News - The Charterhouse

8th January 2024

Save the Date for London’s Great Mental Health Day 2024

We are delighted to be supporting London’s Great Mental Health Day on Friday 26 January. Now in its third year, it is a London-wide initiative which this year will explore the importance of meaningful connections and the power of relationships, collectivising and social networks. The start of the new year can be an opportunity for positive change, action or setting goals. For many of us, things continue to feel challenging or uncertain and particularly when we are feeling the cost-of-living pressures which can impact our wellbeing. Great Mental Health Day hopes to get us talking about our mental health and wellbeing, and to help break that stigma that so often exists around the subject. It is also an opportunity to shine a light on great local support services that are available, as well as being a reminder that we can all do our bit to help each other and spread some kindness.

On that note group of residents here at the Charterhouse set up a Winter Warm Space initiative in 2022, which evolved into the Community Space and is now open on Friday mornings all year round. They wanted to welcome in people who were living in the area who might not otherwise visit, and create an opportunity to build meaningful connections with other members of our local community. Anyone in the area is very welcome to drop by for a chat and a free hot drink every Friday at 10.00 – 12.00, or just to come and enjoy some quite time in a beautiful setting.

Londoner’s can visit Thrive LDN’s website for more information on local support, events, online webinars and workshops. If you are in the area on the day do drop into our Community Space between 10 – 12.00 to help us celebrate and build meaningful connections. You can also share your thoughts about what Great Mental Health means to you, and the importance of support from other people with @thriveLDN and with us on social media with the hashtag #GreatMentalHealth.

18th April 2023

HistoryHit – Filming at The Charterhouse for YouTube

On 24 April, HistoryHit will be at the Charterhouse to film a short film for their YouTube channel, a series entitled Hidden Remains of Medieval London. The series focusses on medieval locations that aren’t so visible today. So instead of the Tower of London and Westminster Abbey HistoryHit will be visiting medieval sites with remains that are either underground, behind closed doors, and / or incorporated into later structures.

Please keep a look out for the Charterhouse on HistoryHit YouTube channel over the forthcoming weeks.

In 2018 HistoryHit was launched – a new online channel for history lovers. You can find hundreds of history documentaries, interviews and short films on their website, and also on their YouTube channel. HistoryHit brings you the most extraordinary, dramatic, tragic and fascinating stories of our shared past. They have reinvented how history is told in the digital age through video, podcasts, articles and much more.

Please check the variety of content on their websites, you will be amazed!

https://access.historyhit.com/

https://www.youtube.com/@HistoryHit/featured

16th March 2023

The Charterhouse was the host venue for the Heritage Alliance’s Heritage Day

Heritage Day is a collective celebration of all things heritage, and brings together the leading voices from across the Heritage Alliance membership and the wider heritage sector.

On March 2nd, visitors heard from current and future sector of leaders discussing the vision, leadership and horizon-scanning for the future of heritage. Speakers included, René Olivieri, Chair of the National Trust, Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay, Under Secretary of State of Department for Culture, Media and Sport, Deputy Chair of the Heritage Alliance, Dr Ingrid Samuel OBE, and our own, Master & CEO, Peter Aiers OBE.

18th January 2023

Peter Aiers awarded OBE in New Year’s Honours List

Master and Chief Executive Officer at The Charterhouse, Peter Aiers has been awarded an OBE for services to Heritage in the King’s New Year’s Honours List.

Peter has a distinguished record of leadership in a career dedicated to charitable activity and public service which he continues in his role at the Charterhouse. Peter has a varied background in heritage conservation working for English Heritage, Local Government and the Diocese of London before he joined the Churches Conservation Trust in 2007. He is also a trustee of the Heritage Alliance, a member of the Steering Group of the Historic Environment Forum, the Institute of Historic Building Conservation, the Diocese of Peterborough Diocesan Advisory Committee, and a PCC and Deanery Synod member of his local parish church. He is the independent trustee of Goodwill Solutions CIO providing funding to support social enterprise and charities in Northampton.

Everyone at the Charterhouse would like to congratulate Peter on being awarded this honour and to thank him for his passion and love for heritage.

5th January 2022

The Charterhouse announces the appointment of its 34th Master

The Governors of the Charterhouse, the 400-year-old almshouse charity in central London, have appointed Peter Aiers OBE, as the new Master and Chief Executive Officer. Peter moves from being CEO of the Churches Conservation Trust and will succeed Ann Kenrick as 34^th Master of the Charterhouse on 1^st April 2022.

Peter Aiers has a distinguished record of leadership in a career dedicated to charitable activity and public service. At the Churches Conservation Trust (CCT) Peter has worked closely with the Church Commissioners and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport in caring for a collection of 356 historic churches across England. Peter’s work at the CCT has involved a diverse range of stakeholders and individuals to ensure that communities are supported in delivering long-term sustainability of church buildings in a way that best meets their needs and aspirations. He has a background in heritage conservation working for English Heritage. Local Government and the Diocese of London before joining the Churches Conservation Trust in 2007; he has been Chief Executive Officer since 2017.

Major General Andrew Ritchie CBE, Chairman of Governors of the Charterhouse, said ‘We are delighted to have appointed Peter Aiers as our new Master to take forward the work of the charity. He will build on the fine legacy of Ann Kenrick who has led the charity through a period of remarkable change including the introduction of female Brothers, the opening of the institution to the public and more recently the immense challenges of the pandemic. We are confident that Peter is the right person to lead us into the next era for the Charterhouse and we look forward to working with him.’

Peter Aiers said of his appointment:

‘I am honoured and excited to take this appointment as Master of the Charterhouse and look forward to joining this remarkable 400 year old charity, aware of the significant boots I have to fill. I am looking forward to meeting the Brothers and the Team at the Charterhouse over the next few months and looking at the opportunities for the future.’

The Charterhouse exists to provide a home, a community, and lifelong care for older people in need, while sharing our heritage and investing in it for future generations. The charity occupies an outstanding site containing historic buildings dating from the 14^thcentury in Clerkenwell in the heart of London. Over the centuries it has been a monastery, a Tudor mansion, a school and, continuously for 410 years, an almshouse. 2021 marked the 650^th anniversary of the foundation of the Carthusian monastery in 1371 and we are marking the event with a campaign to raise £650,000 to support vital restoration work.

www.thecharterhouse.org

Notes to editors:

Set deep within stone walls in the heart of Clerkenwell, the Charterhouse is a remarkable assembly of historic buildings dating from the 14^thcentury. Over the years it has been a monastery, a grand Tudor mansion, a school and, as it has remained for over 400 years, an almshouse. In 2017 the Charterhouse opened its doors to the public for the first time in its 660 year history, revealing the great story of this unique seven acre site at the heart of London, and creating income for the Charterhouse’s trading arm Carthusia Ltd. This income supports the site’s heritage and the Brothers, and enables the charity to fulfil its mission to share its story with the public and conserve it for future generations. To find out more about the Charterhouse, its museum, tours, venue hire and learning centre, and newly re-opened and refurbished Great Chamber, please visit www.thecharterhouse.org

See the latest Charterhouse Annual Report here.

Donate to our Charterhouse650 project here.

Visit our What’s On page https://thecharterhouse.org/visit-us/whats-on/

Twitter @charterhouseec1

Facebook @thecharterhouselondon

Instagram @charterhouselondon

2nd November 2020

The Charterhouse unveils its own commissioned reproduction of the Elizabeth I ‘Sieve’ portrait by Quentin Metsys the Younger

The Charterhouse is delighted to present a special newly-commissioned addition to its Great Chamber – a fine copy of Quentin Metsys the Younger’s portrait of Elizabeth I painted by the artist and painting conservator Ying Yang. It now hangs on the end wall of the newly refurbished Great Chamber, where Elizabeth I herself was frequently a guest, alongside the Charterhouse’s original and recently restored stored portrait collection.

There have been many renowned noblemen, clergymen and lawyers associated with the Charterhouse many of whom feature in the imposing portraits in the collection. It was felt that, with so many prestigious men on display, it was important to also ensure a powerful woman in the Charterhouse’s history was properly acknowledged and promoted. This led to the commission from Ying Yang and the choice of this particular version of the Queen’s image holding a sieve. The decision to commission a copy also reflects how common this would have been in the 16th century.

The original painting (dated c 1583), now in the Pinacoteca Nazionale in Siena, depicts the Virgin Queen holding a sieve – a symbol of chastity, and also of wisdom and discernment. Artist Ying Yang spent some time studying the portrait in Siena to analyse the painting style, materials, pigments and varnishes used and capture the way it had aged.

The frame for the portrait was also specially commissioned and created by Peter Schade, the Head of Framing at the National Gallery, London.

An interview with Ying Yang, by eminent landscape designer and collector Todd Longstaffe-Gowan, with fascinating details of Ying Yang’s training both in China and in Europe, and the illustrious history of copying Old Masters, can be found in the forthcoming book telling the Great Chamber story – due to be published in 2021.

Ends

For further information and images (including images of the portrait in progress0 please contact charlotte.borger@thecharterhouse.org

Editors’ notes

The Charterhouse

After the dissolution of the Carthusian monastery, the Charterhouse became a grand Tudor mansion, where Elizabeth I was a frequent guest after she stayed there in preparation for her coronation in 1559. In 1611, with a legacy bestowed by Thomas Sutton, the richest commoner in England at the time, the Charterhouse became a school for poor boys and an almshouse, which it remains to this day.

For more about the Charterhouse, the almshouse, museum and its history visit www.thecharterhouse.org

YING YANG (Ying Sheng Yang, born in China in 1961)

Ying Yang is a painter, painting conservator and a professor at the Nanjing Normal University. He attended Nanjing College of Art from 1981-1985 before working as a lecturer at Xuzhou Normal University. In 1986, he came to England and studied at the Wimbledon College of Art. In 1989, he graduated from the Royal College of Art with a Master’s Degree in Painting. He then studied painting conservation under Clare Wilkins from 1992 to1996 and worked as a painting conservator for many public and private collections afterward. His paintings have been exhibited extensively both in China and abroad and have previously been collected by the British Museum (2015), Fitzwilliam Museum (2014) and other public bodies and institutions. He has won many awards and scholarships, such as the Fagus Anstruther Award (1987), the D.H.L Educational Foundation Scholarship (1988), the Burston Award (1989)and the J. Andrew Lloyd Travel Scholarship (1989). He was also short listed for British Airways New Artist Award (1990), Art’91 Young Artist of the Year Award (1991) and The Arthur Andersen Art Award (1993). His early works have also been included in several art books such as History of 20th Century Chinese Art, Contemporary Chinese Art History and 85 New Art Movement.

He currently lives in England and works in both England and China