Due to popular demand, Soldierly Splendour: The 1st Duke of Wellington’s Military Uniforms has now been extended until 2027!
In recognition of his military victories during the Napoleonic Wars, Wellington was awarded the highest military rank of Field Marshal, or its equivalent, in eight nations’ armies.
Wellington wore his Field Marshal’s uniform for grand social occasions, including a spectacular ball held in Paris in May 1814. He was painted more than 30 times wearing the uniform, which became a defining part of his public image.
The Field Marshal’s uniform is on display alongside four other military uniforms in the Striped Drawing Room.
📷: Christopher Ison.
#ApsleyHouse #Wellington #MilitaryUniforms
WATERLOO DAY AT APSLEY HOUSE
Join us for Waterloo Day, as we mark the anniversary of Wellington’s most famous victory!
Step into history with a full day of talks and Q&As with leading historians and reenactors, bringing the drama of the Battle of Waterloo to life.
Whether you are a lifelong Napoleonic enthusiast or simply curious to learn more about the battle that shaped Europe, Waterloo Day offers a unique opportunity to experience history in Wellington’s own home.
📆 Saturday 20 June
🕚 11am-5pm
This event is included with your admission to the house. English Heritage members go free!
#Wellington #BattleofWaterloo #NapoleonicWars #Napoleon
Happy 257th Birthday to Arthur Wellesley, the 1st Duke of Wellington, born #OnThisDay in 1769!
Born in Dublin, Arthur was the fourth of nine children to Garret Wesley (later Wellesley), 1st Earl of Mornington, and Anne Hill. He spent part of his childhood at Dangan Castle, before the family later moved to London.
Swipe to see the earliest known image of the future Duke of Wellington, a silhouette made when he was about 11 years old, long before becoming one of the most celebrated military figures of the 19th century.
#Wellington #ArthurWellesley #ApsleyHouse
Join us for an upcoming British Sign Language (BSL) tour with experienced guide Alan Murray at Apsley House and Wellington Arch.
The tours are included with general admission, which can be booked via our website. Members go free but must also pre-book tickets. Select the number of tickets required, then choose the date of the tour. You will then have the option to add the BSL tour to your booking.
📆 Apsley House: Sat 23 May, Sat 3 Oct
📆 Wellington Arch: Sat 27 June
🕚 11:00-12:30pm
Please see full booking instructions on our website. If you need any help with your booking, or would like further information, please email: [email protected].
#ApsleyHouse #WellingtonArch #BritishSignLanguage #BSL
The Portico Drawing Room takes its present name from the Corinthian portico added to the exterior of the house in 1828, when Benjamin Dean Wyatt encased the brick building in Bath stone.
Identified by Robert Adam as the ‘2nd Drawing Room’, the space was originally designed to make the most of the house’s exceptional setting.
Before the Waterloo Gallery was added, three windows overlooked Hyde Park. Bathed in afternoon light and shielded from the noise of Piccadilly, the room was designed to create the illusion of a country-house saloon.
📷: @co.versailles
#ApsleyHouse #Wellington #RegencyInteriors
In 1818, the Emperor Francis I honoured Arthur Wellesley by appointing him a Field Marshal of the Austrian army.
Wellington may have worn his Austrian uniform only on select diplomatic occasions. In July 1819 for example, he attended a dinner hosted by Prince Esterházy, the Austrian ambassador in London, to celebrate the Emperor’s birthday, appearing in his Austrian Field Marshal’s uniform in honour of his hosts.
Wellington’s Field Marshal uniform is currently on display in the Striped Drawing Room.
Image: Christopher Ison, Illustrated London News.
#ApsleyHouse #Wellington #MilitaryUniforms
In April 1806, Arthur Wellesley and Catherine Pakenham were married in Dublin.
Wellington first asked for Kitty’s hand in 1794. After two refusals from her father, he left to join his regiment in India, vowing that if her family changed their minds, his would remain the same.
By 1804, Kitty wrote to him, concerned that she was “too much changed”, but Wellington renewed his proposal, declaring himself the “happiest man in the world”.
These miniatures were painted in 1814, by which time Wellington, aged 45, was already a national hero. Kitty, however, disliked public attention, and this is one of only four known portraits of her.
🖼️ 1st Duke of Wellington, Juan Bazil. 1st Duchess of Wellington, Louis-Marie Autissier.
Stepping carefully this Easter …🥚
Before Easter egg hunts, there was the egg dance. Jan Steen’s The Egg Dance captures a beloved springtime tradition in which participants danced among eggs on the ground, working them out of a chalk circle while damaging as few as possible.
One of Jan Steen’s more elaborate and ambitious compositions, the scene is filled with humour, capturing the energy and chaos of everyday life.
Please note that Apsley House will be open tomorrow, Easter Monday, 11am-5pm.
#ApsleyHouse #Easter
The new season is upon us!🏛️
Summer opening hours are back at Apsley House. We are now open Wednesday to Sunday, 11am-5pm, with last admission at 4:30pm.
🎟️ Pre-book your tickets at the link in bio to save 15%
#ApsleyHouse
Ever had tea inside a horse? ☕️🐎
A look inside the studio of Adrian Jones, where he and his assistants take a tea break inside one of his horse sculptures, later installed on top of Wellington Arch.
After retiring from the army, Captain Adrian Jones became a sculptor. His training as a veterinary surgeon gave him a deep knowledge of equine anatomy, which he used in his work to great effect. It was said he could sculpt a horse so well because he knew them “inside out”.
Source: Historic England Archive.
Don’t forget to look up!👀
This is the view that greets you upon entering the stairwell at Apsley House, if you can take your eyes off the 11ft statue of Napoleon that is!
Look closely and you may notice the crowned ‘W’s surrounding the skylight, added by the architect Benjamin Dean Wyatt during his alterations in 1829.
This poignant painting depicts the elderly Wellington leaving Horse Guards for the final time as Commander-in-Chief of the Army.
At his last sitting in July 1852, just two months before his death, Wellington reportedly said to the artist James Glass, “You had better take all your sittings now, I may not be here in the Spring.”
Wellington lived at Apsley House and frequently rode to the Houses of Parliament. He was also a familiar sight in Hyde Park, where he rode regularly, preferring his horse to a carriage even at the age of 83.
He is accompanied by his groom, John Mears, dressed in distinctive dark chocolate livery. Mears is the only Apsley House servant depicted in a painting or print.
🖼️ His Last Return from Duty, James W. Glass.
#ApsleyHouse #Wellington #Painting
