Timeline of Banqueting House
1619
Inigo Jones designs the new Banqueting House for James I.
1636
Rubens' paintings are installed on the ceiling.
1649
King Charles I is executed on a scaffold outside the Banqueting House.
1689
William and Mary are offered, and accept, the Crown of England at the Banqueting House. They reign as joint monarchs after the deposition of James II.
1893
Queen Victoria granted the Banqueting House to the Royal United Service Institute for use as a museum.
1989
Management of the Banqueting House is taken over by Historic Royal Palaces.
The Architecture
The Banqueting House, Whitehall, London, is grade 1 listed, and is cited as a very important building in the history of English architecture.
t was commissioned by King James I because he wanted a stately building for the ‘Masque’, a form of festive theatrical entertainment. In Tudor and Stuart England, a ‘Banqueting House’ was described as a separate building reached through pleasure gardens from the main residence, whose use is purely for entertaining.
Finished in 1622, the very impressive design by Inigo Jones is in the ‘Palladian Style’ (the style used by Andrea Palladio, the 16th-century Italian architect). Jones was very much the architect of the moment and was riding high on the critical acclaim of his previous work of the Queen’s House at Greenwich which was inspired by Jones’ travels across Europe.
The interior of the Banqueting House is equally impressive, with ceiling canvases painted by the Flemish artist Sir Peter Paul Rubens, which were installed in the hall in 1636. The canvases are the only surviving ceiling paintings by Rubens and depict The Union of the Crowns, The Apotheosis of James I and The Peaceful Reign of James I.
James I also installed a vaulted undercroft that was designed as a drinking den for James and his friends. There was believed to be a ‘grotto’ decorated with shells which has now gone. After James’ death, the undercroft began to be used for secret gambling games. The vault still exists, and is now rented out as a function room.
The Banqueting House is the only building that still remains of Grand Whitehall Palace. The rest of the Palace was destroyed in 1698 by fire. The devastating fire is said to have been started by a careless washroom woman, who was heating water over a fire that got out of hand. The fire spread throughout the Palace, destroying it.
The building exterior was controversially refaced in Portland stone in the 19th century although the original façade was faithfully preserved.
Rubens' paintings
Charles I and the English Civil War
Charles I inherited a mess from his father, James I. Like his father, he believed he ruled by God’s command. Charles listened to his father’s advisor, the Duke of Buckingham who put up taxes and raised money by selling knighthoods.
When Buckingham was murdered, Charles started taking advice from his French wife, who was a Catholic. This did not please the Protestant majority in the country, especially the Scottish. In 1640 the Scottish invaded. Charles fell out with Parliament and dismissed it. In 1642 Charles took his army into the House of Commons to arrest five members for plotting against the king but they had been tipped off and escaped. The King declared war on parliament. During the war a fine General named Oliver Cromwell emerged. In 1644 he trained the ‘New Model Army’ who went on to defeat the King. He finally surrendered in Scotland in 1646.
The Execution of a King
Outside the Banqueting House is the site of Charles I execution. It was on 30 January 1649, a freezing cold day. The King wore two shirts as he did not want to be seen shivering and have it mistaken for fear. He was persuaded to drink a glass of claret so he did not faint before reaching the execution block. He stepped through an open window onto a specially erected wooden stage, where his fate awaited him. Execution!
His execution marked the climax of the English Civil war.
King Charles I is remembered each year on 30 January with a service at the Banqueting House.
