By Mary Jo
I've always been an Anglophile. I'm not sure if it's my DNA or all the books I read with British settings and British authors. I remember being surprised in school when a world map showed me the actual location of the British Isles. So far north and so SMALL! But mighty in world history, and in my imagination.
My interest in Britain and British history had a lot to do with living there for over two years in my 20s, when I was the art editor of a start up magazine about third World Development. I lived in Oxford and made brass rubbings in churches and drove a Morris Minor Traveler, a little station wagon with a wooden framed back structure that creaked like a ship at ship at sea when rounding corners. (Once a wheel fell off on a turn. I was told that the king pin broke, which happened regularly on older Morrises. O-kayyyy….)
I've visited Great Britain and Ireland many times since then, most recently last July, which included an RNA conference in Leeds and wonderful to Orkney and Shetland in the far, far north. But it's been a long time since I've been footloose in London
There are so many, many wonderful things one can do in London: as Johnson said, the man who is tired of London is tired of life. Other Wenches have blogged of London, with Andrea Penrose taking us through Kensington Palace and Nicola Cornick taking us through the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Gallery, a delicious display of old treasures found in the attics of Westminster Abbey.
Anne Gracie also posted about her Georgette Heyer tour, and I'll talk more about that tour on Friday since I took it also.
With such treasures available, what should I see with only a week to play? I've always been interested in British military history. My next book, Once a Spy, which will be out on September 24th, is set around the fringes of Waterloo so I decided to visit some of the military museums, in which I include Apsley House. home of the Duke of Wellington in his post-military days.
Wellington was a towering figure on 19th century Britain--something of a cross between George Washington and Winston Churchill. He was the "Conqueror of the Conqueror of the World," the man who spearheaded the Allied victory over Napoleon at Waterloo. After his military days, he remained a public figure and had two stints as Prime Minister.
I've always been interested in Wellington, so at Andrea's suggestion I decided to visit his London home, Apsley House. It's an impressive mansion directly opposite Hyde Park Corner in the heart of London--and it's popularly known as #1 London.
The mansion is still in the Wellington family and contains one of Britain's foremost art collections as well as an exhibit of Wellington's years in India early in his career. You've probably all seen this famous Thomas Lawrence portrait of Wellington wearing his field marshal's uniform and with his arms crossed determinedly. It was quite a thrill to see the original hanging over a fireplace!
There are paintings and statues of allies and enemies such as Field Marshal Prince Blucher, commander of the Prussian army that fought beside Wellington's troops. There are also portraits and sculptures of Napoleon. My favorite is the huge statue of Napoleon wearing only a fig leaf.
Carved by the famous sculptor Canova, the Emperor is depicted as Mars the Peacemaker. (Say what??? Someone doesn't know their mythology!) Napoleon did not like the statue, it was ‘too athletic,’ (Which Bonaparte certainly wasn't by then!)
According to the description of the sculpture, "the restored French monarch Louis XVIII had instructed the director of the museum to “make all the paintings with the effigy of Bonaparte disappear from the royal palaces and houses”.
So the British bought the statue and the Prince Regent (later George IV) presented it to Wellington in 1816. "When the statue arrived at Apsley House the only possible location was at the bottom of the grand stair case, the wine cellar beneath the statue had to be strengthened to take the 3 ton weight." It may not say much about Napoleon or Peace, but it is impressive.
Directly across from Apsley House is Wellington Arch, patterned on the Roman triumphal arches. I'd seen it in passing years earlier, but hadn't realized that you can go inside. (I recommend taking the elevator rather than climbing the steps. <G>) There's a very nice video presentation of the Battle of Waterloo. I so enjoyed watching the troop movements that I'd studied for my book that I sat through the video twice. There are great views of central London from the top as well.
Continuing in my military mode, I visited the Guards Museum, which is part of Wellington Barracks a short walk away. The Guards are the personal household troops of the royal family and the museum reflects centuries of their distinguished history. The secret of telling which Guard regiment is which is in the buttons on their tunics.
A mere 500 meters away is Buckingham Palace, the queen's residence. It's a traditional spot for protests, and there were a couple that day. As I ambled by, I heard a chant of "Brexit, no!" though possibly it was "Brexit now!" Very nice iron work on the gates!
A couple of days later, I visited the Army Museum in Chelsea. Large and recently renovated, it is rich with displays of soldiers, weapons, and the effects of war from distant days right up to Iraq and Afghanistan. Still in my Wellington mode, I was particularly taken by the exhibit of the cloak worn by Wellington at Waterloo. (The uniform coat he wore at Waterloo was listed as being in the Guards museum, but I couldn't find it.)
So those were my London museums! On Friday I'll talk about the more social part of my visit from the delights of Chelsea to visit a splendid Arts and Crafts house and garden in the green fields of Sussex.
What museums would you most like to visit in London? The possibilities are splendid!
Mary Jo