Marylebone Gardens
Encyclopedia
Marylebone or Marybone Gardens was a London
pleasure garden sited in the grounds of the old manor house of Marylebone
and frequented from the mid-17th century, when Marylebone was a village separated from London by fields and market gardens, to the third quarter of the 18th century. It was situated in the area which is now between Marylebone Road
, Marylebone High Street
, Weymouth Street, and Harley Street
; its site was developed as Beaumont Street and part of Devonshire Street.
Originally consisting of two bowling green
s adjoining the Rose of Normandy tavern
on the east side of Marylebone High Street
, its size was increased to about eight acres by acquisition of land from Marylebone Manor House, which had been converted into a hunting lodge by Henry VIII
and was later used as a boarding school
, eventually being demolished in 1791.
The Marylebone Gardens, surrounded by a high brick wall and set about with fruit trees, had a carriage entrance in the High Street of Marylebone village and another entrance from the fields at the back. Its center was an open oval bowling green
encompassed by a wide gravelled walk and many smaller walks and greens surrounded by clipped quickset
hedges, "kept in good order, and indented like town walls."
Marylebone Gardens were mentioned by John Gay
in The Beggar's Opera
(1728) as a haunt of its 'hero', the highwayman
Macheath. The tavern had become a resort for gambling, and "There will be deep play tonight" Macheath says to a confederate, "and consequently money may be pick'd up on the road. Meet me there, and I'll give you the hint who is worth setting." The real highwayman Dick Turpin
was a visitor in the 1720s. The gardens were used for, amongst other entertainments, gambling, cock-fighting, bull-baiting
and boxing
matches (with both male and female contestants).
Marylebone Gardens were officially reorganized as a venue for concerts and other entertainments in 1738 by Daniel Gough, the new proprietor of the Rose tavern. An organ by Richard Bridge was installed.
Halls were built for shelter in 1739, and the entrance fee was increased to sixpence
to keep out the riff-raff. Silver-plated season tickets were also available. Refreshments were another draw for the mid-century Marylebone Gardens, under the direction of the caterer John Trusler, who took over the management about 1756, and presented public dinners and breakfasts. His daughter, Miss Trusler, made the popular Marylebone tarts and cakes. "Tarts of a twelvepenny size," reads the advertisement of 1760, "will be made every day from one to three o'clock... The almond cheesecake
will be always hot at one o'clock as usual." Once the Great Room for balls and supper had been erected on the site (1739-40), breakfasts were added to the schedule.
Many of the foremost London musicians and composers including George Frideric Handel
and James Hook
performed works here, The original principal female singer was a Miss Faulkner and the orchestra was led by William Defesch. From 1763 to 1768 the Gardens were run by Thomas Lowe, who had been a singer at Vauxhall Gardens
, with the musical management undertaken by Samuel Arnold
who took over the ownership and management with the violinist Thomas Pinto which arrangement continued from 1769 to 1774.
In 1768, under the direction of Trusler's son, the Gardens gave the English premiere of Pergolesi
's opera La serva padrona
(in translation).
Hook was appointed organist
and composer to the Gardens in 1769 and held an annual festival
there every summer. The gardens were also famous for their regular firework displays, organised from 1772 to 1774 by Signor Torre. The Rose Tavern was later developed as a music hall
and renamed "The Marylebone". It was the site of the studios of BBC London 94.9
until September 2009.
The area was eventually built over in 1778.
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
pleasure garden sited in the grounds of the old manor house of Marylebone
Marylebone
Marylebone is an affluent inner-city area of central London, located within the City of Westminster. It is sometimes written as St. Marylebone or Mary-le-bone....
and frequented from the mid-17th century, when Marylebone was a village separated from London by fields and market gardens, to the third quarter of the 18th century. It was situated in the area which is now between Marylebone Road
Marylebone Road
Marylebone Road is an important thoroughfare in central London, within the City of Westminster. It runs east-west from the Euston Road at Regent's Park to the A40 Westway at Paddington...
, Marylebone High Street
Marylebone High Street
Marylebone High Street is a shopping street in London, running sub-parallel to Baker Street and terminating at its northern end at the junction with the Marylebone Road...
, Weymouth Street, and Harley Street
Harley Street
Harley Street is a street in the City of Westminster in London, England which has been noted since the 19th century for its large number of private specialists in medicine and surgery.- Overview :...
; its site was developed as Beaumont Street and part of Devonshire Street.
Originally consisting of two bowling green
Bowling green
A bowling green is a finely-laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of lawn for playing the game of lawn bowls.Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep on them...
s adjoining the Rose of Normandy tavern
Tavern
A tavern is a place of business where people gather to drink alcoholic beverages and be served food, and in some cases, where travelers receive lodging....
on the east side of Marylebone High Street
Marylebone High Street
Marylebone High Street is a shopping street in London, running sub-parallel to Baker Street and terminating at its northern end at the junction with the Marylebone Road...
, its size was increased to about eight acres by acquisition of land from Marylebone Manor House, which had been converted into a hunting lodge by Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
and was later used as a boarding school
Boarding school
A boarding school is a school where some or all pupils study and live during the school year with their fellow students and possibly teachers and/or administrators. The word 'boarding' is used in the sense of "bed and board," i.e., lodging and meals...
, eventually being demolished in 1791.
The Marylebone Gardens, surrounded by a high brick wall and set about with fruit trees, had a carriage entrance in the High Street of Marylebone village and another entrance from the fields at the back. Its center was an open oval bowling green
Bowling green
A bowling green is a finely-laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of lawn for playing the game of lawn bowls.Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep on them...
encompassed by a wide gravelled walk and many smaller walks and greens surrounded by clipped quickset
Privet
Privet was originally the name for the European semi-evergreen shrub Ligustrum vulgare, and later also for the more reliably evergreen Ligustrum ovalifolium , used extensively for privacy hedging. It is often suggested that the name privet is related to private, but the OED states that there is no...
hedges, "kept in good order, and indented like town walls."
Marylebone Gardens were mentioned by John Gay
John Gay
John Gay was an English poet and dramatist and member of the Scriblerus Club. He is best remembered for The Beggar's Opera , set to music by Johann Christoph Pepusch...
in The Beggar's Opera
The Beggar's Opera
The Beggar's Opera is a ballad opera in three acts written in 1728 by John Gay with music arranged by Johann Christoph Pepusch. It is one of the watershed plays in Augustan drama and is the only example of the once thriving genre of satirical ballad opera to remain popular today...
(1728) as a haunt of its 'hero', the highwayman
Highwayman
A highwayman was a thief and brigand who preyed on travellers. This type of outlaw, usually, travelled and robbed by horse, as compared to a footpad who traveled and robbed on foot. Mounted robbers were widely considered to be socially superior to footpads...
Macheath. The tavern had become a resort for gambling, and "There will be deep play tonight" Macheath says to a confederate, "and consequently money may be pick'd up on the road. Meet me there, and I'll give you the hint who is worth setting." The real highwayman Dick Turpin
Dick Turpin
Richard "Dick" Turpin was an English highwayman whose exploits were romanticised following his execution in York for horse theft. Turpin may have followed his father's profession as a butcher early in life, but by the early 1730s he had joined a gang of deer thieves, and later became a poacher,...
was a visitor in the 1720s. The gardens were used for, amongst other entertainments, gambling, cock-fighting, bull-baiting
Bull-baiting
Bull-baiting is a blood sport involving the baiting of bulls.-History:In the time of Queen Anne of Great Britain, bull-baiting was practiced in London at Hockley-in-the-Hole, twice a week – and was reasonably common in the provincial towns...
and boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
matches (with both male and female contestants).
Halls were built for shelter in 1739, and the entrance fee was increased to sixpence
Penny
A penny is a coin or a type of currency used in several English-speaking countries. It is often the smallest denomination within a currency system.-Etymology:...
to keep out the riff-raff. Silver-plated season tickets were also available. Refreshments were another draw for the mid-century Marylebone Gardens, under the direction of the caterer John Trusler, who took over the management about 1756, and presented public dinners and breakfasts. His daughter, Miss Trusler, made the popular Marylebone tarts and cakes. "Tarts of a twelvepenny size," reads the advertisement of 1760, "will be made every day from one to three o'clock... The almond cheesecake
Cheesecake
Cheesecake is a dessert consisting of a topping made of soft, fresh cheese, usually on a crust or base made from biscuit , pastry or sponge cake. They may be baked or unbaked...
will be always hot at one o'clock as usual." Once the Great Room for balls and supper had been erected on the site (1739-40), breakfasts were added to the schedule.
Many of the foremost London musicians and composers including George Frideric Handel
George Frideric Handel
George Frideric Handel was a German-British Baroque composer, famous for his operas, oratorios, anthems and organ concertos. Handel was born in 1685, in a family indifferent to music...
and James Hook
James Hook (composer)
James Hook was an English composer and organist.-Life and musical career:He was born in Norwich, the son of James Hook, a razor-grinder and cutler. He displayed a remarkable musical talent at an early age, playing the harpsichord by the age of four and performing concertos in public at age six...
performed works here, The original principal female singer was a Miss Faulkner and the orchestra was led by William Defesch. From 1763 to 1768 the Gardens were run by Thomas Lowe, who had been a singer at Vauxhall Gardens
Vauxhall Gardens
Vauxhall Gardens was a pleasure garden, one of the leading venues for public entertainment in London, England from the mid 17th century to the mid 19th century. Originally known as New Spring Gardens, the site was believed to have opened before the Restoration of 1660 with the first mention being...
, with the musical management undertaken by Samuel Arnold
Samuel Arnold (composer)
Samuel Arnold was an English composer and organist.Arnold was born in London , and began writing music for the theatre in about 1764. A few years later he became director of music at the Marylebone Gardens, for which much of his popular music was written...
who took over the ownership and management with the violinist Thomas Pinto which arrangement continued from 1769 to 1774.
In 1768, under the direction of Trusler's son, the Gardens gave the English premiere of Pergolesi
Giovanni Battista Pergolesi
Giovanni Battista Pergolesi was an Italian composer, violinist and organist.-Biography:Born at Iesi, Pergolesi studied music there under a local musician, Francesco Santini, before going to Naples in 1725, where he studied under Gaetano Greco and Francesco Feo among others...
's opera La serva padrona
La serva padrona
La serva padrona is an opera buffa by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi to a libretto by Gennaro Antonio Federico, after the play by Jacopo Angello Nelli. The opera is only 45 minutes long and was originally performed as an intermezzo between the acts of a larger serious opera...
(in translation).
Hook was appointed organist
Organist
An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists...
and composer to the Gardens in 1769 and held an annual festival
Music festival
A music festival is a festival oriented towards music that is sometimes presented with a theme such as musical genre, nationality or locality of musicians, or holiday. They are commonly held outdoors, and are often inclusive of other attractions such as food and merchandise vending machines,...
there every summer. The gardens were also famous for their regular firework displays, organised from 1772 to 1774 by Signor Torre. The Rose Tavern was later developed as a music hall
Music hall
Music Hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment which was popular between 1850 and 1960. The term can refer to:# A particular form of variety entertainment involving a mixture of popular song, comedy and speciality acts...
and renamed "The Marylebone". It was the site of the studios of BBC London 94.9
BBC London 94.9
BBC London 94.9 is London's BBC Local Radio station, and part of BBC London. Broadcasting across Greater London and beyond on 94.9 FM, DAB, Virgin Media Channel 930, Sky Channel 0152 and also online...
until September 2009.
The area was eventually built over in 1778.
External links
- London's Tea Gardens, An essay by William B Boulton
- Marylebone High Street, the Howard de WaldenBaron Howard de WaldenBaron Howard de Walden is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created by writ of summons, by Queen Elizabeth I for Admiral Lord Thomas Howard, a younger son of the 4th Duke of Norfolk, in 1597. The title was reportedly granted for the Admiral's role in the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588...
Estate - Views of the Pleasure Gardens of London, by H.A.Rogers, 1896, Victorian London
- Marylebone Gardens, Regent's Park and Primrose Hill in literature and music