On my walk
Here are two pictures inside and outside the walled garden in Canons Park, Stanmore, close to my home. The land originally belonged to the canons of St Bartholomew Smithfield and eventually passed into the hands of James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos. He made his fortune largely by embezzlement and built the manor house and estate called Cannons (with an extra ‘n’) between 1713 and 1725. He lost his fortune in the South Sea Bubble. As Jonathan Swift put it ‘Since all he got by fraud he lost in stocks’.
He was patron to the young Handel among others. Here Handel composed a number of pieces including the Chandos Anthems. He played the single manual organ in St Lawrence Church, Whitchurch Lane, which runs to the south of the estate and was the family chapel. The organ still exists and is still playable.
Legend has it that Handel was inspired to write his air and variations ‘The Harmonious blacksmith’ after hearing a Whitchurch lane Blacksmith singing the air or used the rhythm from the sound of the anvil. However, both stories are almost certainly fictional.
What remains of the house is now part of North London Collegiate School. Some of the grounds remain as Canons Park. When the estate was dissolved, the iron gates found their way to adorn the entrance to Hampstead Parish Church.
Editor’s note. The stone on the churchyard wall noting the provenance of the railings has the double ‘n’