Apsley House in 1829 by TH Shepherd. The main gateway to Hyde Park can be glimpsed on the left.

The Waterloo Gallery at Apsley House by Joseph Nash, 1852.

Apsley House, as it is today, Hyde Park Corner, London.

Apsley House on an 1869 Ordnance Survey map, showing its position at the end of a terrace. Ordnance Survey (OS is an Executive agency of the United Kingdom government The neighbouring houses were demolished in the post World War II period to allow Park Lane to be widened. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including The Wellington Arch has been moved since this time. Wellington Arch, also known as Constitution Arch or (originally the Green Park Arch, is a Triumphal arch located to the south of Hyde Park

Apsley House, also known as Number One, London, was the London residence of the Dukes of Wellington and stands alone at Hyde Park Corner, on the south-east corner of Hyde Park, facing south towards the busy traffic circulation system. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. The Dukedom of Wellington, derived from Wellington in Somerset, is an hereditary title and the senior rank in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Hyde Park Corner is a place in London, at the south-east corner of Hyde Park. Hyde Park is one of the largest Parks in central London, England and one of the Royal Parks of London, famous for its Speakers' Corner It is a grade I listed building. A listed building in the United Kingdom is a building or other structure officially designated as being of special architectural historical or cultural significance

The house is now run by English Heritage and is open to the public as a museum and art gallery, although His Grace the current Duke of Wellington still uses part of the building as a part-time residence. English Heritage is a Non-departmental public body of the United Kingdom government ( Department for Culture Media and Sport) with a broad remit of It is sometimes referred to as the Wellington Museum. It is perhaps the only preserved example of an English aristocratic town house from its period. The practice has been to maintain the rooms as far as possible in the original style and decor. It contains the 1st Duke's collection of paintings, porcelain, the silver centrepiece made for the Duke in Portugal, c 1815, sculpture and furniture. Antonio Canova's heroic marble nude of Napoleon holding a gilded Nike in the palm of his hand, made 1802-10, standing 3. Napoleon Bonaparte (15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821 was a French military and political leader who had a significant impact on the History of Europe. In Greek mythology, Nike ( Greek Νίκη níːkɛː meaning Victory) was a Goddess who personified Triumph 45 metres to the raised left hand. It was set up for a time in the Louvre and was bought by the Government for Wellington in 1816 (Pevsner) and stands in Adam's Stairwell. The Louvre Museum (Musée du Louvre located in Paris is the world's most visited art museum a historic monument and a national museum of France

Paintings Collection

The magnificient collection of 200 paintings includes 83 which were acquired by the first Duke after the Battle of Vitoria in 1813, the paintings were in Joseph Bonaparte's baggage train, they were from the Spanish royal collection and were presented to Wellington by King Ferdinand VII of Spain. In the Battle of Vitoria ( June 21 1813) General Arthur Wellesley Marquess of Wellington, and his Portuguese and Spanish allies finally Joseph-Napoléon Bonaparte King of Naples and Sicily, King of Spain (during a time) and the Indies (never de facto and never de iure Early life In his youth he occupied the painful position of an heir apparent who was jealously excluded from all share in government by his parents and the royal favorite The painting collection includes work by^[1]:

• American: John Singleton Copley
• British: Sir William Beechey, John Burnet, George Dawe, John Hoppner, Edwin Landseer, Sir Thomas Lawrence, Sir David Wilkie
• Dutch: Pieter de Hooch, Jan van Huysum, Nicolaes Maes, Willem van Mieris, Antonis Mor, Aernout van der Neer, Adriaen van Ostade, Cornelius van Poelenburgh, Jan Steen, Willem van de Velde the Younger, Jan Victors
• Flemish: Paul Brill, Adriaen Brouwer, Jan Brueghel the Elder, Anthony van Dyck, Antony Francis van der Meulen, Rubens, David Teniers the Younger
• French: Claude Lorrain, Claude-Joseph Vernet
• German: Hans von Aachen, Adam Elsheimer, Anton Raphael Mengs
• Italian: Leandro Bassano, Giuseppe Cesari, Carlo Cignani, Antonio da Correggio, Luca Giordano, Antiveduto Grammatica, Guercino, Giovanni Paolo Panini, Guido Reni, Giulio Romano, Salvator Rosa, Francesco Trevisani, Marcello Venusti

Spanish School

• Coello, Claudio
• Goya, Francisco
• Murillo, Bartolomé-Esteban
• Ribera, Jusepe de
• Velázquez, Diego - 4 paintings;

The 1st Duke received many gifts from European rulers that are displayed in the House:

• A pair of large candelabra of Siberian porphyry, ormolu & Malachite centre and two side tables, presented by Nicholas I of Russia. John Singleton Copley (1738 - 1815 was an American painter born presumably in Boston Massachusetts and a son of Richard and Mary Singleton Copley both Irish Sir Henry William Beechey ( December 12, 1753 &ndash January 28, 1839) English portrait-painter was born at Burford John Burnet (b March 1781 in Edinburgh or 20 March 1784 in Fisherrow - d George Dawe ( February 6, 1781, London — October 15, 1829, Kentish Town) was an English portraitist who painted John Hoppner ( April 4 ? 1758 - January 23, 1810) English portrait- painter, was born in Whitechapel. Sir Edwin Henry Landseer, RA ( March 7, 1802 in London – October 1 1873) was an English painter, Thomas Lawrence can refer to Sir Thomas Lawrence (painter, British artist Thomas Lawrence (mayor, mayor of colonial Philadelphia David Wilkie may refer to Sir David Wilkie (artist (1785-1841 Scottish painter Sir David Wilkie (surgeon (1882-1938 British surgeon Pieter de Hooch (pronounced, also spelled "Hoogh" or "Hooghe" (baptized December 20, 1629 – 1684 was a genre painter during the Jan van Huysum, also spelled Huijsum ( April 15, 1682, Amsterdam - February 8, 1749, Amsterdam was a Dutch painter Nicolaes Maes, also known as Nicolaes Maas (January 1634 Dordrecht - buried November 24, 1693, Amsterdam) was a Dutch Baroque Willem van Mieris ( Jun 3 1662, Leiden - Jan 26 1747, Leiden Dutch painter, was the son of Frans For the musician see Anthony More (musician. Sir Antonis Mor (c Aernout van der Neer (c 1603 Amsterdam &ndash November 9 1677, Amsterdam commonly called Aert or Artus, was the contemporary Adriaen van Ostade (bapt Adriaen Hendricx 10 December 1610 – bur Cornelis van Poelenburgh (1594 Utrecht - 12 August 1667, Utrecht) was a Dutch painter of the 1600s Jan Havickszoon Steen (c 1626 – buried February 3 1679) was a Dutch genre painter of the 17th century (also known as the Dutch Willem van de Velde the Younger (bapt Dec 18 1633, Leiden &ndash April 6, 1707, London) was a Dutch Jan Victors (bapt June 13 1619, Amsterdam - 1676 Dutch East Indies) was a Dutch Baroque painter that focused mainly on painting subject Paul ( 1554 - 1626) and Mattheus ( 1550 - 1583) Brill (or Bril) were brothers both born in Antwerp Adriaen Brouwer (1605 Oudenaarde - January 1638 Antwerp) was a Flemish genre painter active in Flanders and the Jan Brueghel the Elder (b 1568 Brussels - January 13 1625, Antwerp) was a Flemish painter, son of Pieter Brueghel Adam Frans van der Meulen ( Brussels, January 11, 1632 &ndash 15 October 1690, Paris) was a Flemish Baroque painter David Teniers the Younger ( December 15, 1610 – April 25, 1690) a Flemish Artist born in Antwerp, was the Claude Lorrain (also Claude Gellée or Le Lorrain) ( Lorraine, c Claude Joseph Vernet ( August 14, 1714 &ndash December 3, 1789) was a French painter. Hans von Aachen (1552 Cologne - March 4, 1615, Prague) was a German mannerist painter. Adam Elsheimer (1578 &ndash 1610 was an influential artist in the early 17th century Anton Raphael Mengs ( March 12, 1728 &ndash June 29, 1779) was an eminent German painter active in Rome Madrid and Saxony who became one Leandro Bassano, ( June 10, 1557 &ndash April 15, 1622) also called Leandro del Ponte, was a Venetian artist and Giuseppe Cesari (c 1568 - July 3, 1640) was an Italian Mannerist painter, also named Il Giuseppino and Carlo Cignani ( May 15, 1628 - September 6, 1719) was an Italian painter of the Bolognese school active in the Luca Giordano ( October 18, 1634 &ndash January 12, 1705) was an eclectic peripatetic and influential Italian late Baroque Antiveduto Grammatica was a proto- Baroque Italian painter active near Rome. Giovanni Francesco Barbieri ( February 8, 1591 — December 9, 1666) best known as Guercino or Il Guercino, was an Giovanni Paolo Pannini or Panini ( June 17 1691 &ndash Rome, October 21 1765) was an Italian painter and Guido Reni ( 4 November 1575 &ndash 18 August 1642) was a prominent Italian painter of high- Baroque style Giulio Romano (c 1499 &ndash November 1, 1546) was an Italian painter and architect. Salvator Rosa ( 1615 - March 15, 1673) was an Italian Baroque painter poet and Printmaker, active in Naples Rome Francesco Trevisani ( April 9 1656 - July 30 1746) was an Italian painter active in the period called either early Rococo Marcello Venusti (1512/5 - 1579 was an Italian Mannnerist painter active in Rome in mid 1500s Claudio Coello (1642&mdash1693 was a Spanish Baroque painter. This article is about the painter Bartolomé Esteban Murillo There is also an article on the Canadian village Murillo Ontario, which was named after the artist due to Jusepe de Ribera ( January 12, 1591 - 1652 was a Spanish Tenebrist painter and Printmaker, also known as José de Ribera in Spanish Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez ( June 6, 1599 &ndash August 6, 1660) was a Spanish painter who was the leading Siberia (Сиби́рь Sibir) is the name given to the vast region constituting almost all of Northern Asia and for the most part currently serving Porphyry is a variety of Igneous rock consisting of large-grained Crystals such as Feldspar or Quartz, dispersed in a fine-grained Ormolu (from French or moulu, signifying gold ground or pounded is an 18th-century English term for applying finely ground high-karat gold to an object in bronze Malachite is a carbonate mineral normally known as "copper carbonate" with the formula Cu 2 CO3[[hydroxide
• A pair of Swedish porphyry urns, from King Charles XIV John of Sweden. "Sverige" redirects here For other uses see Sweden (disambiguation and Sverige (disambiguation. Charles XIV John ( Karl XIV Johan) born Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, later renamed Jean-Baptiste Jules Bernadotte (26 January 1763 &ndash 8 March 1844
• A dinner service of Berlin porcelain, from Frederick William III of Prussia. Early life The son of King Frederick William II of Prussia, Frederick William was born in Potsdam and became Crown Prince in 1786 when his father ascended
• The Egyptian dinner service of Sèvres porcelain, from Louis XVIII of France. The manufacture nationale de Sèvres is a Porcelain factory located in Sèvres, France. Louis XVIII (17 November 1755 – 16 September 1824 Louis Stanislas Xavier de France, was a King of France and Navarre.
• The silver and silver-gilt Portuguese service of over a thousand pieces, from the Portuguese Council of Regency.
• The Saxon Service of Meissen porcelain, from Frederick Augustus I of Saxony. Meissen porcelain is the first European Hard-paste porcelain that was developed from 1708 by Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus. For the king of Poland see Augustus I of Poland Frederick Augustus I (full name Frederick Augustus Joseph Maria Anton Johann Nepomuk Aloys Xavier) (Friedrich

History

The house was originally built in red brick by Robert Adam between 1771 and 1778 for Lord Apsley, the Lord Chancellor, who gave the house its name. Robert Adam ( 3 July 1728 &ndash 3 March 1792) was a Scottish neoclassical Architect, Interior designer Year 1771 ( MDCCLXXI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Year 1778 ( MDCCLXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or Henry Bathurst 2nd Earl Bathurst PC KC ( 20 May 1714 &ndash 6 August 1794) known as the Lord Apsley from 1771 The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, or Lord Chancellor is a senior and important functionary in the Government of the United Kingdom. Some Adam interiors survive: the semi-circular Staircase, the Drawing Room with its apsidal end, and the Portico Room, behind the giant Corinthian portico added by Wellington. APSE standing for Ada Programming Support Environment is a program or set of programs to support Software development in the Ada programming language. The Corinthian order is one of the Classical orders of Greek and Roman Architecture, characterized

In 1807 the house was purchased by Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley, the elder brother of Sir Arthur Wellesley, but in 1817 financial difficulties forced him to sell it to his famous brother, by then the Duke of Wellington, who needed a London base from which to pursue his new career in politics. Year 1807 ( MDCCCVII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Richard Colley Wesley, later Wellesley 1st Marquess Wellesley KG PC ( 20 June 1760 – 26 September 1842) was Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, KP, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS ( c Year 1817 ( MDCCCXVII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common

Wellington employed the architect Benjamin Dean Wyatt to carry out renovations between 1818 and 1819. Benjamin Dean Wyatt ( 1775 – 1852) was an English architect Year 1818 ( MDCCCXVIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common Year 1819 ( MDCCCXIX) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar in the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common year He extended the house by adding two bays westward to the original five; built the Waterloo Gallery for the Duke's paintings, and faced the red brick with the grander golden Bath stone. Bath Stone is an Oolitic Limestone comprising granular fragments of Calcium carbonate. He also introduced his own version of French style to the interior, notable in the Waterloo Gallery and the florid wrought iron stair-rail, "just turning from Empire to a neo-Rococo" (Pevsner).

The Waterloo Gallery is, of course, named after the Duke's famous victory over Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo. In the Battle of Waterloo (Sunday 18 June 1815 near Waterloo Belgium A special banquet is still served annually to celebrate the date -- the 18th June 1815. The Duke's equestrian statue can be seen across the busy road, cloaked and watchful, the plinth guarded at each corner by an infantryman. An equestrian statue is a Statue of a Horse -mounted rider The term is from the Latin " eques," meaning " Knight This statue was cast from guns captured at the battle.

The house was given the popular nickname of Number One, London, since it was the first house passed by visitors who travelled from the countryside after the toll gates at Knightsbridge. Knightsbridge is a road which gives its name to an exclusive district lying to the west of Central London. It was originally part of a contiguous line of great houses on Piccadilly, demolished to widen Park Lane: its official address remains 149 Piccadilly, W1J 7NT.

During the Second World War, it was rumoured that King George VI and Queen Elizabeth heard that the treasures of the house hadn't been evacuated. Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (Elizabeth Angela Marguerite 4 August 1900 &ndash 30 March 2002 was the Queen Consort of King George The story goes that they both arrived in a van and quickly had the objects moved to Frogmore for safekeeping. The Frogmore Estate or Gardens comprise 33 acres of private gardens within the grounds of the Home Park, adjoining Windsor Castle, in the English ^[2]

Gerald Wellesley, 7th Duke of Wellington, gave the house and most important contents to the nation in 1947, but by the Wellington Museum Act 1947 the right of the family to occupy just over half the house was preserved "so long as there is a Duke of Wellington"[1]. Gerald Wellesley 7th Duke of Wellington, KG ( 21 August 1885 &ndash 4 January 1972) styled Lord Gerald Wellesley between The family apartments are now on the north side of the house, concentrated on the second floor (American third floor). Phonology North American English regional phonology In many ways compared to English English, North American English is conservative in its Phonology.

See also

• Stratfield Saye House - the country house of the Dukes of Wellington

References

• Jervis, Simon and Tomlin, Maurice (revised by Voak, Jonathon) (1984, revisions 1989 & 1995) Apsley House Wellington Museum published by the Trustees of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London ISBN 1-85177-161-1
• Nikolaus Pevsner, The Buildings of England: London vol. Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner, CBE, ( January 30, 1902 &ndash August 18, 1983) was a German-born British scholar of I, p 463. ISBN 0300096534 .

External links

• Page on English Heritage's website
• Aerial photo and map - Apsley House is marked "Wellington Museum".
• Tourist information on Apsley House

Coordinates: 51°30′12″N 0°09′06″W / 51.5034, -0.1517