not already dead. With it, so much else has of spiritual and cultural value has died or is dying

By: Mikki

Mikki — Sun, 09 Mar 2014 17:20:17 +0000

These places should be noted in tour guide books – what a lovely part of history – would have loved to have seen the stair cases in most of these places – hard to find any of these in the USA – unless you go back east to the time of the industrial age of the late 1800’s and early 1900’s when there were the wealthiest families of New York City and Newport R.I.

By: gioconda

gioconda — Sun, 27 Oct 2013 18:06:49 +0000

Long staircases and closed doors form a mystery in a single photograph. Haunting and intriguing–an unusual subject done tastefully in your style. Thank you for this novel perspective.

By: Ana

Ana — Sun, 26 May 2013 14:48:30 +0000

I just keep expecting to see a glimpse of ectoplasma on some of them 😀 .

By: Peter Banting

Peter Banting — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 18:52:56 +0000

Wonderful….They take one to a higher level, literally and aesthetically.

By: Judy

Judy — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 08:57:56 +0000

Wonderful photos, full of the character of their times (some of them rather sinister….).
Thank you once again GA! Really enjoyed them.

By: lynne

lynne — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 15:26:17 +0000

OK, I could also become a lover of staircases – I love these old photos.

By: andrea

andrea — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 15:24:51 +0000

Staircases! Years ago I had to write an art history exam, in which we were asked to “Discuss the development of the neoclassical staircase, using examples.” Fortunately there were other questions to choose from, but that one haunts me still.