Pembroke Lodge is a Georgian mansion situated at the highest point of Richmond Park (London’s largest royal park). This elegant lodge began it’s life as a single-room cottage for a mole catcher (I love that a mole catcher is an actual thing 😆). His job was to deal with the moles whose molehills were a problem for horseman during hunts 🐴 Later, it was enlarged to house a gamekeeper and then let out to Elizabeth, Countess of Pembroke (and so named). She loved it so much that she asked King George III to grant it to her, which he did, and she transformed it into a beautiful residence 🤴
In 1831, after the Countess died, King William IV granted Pembroke Lodge to his son-in-law, Earl of Erroll and then Queen Victoria gave it to John Russell, her Prime Minister. She regularly visited him here as did Charles Dickens, Lewis Carroll and William Thackeray 👸🏻📚 Occupied by the military during WWII (suffering direct bomb hits in 1942 and 1944) and a base for the Phantom Squad, GCHQ Liaison Regiment, it was then converted by the government into flats for park staff (how lovely) and is now a beautiful wedding venue 👰🏼🤵🏼 Phew, what a busy house 🏡
Pembroke Lodge also has a lovely tea room, it’s terrace having wonderful views over the park and London. I often go and sit here with my book and a coffee in the morning. I can really recommend a trip to the Park and the Lodge and if you do, bear in mind that the Lodge car park gets chock-a-block at the weekend 🌿🦌 .
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