Elizabeth Craven and Craven Cottage, Fulham
The name Craven Cottage today means a famous football ground in London, home of the Fulham team.
But why is it called Craven Cottage? The name derives from an earlier building on the site, and links it with Elizabeth Craven, the Georgian feminist writer.
Two hundred years ago, Fulham was a peaceful, green, picturesque village on the Thames where people might go to find a rural retreat from London. Elizabeth Craven wanted a quiet place she could retreat to on her own, so she had a little cottage built here in 1776. She could use it when she wanted to write her books and plays. It did not take her long to travel here by road or river from central London and then home again.
The name of the original owner always clung to the house and became associated with the area. By the 1870s the house was abandoned and left to get covered in ivy.
The cottage survived until May 1888, when it was finally burnt down. The site was then bought by Fulham Football club, which has used it for a football ground ever since, and it is still called Craven Cottage though it doesn't look much like one now. There is an old villa in the corner of the ground, but it's not the original 18th-century cottage.
Another view of old Fulham seen from the Thames.
But why is it called Craven Cottage? The name derives from an earlier building on the site, and links it with Elizabeth Craven, the Georgian feminist writer.
A View of Fulham from Putney with Old Fulham Bridge, All Saints’ Church and the Bridge Toll House, painted by Joseph Nichols c. 1750.
Two hundred years ago, Fulham was a peaceful, green, picturesque village on the Thames where people might go to find a rural retreat from London. Elizabeth Craven wanted a quiet place she could retreat to on her own, so she had a little cottage built here in 1776. She could use it when she wanted to write her books and plays. It did not take her long to travel here by road or river from central London and then home again.
Craven Cottage, a photograph taken c.1850.
The cottage had a thatched roof and a large garden that went right down to the edge of the river. After Craven's death it was sold many times, and was at one time used as a hunting lodge by King George IV. In the reign of Queen Victoria it was enlarged and occupied by the writer Bulwer Lytton, author of The Last Days of Pompeii. He is said to have written many of his novels while living here. It is also said that he entertained the future French Emperor Napoleon III here in the 1840s when he came to England, together with a shady character involved in spiritualism.
A photograph of the cottage taken c.1880.
The name of the original owner always clung to the house and became associated with the area. By the 1870s the house was abandoned and left to get covered in ivy.
The cottage survived until May 1888, when it was finally burnt down. The site was then bought by Fulham Football club, which has used it for a football ground ever since, and it is still called Craven Cottage though it doesn't look much like one now. There is an old villa in the corner of the ground, but it's not the original 18th-century cottage.
Another view of old Fulham seen from the Thames.
Fulham seen from the Thames in 1809.
Hardback | Price: $65 / €62 / £55 1st edition | Published by Vernon Press 2017 334pp | 236mmx160mm
11 b&w illus.
Series: Vernon Series on the History of Art
Subject(s): Feminism, Literary analysis, Biography ISBN: 9781622732753
Availability: In stock
23 Jun 2017 - Elizabeth Craven's fascinating life was full of travel, love-affairs and scandals but this biography, the first to appear for a century, is the only one ...
To find out more about Elizabeth Craven, her writings and her life, read
by Julia Gasper
Hardback | Price: $65 / €62 / £55 1st edition | Published by Vernon Press 2017 334pp | 236mmx160mm
11 b&w illus.
Series: Vernon Series on the History of Art
Subject(s): Feminism, Literary analysis, Biography ISBN: 9781622732753
Availability: In stock
https://vernonpress.com/title?id=334
I was under the belief that Craven Cottage was built by the 6th Baron of Craven for his wife The countess, but was taken back after his wife’s affair and later sold. The only feminist that has been noted unceremoniously was Mary Wolfenscroft who tried to commit suicide from the under construction Putney Bridge. She found love but sadly died shortly after giving birth to a daughter. This daughter relates herself being brought up alone by her father in her novel. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.
ReplyDeleteYou will find the answers to many of your questions in the book "Elizabeth Craven: Writer, Feminist and European".
ReplyDeleteMary Wollestoncraft was far from being the only feminist in Georgian England and there were many others.