(©Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove)
In our last full post we studied the exterior of that magical building,The Royal Pavilion at Brighton. A place Jane Austen would have truly detested for its associations with the Prince Regent, but still….
(©Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove)
Today we are going to begin our tour of the interior. At this point I should sincerely like to thank, Sue Bishop and Ellie Taylor of the Royal Pavillion staff for all their help with my visit. Poor Ellie had to guide me around the Pavilion, and became my unofficial sherper bearer for the duration of my visit, carrying my heavy bags and coat to free me up for photography. The photographs I took were not of the highest standard. It is very , VERY rare to be granted permission to photograph the interior of the Pavilion and of course flash photography is not allowed. As you can see from the pervious posts, the day I visited was the darkest day of the year, and so ,even though these photographs were taken at noon, they tend to be rather dark. Ellie has rather wonderfully given me permission to use some of the Brighton Museums own photographs of the interior of the Pavillion and I will share them with you here as they do give a clear impression of the stunningly beautiful interiors to be found in the Pavilion.
Because the interiors are so special and unique I thought we’d take our time over our virtual trip and today and in our next post we shall visit some of the ground floor rooms and then we will see some of the costumes on show on the ground floor. To help orientate you as we go on our tour, here, below, is a close up of the ground plan of the Pavillion:
and here is it annotated in red with the route we are going to take today: rooms numbers 1-4.
When you enter the Pavilion, you first enter a porte-cochere, ( number 1 in red on the plan) then the Octogon Hall,(number 2 in red on the plan) so called because it has eight sides. Here you get the first intimation of the magnificent chinoiserie rooms that await you. Though the hall is quite plain compared with the rest of the building, it does have tiny bells that hang from the ceiling canopy …that would have tinkled in the breeze from the door….and a beautiful Chinese inspired glass lantern…
(©Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove)
It gives you a tiny intimation of what delights are to come. I have seen this room described as being like a charming garden pavilion in its own right , and I do think that is the impression it gives. The watercolour reproduced above was one from a book commissioned by the Prince Regent from John Nash, his architect, to commemorate the rooms in his wonderfully fantastical palace.He used to give away copies to every favoured guest….do enlrage the images to see the exquisite detail.
(©Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove)
This is how the room looks like today..it is not much changed, the bells still hanging from the ceiling and the burnished brass fireplace gleaming a very cheerful greeting to any visitors who had been ushered in here by the royal footmen. The room also gives a glimpse into the next room, marked number 3 in red on the plan, the Entrance Hall proper…
(©Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove)
This is Nash’s view of it in the 1820s. If you enlarge it you can see some privileged visitor arriving by carriage, a view through to the porte-cochere through the Octagon Hall.
(©Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove)
This is how the room appears today. It still has its beautiful screen of painted glass and Chinese lanterns,and its decorating scheme of jade green
it is interesting to note that this room has always been carpeted. A departure from the norm, for most grand halls of great homes in the early nineteenth century had floors made of stone or marble. The Prince Regent was having none of that in his pleasure palace. He wanted comfort….and he got it.
This beautiful jade room then led to one of the most outstanding rooms in the Pavilion, the Long Gallery. This is numbered 4 on the plan above.
(©Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove)
This is how it appeared in the 1820s again in a watercolour by Nash. The decorations were created by that famous Regency decorator Frederick Crace. Though its primary use was as a corridor linking the main rooms, you can see from the books and furniture on show- the ivoery veneered Chippendale style chairs were brough by the Prince Regent from the sale of his mother,Queen Charlotte’s effects after her death in 1819- it also functioned as a very pleasant room, lit from above and by the splendid Chinese glass lanterns.
(©Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove)
A lovely touch is that there are now gas fires lit in every fireplace in the Pavilion, giving the impression of life and also adding some warmth for the attendants and visitors on cold wintery days.
The Long Gallery was used as a route from the Banqueting room to the Music Room , where after dinner entertainments were held. But before we go to the Banqueting room, lets visit below stair to the Great Kitchen.
(©Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove)
This is Nash’s view of the room.And as you can clearly see it is a wonderfully practical and large kitchen( appropriately enough for the Prince who had a prodigious appetite) but that it also is in keeping with the exotically themed building: the cast iron columns supporting the roof are made in the form of palm leaves.
(©Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove)
The Prince Regent often showed his visitors around the Pavilion himself and took great delight in taking them to visit his whimsical but up to the minute kitchen. The Comtesse de Boigne recorded that
“If he (the Prince Regent-jfw) happened to meet any newcomers to the Pavilion, he took great delight in showing them over the palace himself, a special point being his kitchens, which were entirely steam heated by a system at that time new,with which he was charmed”
He employed many of the great chefs of the day here, most famously the French chef, Marie-Antoine Careme.
You can see the good ventilation in this room- something a lot of Georgian kitchen were without.
The magnificent roasting spits were powered by smoke jacks
There is still, in one corner the largest mortar and pestle I have ever seen
and every modern convenicne…General Tilney would have no doubt approved..
Next we go into the small but fascinating Pages Room and then the Oriental splendour of the Banqueting Room. Do join me!
13 comments
June 22, 2011 at 4:20 pm
Caitlin
What a confection! The kitchen is amazing -love all the decorative touches throughout the room. it must have been very pleasant to work in. What is a smoke jack? Glad to see no spit dogs here. I didn’t realize steam heat systems dated to that era. Intersting they were in the kitchen. Were any others heated that way? Love the idea of the bells tinkling in the sea breezes. Thank you so much for sharing your adventure with us!
June 23, 2011 at 4:52 pm
jfwakefield
The kitchen is totally astounding. The smoke jack was a mechanism used to turn the spit, the heat and smoke from the fire turned a flywheel set inside the chimney which operated a chain link system to turn the spit.. More humane than a turnspit boy or dog I do agree. There was a table in the middle of the kitchen which was steam heated, but sadly that is no longer there.
June 24, 2011 at 12:38 pm
Caitlin
Thnak you for the explanation on the smoke jack. I thought perhaps there might be a way to capture the energy of the heat and use it. What a fabulous place.
June 25, 2011 at 10:12 am
jfwakefield
My pleasure! I suppose they did harness that energy in a way… And less traumatic than having a dog do the work!
June 22, 2011 at 4:54 pm
Jane/Chilly Hollow
Thank you for the tour. I’ve always wanted to see what the Prince Regent wrought.
Jane, waving from Chilly Hollow
June 22, 2011 at 8:01 pm
deana@lostpastremembered
I love the drawings contrasted with the modern photos… how wonderful the spaces have changed so little. Of course, the kitchen is magnificent… a joyful space that any cook would give his eye teeth to work in!!
June 23, 2011 at 4:57 pm
jfwakefield
Luckily Queen Victoria didn’t like the Pavilion, and after the 1850s it was left to moulder, but no Victorian additions were effected.The town of Brighton bought it, and in the 1950s carried out extensive revocations, and HM Queen has loaned many of the original artefacts made for the Pabilion , allowing the original appearance to be recreated in the most part.
I’d love to do some cooking in that kitchen I must admit;)
June 23, 2011 at 4:54 pm
jfwakefield
Hi Jane, nice to see you again! Much more tomorrow and over the weekend, and lots of costumes to tempt you!
June 22, 2011 at 10:54 pm
Cathy Allen
Oh my goodness! There are so many things I’d like to comment on; I will try to restrain myself — a little ;-) I’ve wanted to see photos of these interiors FOREVER. I’ve seen several of the paintings in the past, and I’ve wondered about how it looks NOW. Having them juxtaposed is simply wonderful! It amazes me how very much remains as it was. How did THAT happen?
I’m delighted by the bells; I’d never actually focused on them before your pointing them out. The Prince certainly spared NONE of the senses in his decorating, did he?! I’d like to hear them tinkling in the breeze. And I love all the chinoiserie!
The kitchen is unbelievable — kind of frightening actually, after having read your posts on your experiences with Regency cooking. And the copper pots! I kept thinking how beautiful they all are, and how glad I am to not have to clean them; to not have to clean the whole kitchen, with all those nooks and crannies available for collecting cooking grime! (How prosaic of me!)
I can’t imagine the money it must have taken to build, decorate, and run this place. Thank you, Julie: I’d give you SIX stars, if I could!
June 23, 2011 at 5:43 pm
jfwakefield
See my comments to Deana, below, for the renovation story.
It might not be to everyones taste, but it certainly is magnificent.
Copper pots…..the fear of verdigris poisoning ever present *shudder*….;)
June 23, 2011 at 9:29 pm
Cathy Allen
Thanks, Julie. Very interesting, and I’m glad you were able to tell me. Magnificent really is the right word! Re: the pots — I’d never use them, I’d just look at them :-)
June 25, 2011 at 10:08 am
jfwakefield
Lol….I only have one tiny copper pot for sauce and I check the tinned interior very carefully.#scardeycat
June 25, 2011 at 2:10 pm
imogen88
Whole Pavillion series simply stunning, kitchens astonishing, as other have mentioned. Fabulous, Julie, you must have loved it!