Garrick's Temple to Shakespeare
Encyclopedia
Garrick's Temple to Shakespeare is a small garden folly erected in 1756 on the north bank of the River Thames
at Hampton, London
. It was built by the actor David Garrick
to honour the playwright William Shakespeare
, whose plays Garrick performed to great acclaim throughout his career. During his lifetime Garrick used it to house his extensive collection of Shakespearean relics and for entertaining his family and guests. It passed through a succession of owners until coming into public ownership in the 20th century, but fell into serious disrepair by the end of the century. After a campaign supported by distinguished actors and donations from the National Lottery
's "good causes" fund, it was restored in the late 1990s and reopened to the public as a museum and memorial to the life and career of Garrick. It is reputedly the world's only shrine to Shakespeare.
d building with a nod to the Pantheon, Rome
, constructed in undecorated brick with a single east-facing entrance. It was built in the Classical style popularised by the Italian architect Palladio with an Ionic
portico
, four columns wide by three deep, flanking the entrance. Several steps lead up to the portico. Inside, glazed arched windows reaching to the ground face the river. A deep curved recess in the west wall provides room for a statue. Outside, a lawn and garden provide views over the Thames to the south.
to Staines
. Garrick commissioned the building of an elaborate grotto-tunnel under the road, illuminated by 500 lanterns, to facilitate private access to the lawn from the house.
At some point in 1755 he decided to build a summer-house by the riverside which he intended to dedicate to his muse Shakespeare as a "temple" to the playwright. The temple's architect is unknown as his decision to build it is not recorded in his own papers. Robert Adam
and Lancelot "Capability" Brown have both been suggested as possibilities. An "Ionic Temple" of similar design stands in the gardens of Chiswick House
a few miles away. This may well have been the inspiration for Garrick's Temple, as Garrick had spent his honeymoon at Chiswick House a few years earlier in the company of his wife's guardians the Burlingtons
.
On 4 August 1755, his neighbour and friend Horace Walpole wrote to a correspondent: "I have contracted a sort of intimacy with Garrick, who is my neighbour. He affects to study my taste; I lay it all upon you - he admires you. He is building a graceful temple to Shakespeare: I offered him this motto: Quod spiro et placeo, si placeo tuum est [If I inspire and give pleasure, it is because of you]." A year later, Walpole wrote in another letter:
The garden in front of the temple was laid out in accordance with Garrick's friend William Hogarth
's theory of the Line of Beauty
. An S-shaped path ran between flowering shrubs in accordance with the theory's preference for serpentine shape
s. Walpole donated a grove of Italian cypresses to plant in the garden. It was widely admired in its time and its idyllic prospect so moved Samuel Johnson
that he told Garrick: "Ah, David, it is the leaving of such places that makes a deathbed so terrible."
sculptor Louis Francois Roubiliac at a cost of 300 guineas (£315, equivalent to approximately £32,000 now). Roubiliac chose to model the statue on the Chandos portrait
of Shakespeare while Garrick himself is said to have posed for the sculpture. Its appearance is rather more reminiscent of Garrick than Shakespeare; it is said that the actor struck a pose and exclaimed, "Lo, the Bard of Avon!" to illustrate how he wanted Shakespeare to be portrayed. The statue's head was not to Garrick's satisfaction, and Roubiliac had to replace it with another, carved from a different type of marble. During Garrick's lifetime the statue was displayed in the temple. On his death it was willed to the British Museum
, where it is still on display in the King's Library
. A copy of the statue, donated by the museum, is currently displayed in the temple.
Garrick exhibited his collection of Shakespeare relics in the temple, including a chair made from a mulberry tree which had supposedly been planted by Shakespeare in the grounds of New Place
, his house at Stratford upon Avon. The chair was designed by Hogarth, according to Walpole, and had a medal of Shakespeare carved into its backrest. The chair survives and is today owned by the Folger Shakespeare Library
in Washington, D.C.
. Other items on display included various personal effects of Shakespeare such as "an old leather glove, with pointed fingers and blackened metal embroidery", a dagger and "a signet ring with W.S. on it." The collection was sold and dispersed on the death of Garrick's widow; he had collected so much Shakespearean memorabilia that it took ten days to auction it all.
, a protegé of Garrick, painted a number of scenes of the actor, his wife and their friends on the lawn and in front of the temple. One of his guests, the letter-writer Mrs Delany
, described the scene at one such entertainment in a letter of 1770:
His visitors were encouraged to pay homage to the Bard by writing verses in Shakespeare's honour and placing them at the foot of the statue. Garrick had the best of them published anonymously in the London journals. Some found this practice cloying; Samuel Foote
commented sarcastically that Garrick had "dedicated a temple to a certain divinity... before whose shrine frequent libations are made, and on whose alter the fat of venison, a viand grateful to this deity, is seen often to smoke."
In August 1774, the temple and gardens were the centrepiece of Garrick's elaborate silver jubilee
celebrations to celebrate 25 years of marriage. The London Chronicle
reported:
Garrick also opened the temple and garden to the public on special occasions. Each May Day
, seated on the chair noted by Mrs Delany and accompanied by his wife, he would give the poor children of Hampton money and cakes. A woman who attended one such May Day event later recalled: "When I was called up, I took my six [children] into the Temple, where Mr Garrick was sitting by the fine bust with great cakes before him; he took down all their names, and then gave a shilling and a piece of plum-cake to every individual one; not even leaving out poor babes in their mothers' arms."
During the Second World War the temple was used as a post for Air Raid Precautions
wardens. It was given Grade I listed status in September 1952 and became part of a conservation area in the 1960s, when it was used for poetry readings. However, it had become neglected and vandalised by the 1970s. It suffered from wet and dry rot
, vibrations from traffic on the busy nearby road had damaged the fabric of the building and thieves had stolen the lead off the roof. Donald Insall, a specialist conservation architectural firm, was commissioned by Richmond upon Thames Council to restore the building at a cost of £37,000. The work was carried out by the building firm Gostling
and the architect James Lindus Forge.
By the 1990s the temple's condition had deteriorated again and it had suffered heavy vandalism. The Richmond and Twickenham Times reported in 1994 that it was in a state of "dangerous disrepair" and had suffered from "the theft of lead from the roof and graffiti spray-painted on the walls of the Georgian folly." Vandals had also hacked away one of the wooden columns supporting the portico. In 1995 a campaign was launched to restore the temple and the garden and put them back into use for cultural purposes. The Heritage Lottery Fund
provided £70,000 in 1998-99. Other local groups and a campaign led by the actor Sir John Gielgud
provided additional funding to carry out restoration work. The restoration fund was also supported by the actors Sir Peter Hall
, Sir Donald Sinden
and Richard Briers
, and Dame Judi Dench
, Jeremy Irons
and others have subsequently made donations.
The temple was reopened to the public in late 1998, and in early 1999 the garden was replanted to replicate its original Georgian appearance. The British Museum provided a copy of Roubiliac's statue of Shakespeare to occupy the vacant niche where the original had once stood. The temple was populated with an exhibition on Garrick's life and career, including copies of portraits by Gainsborough
, Reynolds
and Zoffany.
Today the temple is managed by Garrick's Temple Partnership, which brings together the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, the Garrick's Temple to Shakespeare Trust, the Temple Trust, the Thames Landscape Strategy and Hampton Riverside Trust. The Garrick's Temple to Shakespeare Trust is chaired by the actor Clive Francis
, and Liz Crowther
is a member of the Temple Management Committee. The temple is open to the public on Sunday afternoons between April and September. It is used for concerts, annual general meetings and private events, and runs an educational programme for local schoolchildren in conjunction with the nearby Orleans House.
River Thames
The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...
at Hampton, London
Hampton, London
Hampton is a suburban area, centred on an old village on the north bank of the River Thames, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames in England. Formerly it was in the county of Middlesex, which was formerly also its postal county. The population is about 9,500...
. It was built by the actor David Garrick
David Garrick
David Garrick was an English actor, playwright, theatre manager and producer who influenced nearly all aspects of theatrical practice throughout the 18th century and was a pupil and friend of Dr Samuel Johnson...
to honour the playwright William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
, whose plays Garrick performed to great acclaim throughout his career. During his lifetime Garrick used it to house his extensive collection of Shakespearean relics and for entertaining his family and guests. It passed through a succession of owners until coming into public ownership in the 20th century, but fell into serious disrepair by the end of the century. After a campaign supported by distinguished actors and donations from the National Lottery
National Lottery (United Kingdom)
The National Lottery is the state-franchised national lottery in the United Kingdom and the Isle of Man.It is operated by Camelot Group, to whom the licence was granted in 1994, 2001 and again in 2007. The lottery is regulated by the National Lottery Commission, and was established by the then...
's "good causes" fund, it was restored in the late 1990s and reopened to the public as a museum and memorial to the life and career of Garrick. It is reputedly the world's only shrine to Shakespeare.
Description
The temple is an octagonal domeDome
A dome is a structural element of architecture that resembles the hollow upper half of a sphere. Dome structures made of various materials have a long architectural lineage extending into prehistory....
d building with a nod to the Pantheon, Rome
Pantheon, Rome
The Pantheon ,Rarely Pantheum. This appears in Pliny's Natural History in describing this edifice: Agrippae Pantheum decoravit Diogenes Atheniensis; in columnis templi eius Caryatides probantur inter pauca operum, sicut in fastigio posita signa, sed propter altitudinem loci minus celebrata.from ,...
, constructed in undecorated brick with a single east-facing entrance. It was built in the Classical style popularised by the Italian architect Palladio with an Ionic
Ionic order
The Ionic order forms one of the three orders or organizational systems of classical architecture, the other two canonic orders being the Doric and the Corinthian...
portico
Portico
A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls...
, four columns wide by three deep, flanking the entrance. Several steps lead up to the portico. Inside, glazed arched windows reaching to the ground face the river. A deep curved recess in the west wall provides room for a statue. Outside, a lawn and garden provide views over the Thames to the south.
Construction
Garrick built the temple on land adjoining a villa that he had bought in October 1754 to serve as a country retreat. The villa's riverside garden, a plot now known as Garrick's Lawn, was separated from the main property by the road from Kingston upon ThamesKingston upon Thames
Kingston upon Thames is the principal settlement of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames in southwest London. It was the ancient market town where Saxon kings were crowned and is now a suburb situated south west of Charing Cross. It is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the...
to Staines
Staines
Staines is a Thames-side town in the Spelthorne borough of Surrey and Greater London Urban Area, as well as the London Commuter Belt of South East England. It is a suburban development within the western bounds of the M25 motorway and located 17 miles west south-west of Charing Cross in...
. Garrick commissioned the building of an elaborate grotto-tunnel under the road, illuminated by 500 lanterns, to facilitate private access to the lawn from the house.
At some point in 1755 he decided to build a summer-house by the riverside which he intended to dedicate to his muse Shakespeare as a "temple" to the playwright. The temple's architect is unknown as his decision to build it is not recorded in his own papers. Robert Adam
Robert Adam
Robert Adam was a Scottish neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. He was the son of William Adam , Scotland's foremost architect of the time, and trained under him...
and Lancelot "Capability" Brown have both been suggested as possibilities. An "Ionic Temple" of similar design stands in the gardens of Chiswick House
Chiswick House
Chiswick House is a Palladian villa in Burlington Lane, Chiswick, in the London Borough of Hounslow in England. Set in , the house was completed in 1729 during the reign of George II and designed by Lord Burlington. William Kent , who took a leading role in designing the gardens, created one of the...
a few miles away. This may well have been the inspiration for Garrick's Temple, as Garrick had spent his honeymoon at Chiswick House a few years earlier in the company of his wife's guardians the Burlingtons
Earl of Burlington
Earl of Burlington is a title that has been created twice, the first time in the Peerage of England and the second in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The first creation was for Richard Boyle, 2nd Earl of Cork, on 20 March 1664...
.
On 4 August 1755, his neighbour and friend Horace Walpole wrote to a correspondent: "I have contracted a sort of intimacy with Garrick, who is my neighbour. He affects to study my taste; I lay it all upon you - he admires you. He is building a graceful temple to Shakespeare: I offered him this motto: Quod spiro et placeo, si placeo tuum est [If I inspire and give pleasure, it is because of you]." A year later, Walpole wrote in another letter:
The garden in front of the temple was laid out in accordance with Garrick's friend William Hogarth
William Hogarth
William Hogarth was an English painter, printmaker, pictorial satirist, social critic and editorial cartoonist who has been credited with pioneering western sequential art. His work ranged from realistic portraiture to comic strip-like series of pictures called "modern moral subjects"...
's theory of the Line of Beauty
Line of Beauty
The Line of Beauty is a term and a theory in art or aesthetics used to describe an S-shaped curved line appearing within an object, as the boundary line of an object, or as a virtual boundary line formed by the composition of several objects...
. An S-shaped path ran between flowering shrubs in accordance with the theory's preference for serpentine shape
Serpentine shape
Serpentine refers to the curved shape of an object or design which resembles the letter s, a sine wave or a snake; the latter is the derivation of the term.- Examples :* The Serpentine River...
s. Walpole donated a grove of Italian cypresses to plant in the garden. It was widely admired in its time and its idyllic prospect so moved Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson , often referred to as Dr. Johnson, was an English author who made lasting contributions to English literature as a poet, essayist, moralist, literary critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer...
that he told Garrick: "Ah, David, it is the leaving of such places that makes a deathbed so terrible."
Contents
The temple's interior was furnished as a shrine to Shakespeare. It was dominated by a statue of the playwright commissioned by Garrick from the French HuguenotHuguenot
The Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France during the 16th and 17th centuries. Since the 17th century, people who formerly would have been called Huguenots have instead simply been called French Protestants, a title suggested by their German co-religionists, the...
sculptor Louis Francois Roubiliac at a cost of 300 guineas (£315, equivalent to approximately £32,000 now). Roubiliac chose to model the statue on the Chandos portrait
Chandos portrait
The "Chandos" portrait is one of the most famous of the portraits that may depict William Shakespeare . Believed to have been painted from life between 1600 and 1610, it may have served as the basis for the engraved portrait of Shakespeare used in the First Folio in 1623. It is named after James...
of Shakespeare while Garrick himself is said to have posed for the sculpture. Its appearance is rather more reminiscent of Garrick than Shakespeare; it is said that the actor struck a pose and exclaimed, "Lo, the Bard of Avon!" to illustrate how he wanted Shakespeare to be portrayed. The statue's head was not to Garrick's satisfaction, and Roubiliac had to replace it with another, carved from a different type of marble. During Garrick's lifetime the statue was displayed in the temple. On his death it was willed to the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
, where it is still on display in the King's Library
King's Library
The King's Library was one of the most important collections of books and pamphlets of the Age of Enlightenment. Assembled by George III, this scholarly library of over 65,000 volumes was subsequently given to the British nation by George IV. It was housed in a specially built gallery in the...
. A copy of the statue, donated by the museum, is currently displayed in the temple.
Garrick exhibited his collection of Shakespeare relics in the temple, including a chair made from a mulberry tree which had supposedly been planted by Shakespeare in the grounds of New Place
New Place
New Place is the name of William Shakespeare's final place of residence in Stratford-upon-Avon. He died there in 1616. Though the house no longer exists, the land is owned by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust....
, his house at Stratford upon Avon. The chair was designed by Hogarth, according to Walpole, and had a medal of Shakespeare carved into its backrest. The chair survives and is today owned by the Folger Shakespeare Library
Folger Shakespeare Library
The Folger Shakespeare Library is an independent research library on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., in the United States. It has the world's largest collection of the printed works of William Shakespeare, and is a primary repository for rare materials from the early modern period...
in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
. Other items on display included various personal effects of Shakespeare such as "an old leather glove, with pointed fingers and blackened metal embroidery", a dagger and "a signet ring with W.S. on it." The collection was sold and dispersed on the death of Garrick's widow; he had collected so much Shakespearean memorabilia that it took ten days to auction it all.
Usage
The temple was not simply a museum but was a working building for Garrick. As well as using it as a quiet place to learn his lines and write letters, the actor used it to entertain his wife and guests for afternoon tea and dinner. The painter Johann ZoffanyJohann Zoffany
Johan Zoffany, Zoffani or Zauffelij was a German neoclassical painter, active mainly in England...
, a protegé of Garrick, painted a number of scenes of the actor, his wife and their friends on the lawn and in front of the temple. One of his guests, the letter-writer Mrs Delany
Mary Delany
Mary Delany was an English Bluestocking, artist, and letter-writer; equally famous for her "paper-mosaicks" and her lively correspondence.-Early life:...
, described the scene at one such entertainment in a letter of 1770:
His visitors were encouraged to pay homage to the Bard by writing verses in Shakespeare's honour and placing them at the foot of the statue. Garrick had the best of them published anonymously in the London journals. Some found this practice cloying; Samuel Foote
Samuel Foote
Samuel Foote was a British dramatist, actor and theatre manager from Cornwall.-Early life:Born into a well-to-do family, Foote was baptized in Truro, Cornwall on 27 January 1720. His father, John Foote, held several public positions, including mayor of Truro, Member of Parliament representing...
commented sarcastically that Garrick had "dedicated a temple to a certain divinity... before whose shrine frequent libations are made, and on whose alter the fat of venison, a viand grateful to this deity, is seen often to smoke."
In August 1774, the temple and gardens were the centrepiece of Garrick's elaborate silver jubilee
Silver Jubilee
A Silver Jubilee is a celebration held to mark a 25th anniversary. The anniversary celebrations can be of a wedding anniversary, ruling anniversary or anything that has completed a 25 year mark...
celebrations to celebrate 25 years of marriage. The London Chronicle
London Chronicle
The London Chronicle was an early family newspaper of Georgian London. It appeared three times a week and contained world and national news, and coverage of artistic, literary, and theatrical events in the capital....
reported:
Garrick also opened the temple and garden to the public on special occasions. Each May Day
May Day
May Day on May 1 is an ancient northern hemisphere spring festival and usually a public holiday; it is also a traditional spring holiday in many cultures....
, seated on the chair noted by Mrs Delany and accompanied by his wife, he would give the poor children of Hampton money and cakes. A woman who attended one such May Day event later recalled: "When I was called up, I took my six [children] into the Temple, where Mr Garrick was sitting by the fine bust with great cakes before him; he took down all their names, and then gave a shilling and a piece of plum-cake to every individual one; not even leaving out poor babes in their mothers' arms."
Preservation and restoration
The temple and villa remained in the hands of Garrick's wife until her death in 1822 at the age of 98. It was subsequently bought by her solicitor, Thomas Carr, who preserved it as a monument to Garrick and even erected a statue of him in the temple to replace the Roubiliac Shakespeare. It changed hands several more times until, in 1923, the villa was converted into apartments. The riverside lawn was sold separately along with the temple and was bought by a Paul Glaize. He built a house alongside the temple, which caused such controversy and public outcry that in 1932 the site was bought by Hampton Urban District Council. Glaize's house was demolished and the lawn and temple were opened to the public. They have remained in public ownership ever since.During the Second World War the temple was used as a post for Air Raid Precautions
Air Raid Precautions
Air Raid Precautions was an organisation in the United Kingdom set up as an aid in the prelude to the Second World War dedicated to the protection of civilians from the danger of air-raids. It was created in 1924 as a response to the fears about the growing threat from the development of bomber...
wardens. It was given Grade I listed status in September 1952 and became part of a conservation area in the 1960s, when it was used for poetry readings. However, it had become neglected and vandalised by the 1970s. It suffered from wet and dry rot
Dry rot
Dry rot refers to a type of wood decay caused by certain types of fungi, also known as True Dry Rot, that digests parts of the wood which give the wood strength and stiffness...
, vibrations from traffic on the busy nearby road had damaged the fabric of the building and thieves had stolen the lead off the roof. Donald Insall, a specialist conservation architectural firm, was commissioned by Richmond upon Thames Council to restore the building at a cost of £37,000. The work was carried out by the building firm Gostling
Gostling
Gostling may refer to:* John Gostling English singer* Göstling an der Ybbs...
and the architect James Lindus Forge.
By the 1990s the temple's condition had deteriorated again and it had suffered heavy vandalism. The Richmond and Twickenham Times reported in 1994 that it was in a state of "dangerous disrepair" and had suffered from "the theft of lead from the roof and graffiti spray-painted on the walls of the Georgian folly." Vandals had also hacked away one of the wooden columns supporting the portico. In 1995 a campaign was launched to restore the temple and the garden and put them back into use for cultural purposes. The Heritage Lottery Fund
Heritage Lottery Fund
The Heritage Lottery Fund is a fund established in the United Kingdom under the National Lottery etc. Act 1993. The Fund opened for applications in 1994. It uses money raised through the National Lottery to transform and sustain the UK’s heritage...
provided £70,000 in 1998-99. Other local groups and a campaign led by the actor Sir John Gielgud
John Gielgud
Sir Arthur John Gielgud, OM, CH was an English actor, director, and producer. A descendant of the renowned Terry acting family, he achieved early international acclaim for his youthful, emotionally expressive Hamlet which broke box office records on Broadway in 1937...
provided additional funding to carry out restoration work. The restoration fund was also supported by the actors Sir Peter Hall
Peter Hall
Sir Peter Reginald Frederick Hall, CBE is an English theatre and film director. Hall founded the Royal Shakespeare Company and directed the National Theatre , and has been prominent in defending public subsidy of the arts in Britain.-Early years:Hall was born at Bury St...
, Sir Donald Sinden
Donald Sinden
Sir Donald Alfred Sinden CBE is an English actor of theatre, film and television.-Personal life:Sinden was born in Plymouth, Devon, England, on 9 October 1923. The son of Alfred Edward Sinden and his wife Mabel Agnes , he grew up in the Sussex village of Ditchling, where their home doubled as the...
and Richard Briers
Richard Briers
Richard David Briers, CBE is an English actor whose career has encompassed theatre, television, film and radio.He first came to prominence as George Starling in Marriage Lines in the 1960s, but it was in the following decade when he played Tom Good in the BBC sitcom The Good Life that he became a...
, and Dame Judi Dench
Judi Dench
Dame Judith Olivia "Judi" Dench, CH, DBE, FRSA is an English film, stage and television actress.Dench made her professional debut in 1957 with the Old Vic Company. Over the following few years she played in several of William Shakespeare's plays in such roles as Ophelia in Hamlet, Juliet in Romeo...
, Jeremy Irons
Jeremy Irons
Jeremy John Irons is an English actor. After receiving classical training at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, Irons began his acting career on stage in 1969, and has since appeared in many London theatre productions including The Winter's Tale, Macbeth, Much Ado About Nothing, The Taming of the...
and others have subsequently made donations.
The temple was reopened to the public in late 1998, and in early 1999 the garden was replanted to replicate its original Georgian appearance. The British Museum provided a copy of Roubiliac's statue of Shakespeare to occupy the vacant niche where the original had once stood. The temple was populated with an exhibition on Garrick's life and career, including copies of portraits by Gainsborough
Thomas Gainsborough
Thomas Gainsborough was an English portrait and landscape painter.-Suffolk:Thomas Gainsborough was born in Sudbury, Suffolk. He was the youngest son of John Gainsborough, a weaver and maker of woolen goods. At the age of thirteen he impressed his father with his penciling skills so that he let...
, Reynolds
Joshua Reynolds
Sir Joshua Reynolds RA FRS FRSA was an influential 18th-century English painter, specialising in portraits and promoting the "Grand Style" in painting which depended on idealization of the imperfect. He was one of the founders and first President of the Royal Academy...
and Zoffany.
Today the temple is managed by Garrick's Temple Partnership, which brings together the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, the Garrick's Temple to Shakespeare Trust, the Temple Trust, the Thames Landscape Strategy and Hampton Riverside Trust. The Garrick's Temple to Shakespeare Trust is chaired by the actor Clive Francis
Clive Francis
-Early life:He is the son of actors Raymond Francis and Margaret Towner. He was born in Eastbourne.His father played Detective Chief Superintendent Tom Lockhart in the 1960s series No Hiding Place and his mother still acts today - most recently she played Jira, Anakin Skywalker's friend, in Star...
, and Liz Crowther
Liz Crowther
Elizabeth Ann 'Liz' Crowther is an English television actress. She is the daughter of comedian Leslie Crowther....
is a member of the Temple Management Committee. The temple is open to the public on Sunday afternoons between April and September. It is used for concerts, annual general meetings and private events, and runs an educational programme for local schoolchildren in conjunction with the nearby Orleans House.