ews - 2012
Unlocking the History of Benjamin Franklin House
When I wander through the streets of London, I enjoy spying the smooth brick facades of Georgian terrace houses. The red brick and sash windows are familiar and appealing but there can be more than meets the eye. Behind the elegant veneer often lies the closet-wing: a modest, cosy, seemingly insignificant addition to the original eighteenth century design.
Indeed Benjamin Franklin House includes a closet wing that is not visible from the street. When was it added? As a heritage volunteer at Benjamin Franklin House, this is a question I set out to answer.
My first port of call were historic maps and ordnance survey documents. The latter, which were developed in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, do not provide enough detail so I looked for other clues. I came across Richard Horwood’s map of 1790, but that did not indicate a closet wing. In the Archives of London I discovered a wealth of documentation on Craven Street; the prominence of Lord Craven, for whom the street is named, probably ensured his holdings were well recorded. In this material is a survey of the Craven estates – and, most importantly, the Strand estate. It includes details of property leaseholds and related costs, and, at the back of the book, a detailed plan of Craven Street circa 1793 which shows the closet wing. When it was erected, however, remained a mystery.
I then turned to the London Metropolitan Archives and in the online catalogue discovered the first lease to the House signed in 1732 by William, 5th Baron Craven and William Nind. (Nind did not in fact come to live at the House and subsequently mortgaged it to a John Hodson.) There was a sketch of the House’s layout but with no definitive closet-wing. The House was recorded as 28 feet in width and 46 in depth on the south side, which does not match the measurements today which includes the back closet.
I uncovered other interesting information. The leaseholder after Franklin’s landlady Margaret Stevenson, was Josiah Day, circa 1789. He apparently paid £26 reserved rent and up to £150 in repairs. In addition, he was to pay the sum of £28 in annuities and £56 in fines on renewal. (Another house on the street was mortgaged for £600, approximately £51,588 today, and 36 Craven Street would likely have had a similar value.) Day had a “carpenter’s shop and rooms over it, a stable coach house in Brewer’s Lane” at the back of the House – occupied by Charing Cross Station today – with annuities of eight pounds, six shillings and eight pence. On the opposite side of Brewer’s Lane was a small building “converted into a stable by Mr. Day without any authority’ which “was formerly a Common Dung hole belonging to Lord Craven’s Tenants.” An area at the base of Craven Street, part of the Victorian Embankment today, measuring 121 x 76 x 67 x 98 feet was noted as “Lord Craven’s Embankment. Granted to him by the City of London.”
While my original question remains impossible to answer with true certainty, the answer I have reached is beyond much doubt and sheds a little more light into the intriguing history of 36 Craven Street. At 281 years old, Benjamin Franklin House continues to provide an unparalleled link with the past.
By Ryan Smith, House Marketing Intern
23 January 2012
House 6th and Franklin 306th Birthday Celebration
On 17 January 2012, we hosted a reception to celebrate the 6th anniversary of opening the House to the public and Franklin’s 306th birthday. Thank you to everyone who joined us to celebrate.
