Charlton House

En un regard

Le château en bref

Charlton House stands at the heart of the old village of Charlton, in the Royal Borough of Greenwich, south-east London. Built between 1607 and 1612 for Sir Adam Newton, tutor and later secretary to Henry, Prince of Wales, it is regarded as one of the finest surviving Jacobean houses in England and has been listed Grade I since 1951. The house combines red brick and dressed stone on an H-shaped plan, with a richly decorated west front, square towers capped with ogee roofs and clustered octagonal chimney stacks. Inside, original staircases, panelling, ornate ceilings and fireplaces survive. The gardens contain an orangery traditionally attributed to Inigo Jones and a black mulberry tree that tradition dates back to the plantings ordered by James I around 1608. Owned by the local authority since 1925, the house has been managed since 2014 by the Royal Greenwich Heritage Trust as a community centre, exhibition venue and function space. Added to the Heritage at Risk Register in 2024 because of the condition of its roofs, it remains open to the public, as do its walled gardens, which are free to enter.