In British usage , the term townhouse originally referred to the opulent town or city residence (in practice normally in Westminster near the seat of the monarch) of a member of the nobility or gentry , as opposed to their country seat, generally known as a country house or, colloquially, for the larger ones, stately home. The grandest of the London townhouses were stand-alone buildings , but many were terraced buildings .
42-458: The Savoy Palace , considered the grandest nobleman's townhouse of medieval London , was the residence of prince John of Gaunt until it was destroyed during rioting in the Peasants' Revolt of 1381. The palace was on the site of an estate given to Peter II, Count of Savoy , in the mid-13th century, which in the following century came to be controlled by Gaunt's family. It was situated between
84-547: A garden square . Only a small minority of them, generally the largest, were detached; even aristocrats whose country houses had grounds of hundreds or thousands of acres often lived in terraced houses in town. For example, the Duke of Norfolk was seated at Arundel Castle in the country, while from 1722 his London house, Norfolk House , was a terraced house in St James's Square , albeit one over 100 feet (30 metres) wide. Anciently
126-459: A clerk. During the Peasants' Revolt led by Wat Tyler in 1381, the rioters, who blamed John of Gaunt for the introduction of the poll tax that had precipitated the revolt, systematically demolished the Savoy and everything in it. What could not be smashed or burned was thrown into the river. Jewellery was pulverised with hammers, and it was said that one rioter found by his fellows to have kept
168-475: A cross. In its simplest form, the cruciform melody is a changing tone , where the melody ascends or descends by step , skips below or above the first pitch, then returns to the first pitch by step. Often representative of the Christian cross, such melodies are cruciform in their retrogrades or inversions. Johann Sebastian Bach , whose last name may be represented in tones through a musical cryptogram known as
210-503: A silver goblet for himself was killed for doing so. Despite this, the name Savoy was retained by the site. It was here that Henry VII founded the Savoy Hospital for poor, needy people, endowing it with land and leaving instructions for it in his will. In 1512, letters patent issued by Henry's successor, Henry VIII , established the hospital as a body corporate consisting of a master and four chaplains, enabling it to acquire
252-511: Is likely to mean a tetraconch plan, a Greek cross , with arms of equal length or, later, a cross-in-square plan. In the Western churches, a cruciform architecture usually, though not exclusively, means a church built with the layout developed in Gothic architecture . This layout comprises: In churches that are not oriented with the altar at the geographical east end, it is usual to refer to
294-532: Is widely forgotten. In concept, the aristocratic townhouse is comparable to the hôtel particulier , which notably housed the French nobleman in Paris , as well as to the urban domus of the nobiles of Ancient Rome . Historically, a town house (later townhouse) was the city residence of a noble or wealthy family, who would own one or more country houses, generally manor houses , in which they lived for much of
336-465: The BACH motif that is a cruciform melody, employed the device extensively. The subject of the fugue in c-sharp minor from The Well-Tempered Clavier Book I is cruciform. See also: Cross motif . Some airplanes use a cruciform tail design, wherein the horizontal stabilizer is positioned midway up the vertical stabilizer, forming a cruciform shape when viewed from the front or rear. Some examples are
378-608: The F-9 Cougar , the F-10 Skyknight and the Sud Aviation Caravelle . The cruciform tail gives the benefit of clearing the aerodynamics of the tail away from the wake of the engine, while not requiring the same amount of strengthening of the vertical tail section in comparison with a T-tail design. The plain sword used by knights , distinctive due to the flat bar used as a guard . The overall shape of
420-517: The German Lutherans were given the former Sisters' Hall to serve as a church in 1694. A German Calvinist Chapel and a Quaker Meeting House were also provided on the site. A commission appointed by King William III reported that the hospital's main function, relief of the poor, was being utterly neglected; it made recommendations, but these were not enacted. In 1702, the office of master being vacant, Sir Nathan Wright , Lord Keeper of
462-639: The Strand and the River Thames . The Tudor-era Savoy Chapel was located on the former estate property and carried on the name; today, the name is carried on by the Savoy Theatre and Savoy Hotel , again both located on the former estate. In the locality of the palace, the administration of law was by a special jurisdiction, separate from the rest of the county of Middlesex , known as the Liberty of
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#1732776309550504-636: The City Greenwich and Hampton Court. The next fashion was to move still further westwards to St James's , to be near the Tudor royal court. In the 18th century, Covent Garden was developed by the Duke of Bedford on his Bedford Estate , and Mayfair by the Grosvenor family on their Grosvenor Estate . The final fashion before the modern era was for a residence on the former marsh-land of Belgravia , on
546-739: The Dukes of Norfolk also had a townhouse, more properly a ducal palace, in the City of Norwich, the capital of the County of Norfolk, which was greatly enlarged by Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk (d.1572), whose London townhouse was then the London Charterhouse just outside of the northern wall of the City of London, re-named "Howard House". In the Middle Ages , the London residences of
588-494: The Great Seal , dismissed the remaining chaplains and formally declared the hospital foundation dissolved. The masters of the Savoy were: The Hospital complex remained in use as barracks for most of the 18th century. In 1776 much of the structure was destroyed in a fire; at the time it housed a military infirmary, prison and recruiting station. As early as 1775 Sir William Chambers (who was already responsible for rebuilding
630-609: The Honour of Richmond. The house the Count of Savoy built there later became the home of Edmund, Earl of Lancaster , and his descendants, the Dukes of Lancaster , lived there throughout the next century. In the 14th century, when the Strand was paved as far as the Savoy, it was the vast riverside London residence of John of Gaunt , a younger son of King Edward III who had inherited by marriage
672-681: The Parisian hôtel particulier : Whilst most English examples of the townhouse occur in London, provincial cities also contain some historical examples, for example Bampfylde House (destroyed in WW II) in Exeter, the county capital of Devon, the townhouse of Baron Poltimore of the Bampfylde family, whose main country seat was Poltimore House in Devon. Also in Exeter was Bedford House, also demolished,
714-507: The Savoy . French monarch John II of France died here after an illness. In the Middle Ages , although there were many noble palaces within the walls of the City of London , the most desirable location for housing the nobility was the Strand , which was the greatest part of the ceremonial route between the City and the Palace of Westminster , where the business of Parliament and the royal court
756-776: The Sovereign in His or Her role as Duke of Lancaster. Townhouse (Great Britain) British property developers and estate agents often market new buildings as townhouses, following the North American usage of the term , to aggrandise modest dwellings and to avoid the negative connotation of cheap terraced housing built in the Victorian era to accommodate workers. The aristocratic pedigree of terraced housing, for example as survives in St James's Square in Westminster,
798-467: The Strand , the main ceremonial thoroughfare from the City to the Palace of Westminster , where parliamentary and court business were transacted. Areas such as Kensington and Hampstead were countryside hamlets outside London until the 19th century, so mansions in these areas, such as Holland House , cannot be considered as true historical townhouses. Bishops also had London residences, generally termed palaces , listed below. The greatest residence on
840-531: The Strand was the Savoy Palace , residence of John of Gaunt , Duke of Lancaster, the richest man in the kingdom in his age and the father of King Henry IV. His chief seat was Bolingbroke Castle in Lincolnshire. The Strand had the advantage of frontage to the River Thames , which gave the nobles their own private landing places, as had the royal palaces of Whitehall and Westminster and further out from
882-539: The adjacent riverside property, Somerset House , to serve as government offices) was asked to draw up plans to replace the Hospital buildings with an entirely new Barracks for the Foot Guards (to accommodate 3,000 men). He drew up plans for a three-sided quadrangle of six-storey buildings, open towards the river, behind an elevated river terrace (akin to that built as Somerset House): details included pyramid roofs on
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#1732776309550924-500: The altar end as "liturgical east" and so forth. Methodist tabernacles also have a cruciform shape. Another example of ancient cruciform architecture can be found in Herod's temple, the second Jewish temple . DNA can undergo transitions to form a cruciform shape, including a structure called a Holliday junction . This structure is important for the critical biological processes of DNA recombination and repair mutations that occur in
966-609: The approach road to the new Waterloo Bridge . The only hospital building to survive the 19th-century demolition was its hospital chapel, dedicated to St John the Baptist . It once hosted a German Lutheran congregation, and is now again in Church of England use as the church for the Duchy of Lancaster and Royal Victorian Order . Before taking up folk music , the young Martin Carthy
1008-585: The buildings were again taken over by the military (for the use of men wounded in the Dutch Wars ), and in 1679 the Great Dormitory and the Sisters' Lodgings were converted into barracks for the Foot Guards. By this time the nobility had vacated their houses within the precincts, and a number of tradespeople had moved in, including glove-makers, printers and leather-sellers. In 1695 a military prison
1050-427: The cell. A cruciform joint is a specific joint in which four spaces are created by the welding of three plates of metal at right angles. A cruciform manuscript was a form of Anglo-Saxon / Insular manuscript written with the words in a block shaped like a cross. In music, a melody of four pitches where a straight line drawn between the outer pair bisects a straight line drawn between the inner pair, thus forming
1092-430: The chapel, separate lodgings for the master and other officials, domestic ranges and a tower, which served among other things as a secure treasury and archive. Statutes published in 1523 stipulated a distinct role for each chaplain (namely seneschal , sacristan , confessor and hospitaller) and listed several other officials, including a matron , who was assisted by twelve other women. Each evening, an hour before sunset,
1134-404: The four corner pavilions, a large double-domed structure in the centre of the north wing (which would have served as a chapel) and a subterranean gallery where prisoners would exercise, beneath the main parade ground. He was paid for his design in 1795 but the scheme never went ahead, being finally dropped in 1804. In 1816–20 almost all the remaining hospital buildings were demolished to make way for
1176-440: The hospital appears to have been prone to mismanagement. An inquiry into its administration was held in 1535. In 1553 the foundation was suppressed by King Edward VI , only to be refounded three years later by Queen Mary . In 1570 the master, Thomas Thurland , was removed for abuse of office, after removing the hospital's treasures, selling its beds, burdening it with a private debt (of £2,500), and engaging in sexual relations with
1218-412: The hospitaller, vice-matrons and others opened the gates and admitted the poor, who went first to the chapel to pray for the founder, then to the dormitory where they were allotted a bed for the night; the matron's staff were also to see that the men were bathed and their clothing washed. In the morning they departed (though the sick were allowed to remain and were attended to). From early in its existence
1260-531: The land and begin building; the first office-holders appear to have been appointed in 1517. The grand structure ('dedicated to the honour of the Blessed Jesus, the Virgin Mary, and St. John the Baptist') was the most impressive hospital of its time in the country and the first to benefit from permanent medical staff. It consisted of a large cruciform arrangement of dormitories, around which were placed
1302-476: The nobility were generally situated within the walls or boundary of the City of London , often known as "Inns", as the French equivalents are termed hôtel . For example, Lincoln's Inn was the town house of the 3rd Earl of Lincoln , and Gray's Inn was a manor held by the 1st Baron Grey de Wilton . At that time the Tower of London , within the City, was still in use as a royal palace. They gradually spread onto
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1344-510: The royal court, attendance in Parliament, for the transaction of legal business and business in general. From the 18th century, landowners and their servants would move to a townhouse during the social season when balls and other society gatherings took place. From the 18th century, most townhouses were terraced ; it was one of the successes of Georgian architecture to persuade the rich to buy terraced houses, especially if they were in
1386-546: The southern part of the Grosvenor Estate, developed after the establishment of Mayfair by the Duke of Westminster . Many aristocratic townhouses were demolished or ceased to be used for residential purposes after the First World War , when the scarcity and greater expense of domestic servants made living on a grand scale impractical. The following examples, most of which are now demolished, are comparable to
1428-455: The staff. Thereafter the hospital's fortunes waned. Buildings in the precincts were converted into houses for the nobility (and in the course of the 17th century several were given over to tradesmen). During the Civil War it was requisitioned to serve as a military hospital. When Charles II came to the throne, he re-established the hospital under its former statutes; however, in 1670 some of
1470-570: The sword when held point down is that of a cross. It was very popular due to the protection it offered to the hand and certain attacks that rely on the cross to trap the blade of the enemy. See Sword . Cruciform web designs use a cross-shaped web page that expands to fill the width and height of the web browser window. There are a number of different approaches to implementing them. In addition to common cross-shaped products, such as key chains and magnets, certain designers have gone so far as to create cruciform devices and accessories. For example,
1512-523: The title and lands of the Dukes of Lancaster. He was the nation's power broker and in his time was the richest man in the kingdom second to the king. The Savoy was the most magnificent nobleman's house in England . It was famous for its owner's magnificent collection of tapestries, jewels, and other ornaments. Geoffrey Chaucer began writing The Canterbury Tales while working at the Savoy Palace as
1554-577: The town residence of the Duke of Bedford who resided principally at Woburn Abbey in Bedfordshire but required a base in the West Country from which to administer his vast estates there. Georgian Dublin consisted of five Georgian squares, which contained the townhouses of prominent peers. The squares were Merrion Square , St Stephen's Green , Fitzwilliam Square , Ruthland Square (now called Parnell Square ) and Mountjoy Square . Many of
1596-460: The townhouses in these squares are now offices while some have been demolished. Cruciform Cruciform is a term for physical manifestations resembling a common cross or Christian cross . The label can be extended to architectural shapes, biology, art, and design. Christian churches are commonly described as having a cruciform architecture. In Early Christian , Byzantine and other Eastern Orthodox forms of church architecture this
1638-458: The year and from the estates surrounding which they derived much of their wealth and political power. Many of the Inns of Court in London served this function; for example, Gray's Inn was the London townhouse of Reginald de Grey, 1st Baron Grey de Wilton (d. 1308). A dwelling in London, or in the provincial city of the county in which their country estate was located, was required for attendance on
1680-631: Was a chorister here. The Savoy Palace and Hospital are remembered in the names of the Savoy Hotel and the Savoy Theatre which now stand on the site. Many of the nearby streets are also named for the Savoy: Savoy Buildings, Court, Hill, Place, Row, Street and Way. Savoy Place is the London headquarters of the Institution of Engineering and Technology . The Savoy Estate is owned by the Duchy of Lancaster , held in trust for
1722-412: Was built on part of the site by Sir Christopher Wren . The Savoy Conference had been held here in 1661 between Anglican bishops and leading nonconformists , which had led indirectly to the establishment within the precincts of a variety of chapels for different nonconformist congregations. French Protestants were given use of the 'Little Chapel' at that time (it was rebuilt for them by Wren in 1685);
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1764-598: Was transacted. Other advantages of the Strand were that a house could have a water frontage on the Thames , the great water highway, and be free of the stink, smoke, and social tumult of the City of London downstream and generally downwind to the east, and its constant threat of fires. In 1246 King Henry III granted the land between the Strand and the Thames, on which the palace was soon built, to an uncle of Queen Eleanor , Peter, Count of Savoy , whom he created Feudal Baron of
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