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Cecil House refers to two historical mansions on the Strand, London, in the vicinity of the Savoy Hotel. The first was a 16th-century house on the north side, where the Strand Palace Hotel now stands. The second was built in the early 17th century on the south side nearly opposite, where Shell Mex House stands today.
The house became the residence of Burghley's elder son, Thomas Cecil, created Earl of Exeter in 1605; thus, in Wenceslas Hollar's bird's-eye view of London (circa 1658), it is labelled "Exeter House". The structure formed a notch in the north side of The Strand. It was converted in 1676 into Exeter Exchange, famous for its menagerie of wild animals, and demolished in 1829. Exeter Hall, built to be the largest meeting place in the world's largest city, was erected between 1829 and 1831 on the site to designs by John Peter Gandy.Howard Colvin, A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects, 3rd ed. (Yale University Press, 1995), s.v. "Gandy, afterwards Deering, John Peter". Exeter Hall was one of his last architectural commissions before inheriting a fortune, adopting the additional surname Deering and retiring to the country as a gentleman. It was demolished at the beginning of the 20th century and the Strand Palace Hotel was constructed on the site.
John Manningham described an entertainment of welcome at this new house for Elizabeth I in December 1602. The hall was decorated with weapons. As the queen arrived speeches were given by the characters of a maid, a wife and a widow, praising the virgin state. A Turkish lady admired her linguistic skills and gave her a mantle.John Bruce, Diary of John Manningham (London, 1868), pp. 99-100.
On 2 September 1603 a canoe was brought to Cecil's house in London and rowed on the River Thames by three Powhatan from Tsenacommacah.Alden T. Vaughan, Transatlantic Encounters: American Indians in Britain, 1500-1776 (Cambridge, 2006), p. 43: David B. Quinn, 'Virginians on the Thames in 1603', Terrae Incognitae: Journal of the Society for the History of Discoveries 2:1 (1970), pp. 7-14. The churchman and writer Godfrey Goodman saw a suite of embroidered green velvet wall hangings at Salisbury House, which Robert Cecil had intended as a gift for Queen Anne. He had to keep them himself after she discovered he had helped King James deny her money for her building projects at Somerset House.John S. Brewer, The Court of King James the First by Godfrey Goodman, vol. 1 (London, 1839), p. 37.
The property was divided by his heir, William Cecil, into two parts, of which the lesser was demolished in 1678 to make room for a new residential street, Salisbury Street. The central part of the building was converted to shops and officially renamed the Middle Exchange, though in character, the building was of ill repute, being known as the "Whores' Nest"; this part of the building was finally demolished around 1695, along with the remainder of the house, to make room for a new road named Cecil Street. The site was subsequently used for the Hotel Cecil, named after this house, and is currently occupied by Shell Mex House.
Salisbury House
The second, more commonly known as Salisbury House, was built on the waterfront opposite the existing house, by Lord Burghley's younger son, Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, around the turn of the 17th century.Manolo Guerci, 'Salisbury House in London, 1599-1694: The Strand Palace of Sir Robert Cecil', Architectural History, 52 (2009), pp. 31-78. Some of the architect Simon Basil's plans and elevations for Salisbury House survive.Manolo Guerci, London's Golden Mile: The Great Houses of the Strand (Yale, 2021), pp. 139-147. Cecil employed William Portington, the master carpenter of the royal Office of Works.J. F. Merritt, The social world of early modern Westminster: Abbey, court and community (Manchester, 2005), p. 120.
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Categories: 1560 Establishments In England, Houses Completed In 1560, 1829 Disestablishments In England, Buildings And Structures Demolished In 1829, 17th-century Establishments In England, Houses Completed In The 17th Century, 1695 Disestablishments In England, Buildings And Structures Demolished In The 1690s, Former Houses In The City Of Westminster, Strand, London, Demolished Buildings And Structures In London
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