Building    From 1619  To 1703

Mortlake Tapestry Works

Categories: Craft / Design

Barnes History has a nice hand-drawn map with a pin showing the location of these Tapestry Works, and it gives the history of the site. John Dee (1527 -1608) lived in a house on this site (with a large and important library) from 1566 until his death by which time he was very poor. In 1619 the estate was purchased and repurposed as the Mortlake Tapestry Works which employed skilled Flemish weavers to produce highly valued products. This closed in the early 18th century.

Another excellent source is Panorama of the Thames. This has another image of the river front which makes clear that the Lower Dutch House is the pink building, shown in our image, to the left of the steps down to the river. Our image is centred on the adjacent Queen's Head pub. The picture source website has researched the 'J.Firmston' named in the picture and this dates it to 1871-8. So the Lower Dutch House was still standing then.The name suggests there was another, upper, 'Dutch House' possibly standing further back from the river. 'Dutch' presumably came from the language/culture of the people working there.

The tapestries were so successful that Mortlake became famous for this product. The Lady Lever Art Gallery holds a set of the tapestries.

(The pub was rebuilt in 1885, closed in the 1940s and, by 2011 was developed into the residential Tapestry Court.)

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Mortlake Tapestry Works

Commemorated ati

Mortlake Tapestry Works

Site of the Lower Dutch House, part of the Mortlake Tapestry Works, 1619 - 1703.

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Laura Symes

Laura Symes

Mosaic artist active in 2012. Born Scotland.

Person, Craft / Design, Scotland

2 memorials
Horatio Myer & Co.Ltd

Horatio Myer & Co.Ltd

Horatio Myer (7 June 1850 - 1 January 1916) was born Hereford, the son of a German Jewish immigrant.  He moved to London and in 1876 in Vauxhall he set up business producing metal beds and later pr...

Group, Commerce, Craft / Design

1 memorial
'Father' Henry Willis

'Father' Henry Willis

Organ builder. Born north-west London. His first London workshop was in Foundling Terrace, Gray's Inn Road. Then when he got the commission to build the large organ for the Great Exhibition he move...

Person, Craft / Design, Music / songs

1 memorial
George Heriot

George Heriot

Goldsmith. Born Edinburgh. Died London, buried St. Martin-in-the-Fields.

Person, Craft / Design, Scotland

1 memorial
Christopher Rahere Webb

Christopher Rahere Webb

Known professionally as Christopher Webb, he was a stained glass designer. Christopher Rahere Webb was a son of Edward Alfred Webb and a nephew of Sir Aston Webb. His middle name, Rahere, refers to...

Person, Armed Forces, Craft / Design

1 memorial

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Sir Henry Bessemer

Sir Henry Bessemer

Engineer known for inventing the Bessemer process for producing steel. Born Charlton, Hertfordshire. Moved to London aged 17. From 1833 he lived at 15 Northampton Square, the EC1 site now occupied ...

Person, Engineering

2 memorials
Sybil Phoenix OBE

Sybil Phoenix OBE

Born Sybil Theodora Phoenix Marshall in British Guiana (now Guyana). Community worker, the first black woman to be awarded the MBE, in 1973. Was Mayor of Lewisham. See EachOneTeachOne for more info.

Person, Community / Clubs, Race Issues

1 memorial
Sir Isaiah Berlin

Sir Isaiah Berlin

Sir Isaiah Berlin OM CBE FBA was a Russian-British social and political theorist, philosopher, and historian of ideas. Born in Riga into a wealthy family, which moved with him to London, in 1921. ...

Person, History, Philosophy, Russia

2 memorials
Andrew - cyclist

Andrew - cyclist

It's not really clear that the date given is Andrew's date of death, it might be the date the ghost bike was erected.

Person, Cyclist, Tragedy

1 memorial
Agnes George

Agnes George

Burnt at the stake in Bow (or possibly Stratford) for her Protestant beliefs.

Person, Execution, Religion

1 memorial