Basic HTML Version
24
City & Village Tours: 0845 812 5000 info@cityandvillagetours.com
ONE TO DO ON YOUR OWN
This month Blue Badge Guide Sarah explains what the
Dennis Severs’ House is all about to help you decide if
it is suitable for your group as one to do on your own.
When Dennis Severs was growing up in Escondido,
California he loved watching BBC costume dramas
on television. In 1979 he moved into a dilapidated house
in Folgate Street, Spitalfields when Spitalfields was still
run down and dodgy and not the up market edgy place
it has become. The tall terraced Georgian house was
built around 1724 of brown brick with red brick
dressings and is typical of the houses-cum-workshops
built in Spitalfields at this time for prosperous Huguenot
silk weavers.
Dennis Severs used to greet people at the door and
decide whether or not he wanted to let you in and he
was just as capable of throwing you out if he felt you
didn't enter into the spirit of the place. He died on
December 27th 1999 as if it just didn't suit him to enter
a new millennium. Just as in Dennis' lifetime, the
success of a visit relies on you giving in to its quirks
and idiosyncrasies. Each room is shown as if the
inhabitant had just left, with a half eaten apple or a
newly used chamber pot in the room. Some people find
it wonderfully atmospheric and an exciting new way
of getting a feel for the history of a place. And some
people find it irritating and fake. One thing's for sure
though, it's a one off of a visit and if you decide to
surrender to its charms it works. Indeed the motto of the
house is
Aut Visum Aut Non!
:
You either see it or you
don't.
The artist David Hockney described the house as
one of the world’s greatest works of opera.
You visit by escorted tour but this is conducted in
complete silence – from the guide at least, there are
sound effects in some of the ten rooms. Evening
candlelit visits are available but while they sound
exciting in reality the house can be very dark even in
broad daylight so daytime 45-minute tours are
recommended by the house as being most practical for
groups including members with reduced night vision.
I’d add to that a recommendation to visit in the warmer
months – this house is relentlessly authentic to its very
core which means it is freezing cold in the winter!
The house can accommodate up to 25 people at a time
for a 45-minute silent tour at group rate of £12.00 per
person. Book consecutive tours to accommodate larger
groups. Arrive for morning coffee at The Barbican
Centre, visit the Dennis Severs’ House (a five minute
coach transfer from The Barbican). While one half visit
the house the others can wander locally – it is quite
fascinating! Make a day of it with a long lunch break
in Spitalfields Market where there are stalls every
weekday in addition to the furniture and fashion shops
and round off an East End day out with an hour or two
at the V&A Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green
which is free to visit and has a lovely big café for tea.
Dennis Severs’ House, 18 Folgate Street, Spitalfields,
London E1 6BX. Speak to the House Manager Mick
Pedroll on 0207 247 4013 or read more about it at
V&A Museum of Childhood groups 0208 983 5205
Dennis Severs’ House
Spitalfields