Canons Park
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Canons Park is a residential suburb of London, situated in the north west London Borough of Harrow. It is located to the south of Stanmore, the west of Edgware, and the east of Wealdstone.
It is largely built on the site of Canons, a magnificent early 18th century country estate built, 1713-25, by James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos.[1] for more detail on the former house, see James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos. The original estate, which Brydges had assembled, was divided and sold in parcels; the last, the original house-site, transformed into ambitious Edwardian gardens then put on the market in 1929, was bought by the North London Collegiate School in 1929 for the sum of £17,500. Although the original Canons mansion no longer exists, the later building on the site, erected by the gentleman cabinet-maker William Hallett in 1760, now houses the School. A large portion of the original gardens of the Canons estate now form the public pleasure gardens of Canons Park. The modern park includes the now sadly run down Memorial Gardens, a folly known as 'the Temple' and an orchard.
Canons Drive, in Edgware follows the original path of the entrance to the Canons estate, retaining the two large pillars which acted as gateposts where it met the Edgware Road. The remains of a second, raised, carriageway running from Canons can be traced through Canons Park in the direction of Whitchurch Road. A seven acre lake and separate duck pond also formed part of the original Canons Estate and survive within the boundaries of the Canons Drive residential area.
Situated adjacent to the public park is the remarkable church of St Lawrence Whitchurch which has a stone tower of ca. 1360. The main body of the church was rebuilt in a unique Continental Baroque style in 1714-16 for Brydges by John James (Colvin). The walls and ceiling of the dramatic interior are covered with paintings by Italian artists. The panels on the ceiling show miracles taken mostly from St John’s Gospel. The ceiling above the altar depicts the Adoration of Jehovah. Behind the altar is an imitation sky, lit by a concealed window which is characteristic of the baroque style of continental Europe. The tradition and style suggests that the whole of the ceiling was painted by Louis Laguerre. The paintings of the Nativity and the Descent from the Cross, which are seen on either side of the altar, and the Transfiguration, which is above the Duke’s Pew, are attributed to Antonio Bellucci.
Most of the interior woodwork is original and is attributed to Grinling Gibbons. This includes the organ case which is carved with cherubs, pea pods and other typical Grinling Gibbons decorations. The famous composer George Frideric Handel was employed by the Duke of Chandos in 1717-18 as his composer-in-residence. Handel composed eleven Chandos Anthems for the Duke, and these were almost certainly performed by Handel at the organ in the church.
On the north side of the church is the Mausoleum, again built to the order of the first Duke of Chandos. The centrepiece documented by Grinling Gibbons, 1717, is a Baroque monument to the Duke and his wives, for which the Duke felt he had overpaid (Gunnis).
The area is served by both Canons Park tube station (Jubilee Line) and Edgware Station (Northern Line) of the London Underground system.
[edit] Notes
- ^ The Canons of its name were the Augustinian canons or monks of the mediaeval Augustinian priory of St Bartholomew in Smithfield, who were possessed of the manor of Stanmore in Domesday, 1086.
[edit] References
- St Lawrence Little Stanmore
- Rupert Gunnis, Dictionary of British Sculptors, 1660-1851 (rev. ed.): "Grinling Gibbons"
- Howard Colvin, 1995 (3rd ed.). A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects, 1660-1840. (Yale University Press): "John James"
- North London Collegiate School, "The History of Canons"