Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen attended the opening of Danson House
It is probably the last major restoration project English Heritage will undertake. But nine years and £4.3m after the work began, Danson House is finally open to the public again in its 18th-century glory. LINDA PIPER reports ...
THE house in Danson Park, Welling, was once London's most important "at risk" historic building.
Now, thanks to painstaking work by English Heritage's expert restorers and dedication from Bexley Heritage Trust, the house's original sumptuous interior can now be enjoyed by the public.
The house, owned by Bexley Council, was last open to the public during the 1960s.
The council had no money for restoration and the house gradually fell into disrepair.
In the 1980s, the council struck a deal with a builder, who promised to restore the house in return for a lease to use it as a family home.
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Instead, Danson was gradually stripped of its treasures, including the original fireplaces.
When the council realised what was happening, it cancelled the deal and items from the house, including the fireplaces, were eventually discovered in a container waiting to be shipped to the West Indies.
Danson House's saloon before the restoration
Councillor Len Newton, council leader at the time, was at the opening reception last week.
He famously refused to spend any money on the house, despite the fact water was coming in through the roof.
He told News Shopper last week: "We had children being taught in huts which were freezing in winter and boiling in summer.
"I couldn't justify spending council money."
Admiring the restoration work, he added: "Fortunately English Heritage blinked first, although I don't think even it would have taken it on if it had realised it was going to cost so much."
On March 22, English Heritage and Bexley Heritage Trust, which will manage Danson, held a celebration reception to mark the end of the restoration work and the opening of the house to the public.
Among the guests were Sir Bob Scott, chairman of the trust, Simon Thurley, chief executive of English Heritage, historical architect Ptolemy Dean, co-presenter of the BBC television series Restoration, and Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen.
Sir Bob Scott revealed that when English Heritage stepped in to buy a lease on the house for £1, it was just six months away from demolition. He praised former English Heritage chairman Sir Jocelyn Stevens for leading the battle to save Danson and said £4 million was one of the highest sums ever spent on a project.
"Bexley will always be in English Heritage's debt," he said.
He said that just two hours before the reception, hammering was still going on to put the finishing touches to the house.
He spoke of the 90 dedicated and knowledgeable local volunteers who have come forward to help guide visitors round the house.
Ptolemy Dean spoke about the extraordinary feeling for him, to be in a building that wasn't derelict. He said Danson was one of many country houses built in the counties around London, which had been gradually overtaken by urban sprawl.
He said many had been bought by local councils, mainly to preserve the open space that went with them.
"It is a miracle that this house has survived," he said. He described the house as a brilliant piece of architecture and said the spiral staircase which is top-lit by a glass cupola was "absolutely revolutionary."
Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen, who lives in neighbouring Greenwich, said he was shocked and embarrassed that he had not done more to help in the restoration of the mansion, which he described as "an extremely elegant architectural centre for the community."
He said it was a compliment to the restoration that the house felt so intimate and occupied.
English Heritage's chief executive Simon Thurley said he was immensely proud that English Heritage had saved Danson.
"It was what we were set up for and what we do best. But this is the end of an era. Never again will English Heritage be able to afford to save houses like this because our government grant has been effectively frozen for 10 years."
From the beginning, English Heritage took the decision to take the house back to its origins.
Danson was built between 1762 and 1767 by John Boyd, who owned a sugar plantation in St Kitts. He chose architect Sir Robert Taylor whose speciality was small country houses for very rich men.
Boyd was a widower with five children and was about to marry his new love, the much younger Catherine Chapone, and the decoration of the dining room, with wall paintings by the French artist Charles Pavillon.
The paintings tell the story of Roman deities Vertumnus, the older man and the young Pomona, object of his passion. The whole tone of the paintings is one of feasting and fertility.
The discovery of a set of seven detailed watercolours enabled restorers to make an accurate re-creation of the house's reception rooms.
They were painted by Sarah Jane Johnson, whose family lived in Danson for 60 years and one of her descendants, Commander Charter, was a guest at the opening.
Tiny shreds of silk and flakes of paint enabled English Heritage's experts to recreate the Georgian wall colours. The water colours were also used to commission the carpet for the salon, based on the original design.
Delicate trompe-l'oeil painted panels were discovered underneath thick pant in the light well over the stairs and were restored, while in the dining room faint outlines on the walls and retrieved scraps of the original wood enabled restorers to recreate two huge gilt mirrors which had been removed in Victorian times and lost. And a spectacular chandelier has been recreated and rehung.
Bexley Heritage Trust has also put in £300,000 of its cash to help in the restoration. It spent £42,000 on restoring the organ in the music room. It has been stored at Hall Place since being removed from the mansion.
The trust has also bought carefully chosen pieces of furniture for the house, and borrowed others. The Georgian gilt chairs scattered around the rooms are on permanent loan from the Brighton Pavilion.
A Lottery grant will now be used to landscape the gardens around the house.
The completion of Danson House provides a unique trio of architectural gems in Bexley - the Tudor mansion and historic gardens at Hall Place, also managed by Bexley Heritage Trust, Danson and William Morris's Red House in Bexleyheath which is owned by the National Trust.
Sadly, cuts in English Heritage's budget makes it unlikely that it will ever be able to take on a project of Danson's scale again. The restorers who worked on Danson have all been made redundant.
The house is open every Wednesday, Thursday, Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday until the end of October, from 11am until 5pm (last admission 4.15pm). Entry is £5 adults, £4.50 pensioners and children free. Students and English Heritage members get 25 per cent discount. For more information call Danson House on 020 8303 6699. The house can also be hired for weddings with a maximum of 65 people. Call Lynda Weaver for details on 01322 621233.
You can see more pictures of the restoration of Danson Mansion by clicking here
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