On Monday 6th June 2016 a group of volunteers and staff from the Museum of the Order of St John were given a tour of Charterhouse by Master Charlie Hobson.  It was a beautiful sunny day, and wonderful way to start the week.  Even though this historic site is just around the corner from the Museum, most of us had never visited before.

Charterhouse, a Carthusian monastery, was established in 1371 on the north side of what is now Charterhouse Square.  A neighbour to the Order’s Priory in Clerkenwell, in many respects these two religious houses had shared experiences, including a history of caring for those in need and the great impact of the Dissolution of the Monasteries.  From the turn of the seventeenth century, however, the two sites would find themselves on divergent paths.  While St John’s Gate and the Priory site were turned over to the industry, commerce and leisure, before finally becoming the home of the Order once more, Charterhouse would continue on a charitable path which persists to this very day.

The tour began in the gardens of Charterhouse Square, where we learned of the history of this site as a Black Death burial ground from 1349, and the development of the buildings from the early fifteenth century.  We were interested to learn that the Priory Church of the Order of St John and Charterhouse had postwar reconstruction and repair carried out by the same architects, Seely and Paget, having both suffered considerable destruction due incendiary bombs dropped during the Second World War.  Many of the buildings, dating to right up to the twenty first, could be admired from this position on the Square.

The tour continued inside the grounds, where we were able to explore both the beautiful gardens and the many buildings.  We learned of how the buildings developed following the dissolution of the monastery, first as a private residence, and then in to an almshouse and school in the early seventeenth century.  The buildings grew and were adapted to meet the needs of growing numbers of school boys and Brothers, and the busy lives of these charitable institutions are apparent throughout the historic and beautiful rooms.  In 1872 the Charterhouse School was relocated to Surrey, but Sutton’s Hospital in Charterhouse, the almshouse, operates to this day.

We were very excited to discover that Charterhouse have a number of 14th century tiles in situ under the cloister.  The Museum has a number of tiles, including some of the same design, that were very likely produced by the same kiln.  As part of the AHRC funded Bearers of the Cross project, Dr Rosie Weetch will be writing about these two groups of tiles.  Keep an eye out for this on our blog, and the Bearers of the Cross website.

We would all strongly recommend a tour of Charterhouse, usually given by one of the Brothers.  In addition to learning about the long and fascinating history of this site and its residents, we all now have a better understanding of an institution that is so significant in the history of Clerkenwell.  As part of Revealing the Charterhouse a new museum will be created, a learning programme introduced and Charterhouse Square will be relandscaped, ensuring that many more people will be able to visit and enjoy this wonderful place!