Pembroke Lodge

L3 Day 71 cycled to Richmond Park and then walked round the gardens at Pembroke Lodge which are still fully open to the public. Pembroke Lodge is a Georgian mansion which has a lovely view across the Thames Valley to Surrey and Windsor. A cottage was built there around 1750 for a mole-catcher, his job was to eradicate mole-hills that were impeding the sport of deer hunting. It was enlarged to become a house and extended later that century to a design by Sir John Soane. Queen Victoria granted the residence to the British Prime Minister Lord John Russell in 1847 and it was the childhood home of his grandson, the philosopher Bertrand Russell. It is part of the Crown Estate and is currently privately run as a catering facility and a conference and wedding venue. It also houses a heritage charity, The Hearsum Collection.