Hogarth's House Garden

Eighteenth-century Chiswick was a popular retreat for writers and artists, as well as members of the gentry and aristocracy. The first occupant of the House was Revd. George Andreas Ruperti (1670-1731), a German Lutheran Pastor with responsibility for the Lutheran Court Chapel at St James's Palace. His substantial library, sold after his death, included a number of significant horticultural books, suggesting that he was very interested in gardening. When Hogarth acquired the house in Chiswick from Ruperti's son in 1749 it was neglected but the Hogarths extended the House in 1750. After his death in 1764 Hogarth was buried in the family tomb at Chiswick parish churchyard of St Nicholas (q.v.). His wife Jane continued to live in the house until her own death in 1789, sharing it with Hogarth's sister Ann and her cousin Mary Lewis. Mary remained in residence until she died in 1808. Jane Hogarth had bequeathed it to surgeon Richard Loveday, family friend, after Mary's death.

When Loveday's son Douglas inherited it in 1814 he sold it to poet, the Revd. Henry Francis Cary, curate of Chiswick and later Assistant Librarian at the British Museum. By that time the orchard had not only the mulberry but at least a walnut, a hawthorn, an apricot and a cherry and Hogarth's nut-walk, where he played ninepins with his friends, also survived. At the west end of the garden a door in the wall led from the road into a small stable and a coach-house whose hayloft Hogarth converted into a studio. In the garden were tombstones to Hogarth's pet drake, Dick, who died in 1760, and to Pompey, a dog buried in 1789. Pompey was probably a lapdog belonging to the women of the household, very different from the tough pugs that were Hogarth's pets.

Throughout the C19th century there was a succession of tenants and by the 1870s the property was in need of repair. It was rescued in 1891 by Alfred Dawson whose father, landscape painter Henry Dawson, had lived at The Cedars next door, and Alfred ran the Typographic Etching Company at the neighbouring Hogarth Works in Short Road. The 1895 25 ins:1 mile OS map shows that the stable and other outbuildings survived at that date, along with a glass-house used by the nursery gardener who had become Dawson's tenant. At the turn of the century the Hogarth House Preservation Committee tried to purchase the property as a public memorial to Hogarth, then under threat of demolition as a result of the rapidly increasing development in the area. Their appeal for funds failed but a buyer came to the rescue when the property was put up for auction on 25 November 1901. The purchaser was Lt Col R W Shipway of Grove House, Chiswick, who restored the House and commissioned furniture from the Chiswick Art-Workers' Guild. It opened to the public in 1904 with a new Arts & Crafts style garden designed by Madeline Agar, landscape architect to the Metropolitan Parks & Gardens Association. Shipway presented it in trust to Middlesex County Council in 1909, for the benefit of the public. In 1965 it was conveyed to the new LB Hounslow, which became its charitable trustee.

Closed following severe damage by bombing during WWII, Hogarth's House was later restored by the MCC, the work supervised by John E M Macgregor. It was re-opened on 24 September 1951 as the Hogarth Museum by the Chairman of the MCC, William Grimshaw, to coincide with the Festival of Britain. The mulberry tree is probably the only survivor of the walled mixed orchard planted there in the 1670s; damaged in the bombing it was pruned and coaxed back to life. On that occasion, pies made from the mulberry fruits were given to children at the adjacent  Hogarth School, recalling Jane Hogarth's own practice of making mulberry tarts for Foundling Hospital children, some of whom stayed each summer.

The property survived another threat of closure in the 1980s, and both house and garden were modestly refurbished in 1995-97 for the tercentenary of Hogarth's birth. The garden was replanted in a similar style to that of the early 1900s though a rather unsuitable wooden gazebo was built across the historic pathway on the north side of the garden in 1996! The garden was formerly listed on the National Register of Parks and Gardens at Grade II but was later removed because it was being poorly maintained.

Hogarth's House and Garden closed for major refurbishment in 2008, re-opening in November 2011 with new displays and a new collections store, study area and small office on the 2nd floor. Support for the restoration project came from The William Hogarth Trust, whose then Chairman, Val Bott, helped to draft the successful bid  for HLF funding. The Trust contributed £5,000 towards the required partnership funding and Val, a museum consultant, oversaw the refurbishment. The restoration work had been completed and the new interpretation scheme had been designed by late July 2009, though no collections or displays had then been installed. However, in mid August a fire broke out in the cupboard under the staircase where the electricity supply enters the House. Fortunately damage was minimised by the swift action of the Chiswick firemen and no-one was hurt but it took 18 months to resolve insurance issues and obtain Listed Building Consent for the restoration work required. 

The 2020 Mulberry Garden Project, also funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, and supported by The William Hogarth Trust, the Garfield Weston Foundation and many small charities and individuals, has not only added the new Weston Studio for learning, activities and functions, but also re-landscaped and reinterpreted the garden. As part of the project the Grade I listed garden wall has been conserved and restored, and an ‘exhibition garden’ has been created, its design and features reflecting elements from all the different uses the garden has had throughout its history. The garden design is the work of Ellen Bramhill and Sarah Couch of Historic Environment Associates. The north border has fan-trained fruit trees and a series of beds whose planting will change with the seasons, reflecting historical food production and flowering plants like the iris which not only provide colour to echo the artist's palette but also demonstrate Hogarth's favoured serpentine 'Line of Beauty'. 

A number of craft commissions have been used in the refurbished garden. An iron arcade, decorated with mulberry leaves, was commissioned from James Price, artist-blacksmith, with a skittle ground for visitors to use. Fiona and Alec Peever have carved in slate a set of markers for a garden trail. Philip Surey and Robert Randall of Sands & Randall have created mulberry tree props with carved quotations and three handsome hand-carved benches have been made Bim Burton. A small glass-house echoing the one that was there in the 1890s  has been installed and the site of the stable and studio has been marked out in paving bricks in front of a timber-clad bothy for the volunteer team. Alan and Tracey Micklethwaite were commissioned to carve replicas of the two pet memorial stones; the cost was covered by a crowd-funding exercise and they were installed in the garden in late 2022. The new garden also expands the range of events, activities, learning and volunteering opportunities and will help greatly in managing the increased numbers of visitors on site, while improving their experience. All of this work also provides a more appropriate setting for the historic building.

The William Hogarth Trust originated as a committee of the Chiswick Traders Association when it was seeking funding for a Millennium Project for the statue of William Hogarth with his pug dog that now stands in Chiswick High Road. Set up in 2003 as a registered charity, the Trust continues to raise awareness and encourage understanding of Hogarth’s life and work, and in this capacity continues to support LB Hounslow's Hogarth's House Trust.