Holland House, Kensington, London W11

On a freezing day in March, I sketched Holland House.

The view from the bench wasn’t quite right, so I moved to the grass. The shadows crept after me across the lawn.

The house was built in 1605-7. It originally had two turrets and was much larger than it is now.

It was damaged by aerial bombardment in 194o.

During the night of 27 September, Holland House was hit by twenty-two incendiary bombs during a ten-hour raid. The house was largely destroyed, with only the east wing, and, miraculously, almost all of the library remaining undamaged.

Historic England archive (<- click this link to see a photo)

My sketch shows the surviving East wing with its turret. In the 1950s the damaged part was demolished, and the remainder converted to a youth hostel and open-air theatre.

On the way back to the tube station I paused at a still pond.