Deeply into research now about my Huguenot ancestors who came to London from SW France in the late 17th century having been forced to leave after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685. Still very early days, but hopefully something will come from this research in the form of a book based on their experiences – but not for children this time! I’ve already taken a tour round Spitalfields in London, where so many Huguenots settled – many of them silk weavers and other artisans, visited the Huguenot Museum in Rochester – a treasure trove of information – and delved into the archives of the Huguenot Society and those of the Société de l’histoire du protestantisme dans la vallée de la Dordogne.
Then yesterday I visited Dennis Severs’ house at no. 18 Folegate Street in Spitalfields. Dennis bought this 1724 building from the Spitalfields Trust in 1979 and until his death, 20 years later, worked to turn it into a ‘still-life drama’ in which he sought to evoke the history of a mythical Huguenot family from the date the house was built until the death of Queen Victoria. Severs would conduct tours by candlelight, complete with sounds, smells and surprise events and in his hands, public tours became pieces of performance art. The house is once more owned by the Trust who have continued these tours along the same lines. Visitors are not allowed to speak and the house is entirely lit by candlelight. It is quite a spooky and bizarre experience as you mount staircase after staircase and peer into rooms stuffed with period furniture and random objets d’art. Old newspaper cuttings, playbills and prints abound in the later rooms and Severs’ own philosophical comments are on view everywhere. If you peer inside the dark cavernous opening inside the ornate fire surround in the second floor front room, which has been created as a mid Georgian bedchamber, you will see blue and white Delft style tiles made in expert and witty manner during the 1980s by the potter Simon Pettet, showing a gallery of Spitalfields characters at that time, including the artists Gilbert and George and the designer Marianna Kennedy.
As someone pointed out, the house was built before there were any building regulations and I certainly got the feel of ‘bones’ of the house as it had been in the 18th century with its small rooms, ornate plasterwork and many steep staircases. Although I was expecting to find more Huguenot history there, it was nonetheless, an unforgettable and unique experience and I’m so glad I went.
