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Pembroke Lodge

Pembroke Lodge began life as the mole catcher's cottage in Richmond Park. Hunters who rushed around the old deer park wanted an exciting hunt without the risk of molehills tripping them up. I'm reminded of the kind of characters Ernest Hemingway portrayed, wanting to get back to nature, while carrying a nice can of peaches in syrup in their knapsack. This is really what a place like Richmond Park is all about, an idealised vision of nature, which we can enjoy without leaving the comforts of urban life.

The mole catcher's cottage was eventually extended, and given to Elizabeth Herbert, the countess of Pembroke, principal lady-in-waiting to George III. Elizabeth then extended the house further, creating the building we see today. In 1847 Queen Victoria granted Pembroke Lodge to prime minister Lord John Russell. In 1854 the Earl of Aberdeen's Cabinet met at Pembroke Lodge and decided to proceed with the Crimean War against Russia.

 

 

 

 

 

Lord John Russell's grandson, Bertrand Russell, born in 1872, grew up at Pembroke Lodge. Russell wrote that living here left him accustomed to the wide horizons. Parks were created in the nineteenth century as places to allow people in towns a glimpse of a wider horizon. They were an idealised landscape where you could enjoy nature without the danger of those molehills. Pembroke Lodge sits on the highest elevations in Richmond Park. From up here Henry VIII used to have a good view of hunting going on in the park below. A prehistoric burial mound he stood on still exists close to the Lodge.

There are wonderful views to the west, while to the east there's a remarkable vista through trees, focusing precisely on St Paul's Cathedral in central London.

 

Pembroke Lodge is now a restaurant, wedding and conference venue.

Directions: The nearest Underground station is Richmond. A bus, 371 or 65, then provides a service on the three quarters of a mile journey to the pedestrian entrance at Petersham Gate. There are six car parks in Richmond Park. From the M3/A326, come off at Richmond and follow signs. Enter by the Richmond Gate. Click here for an interactive map centred on Pembroke Lodge.

Contact:

telephone: 0208 332 6719

web site: http://www.pembroke-lodge.co.uk/