Charterhouse - Great Hall, exterior, ca.1880

From: Henry Dixon & Son

RA Collection: Art

"The word "Charterhouse" is a corruption of "Chartreuse," a name first given to a monastery near Grenoble, founded towards the end of the eleventh century by St. Bruno, the originator of the order of Carthusians. Several monastic houses belonging to this order were at different times established in England, the first being founded by Henry II., in 1181, at Witham. The London Charterhouse was established in 1371."

The above description, by Alfred Marks, was taken from the letterpress which accompanies the photographs.

According to Marks, Thomas Sutton, a wealthy London merchant, purchased the estate in 1611 and died later that same year. Sutton's intention was to found a hospital for poor men and a free school for poor children and scholars but as described by Marks, the "pious founder's" directions were later disregarded and the cost of educating a boy at Charterhouse far exceeded most incomes. The school later moved to Surrey and in 1872, the school of the Merchant Taylor's Company took over the buildings.