Charlton House

Sir Adam Newton acquired the Charlton estate in 1606. He was Dean of Durham and, from around 1600, tutor to Prince Henry, the eldest son of King James I; when Henry established his own household at St James's Palace in 1610, Newton became his secretary. The diarist John Evelyn, who knew the house and was well acquainted with Newton's son, stated that it had been built for the prince, though it seems more likely Newton intended it as his own residence. Prince Henry — athletic, cultured, a patron of the arts and widely regarded as an exemplary Renaissance prince — died unexpectedly of typhoid fever on 6 November 1612, aged eighteen. His death brought widespread national mourning and meant the throne would eventually pass to his younger brother, the future Charles I. Because of Newton's court connections, the design of the house is often attributed to John Thorpe, once Clerk of Works at the royal palace at Greenwich.

Newton died in 1629 and is buried at nearby St Luke's Church beside his wife Katherine, commemorated by a monument in black and white marble. The estate passed to his son Sir Henry Newton, a staunch Royalist who fought at Edgehill and had to flee Charlton during the Civil War, later known as a generous benefactor to poor cavaliers. Sir William Ducie bought the house in 1658 and made additions; after his death in 1680 it went to the East India Company merchant Sir William Langhorne, and thence through the Conyers and Maryon-Wilson families, being inherited in 1777 by Jane, wife of Sir Thomas Spencer Wilson. One of Jane's daughters married Spencer Perceval, who became Prime Minister in 1809 and was assassinated in the House of Commons in 1812; he lies buried at St Luke's. Norman Shaw added a library wing in 1877, imitating the Jacobean manner down to the plasterwork ceiling.

The twentieth century brought a quieter kind of gravity. During the First World War the house served as divisional headquarters of the Red Cross for Greenwich and Woolwich, and at the war's end, when London hospitals could not cope with the numbers of wounded, Sir Spencer and Lady Maryon-Wilson made the entire building available as an auxiliary hospital of around seventy beds, open from 14 October 1918 to 30 April 1919. The house was sold to the Metropolitan Borough of Greenwich in 1925, and since 2014 has been managed by the Royal Greenwich Heritage Trust as a community centre and events venue.

Charlton House sits on the A206 Woolwich Road in Charlton, in the Royal Borough of Greenwich, on elevated ground that John Evelyn thought gave one of the most noble views in the world, for city, river, ships, meadows, hills and woods. Managed by the Royal Greenwich Heritage Trust, it operates as a community centre and events venue with a café, exhibitions and rooms available for private hire; the principal rooms are open to the public when not in use, so it is worth checking ahead before making a special journey. Outside, much of the old pleasure grounds is now Charlton Park, but a short section of ha-ha survives, the original estate gateway stands marooned on the front lawn, and the walled gardens and perennial borders were replanted by Andrew Fisher Tomlin in 2003–2004, with an Amnesty International Peace Garden among them. Behind the orangery grows a black mulberry thought to have been planted in 1608 at the order of James I, now holding Great Tree of London status.

Organised public ghost hunts are held at the venue by event companies; book through the official organisers in advance. One practical note: in November 2024 Charlton House was added to Historic England's Heritage at Risk register with a condition assessment of "very bad", with part of the extensive roof in very poor condition and water getting into the historic interiors. The Trust is working with Historic England to secure funding for comprehensive repairs, which means access to particular rooms may change at short notice.