Dennis Severs' House

Om museet

Dennis Severs' House is a terraced Georgian house at 18 Folgate Street in Spitalfields, built around 1724. By 1979 it was badly run down and was saved by the Spitalfields Historic Buildings Trust, from which the American-born Dennis Severs bought it. He lived in the house until his death in 1999 and gradually turned it into what he called a still-life drama.

Severs furnished each of the ten rooms in a different historic style, mostly of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and arranged them as if their occupants had only just stepped out. Half-eaten food, flickering fires, ticking clocks and the smells and sounds of each room create the impression of a household still at home. The rooms tell the story of an imaginary family of Huguenot silk weavers, the Jervises, who are said to have lived in the house from 1725 to 1919.

The house is not a precise historical reconstruction but a staged evocation of past life. After Severs' death it continued to be shown to visitors and is now managed by the Spitalfields Trust. Visitors explore it in silence or with quiet conversation, by day or by candlelight in the evening. A theatrical tour based on audio recordings of Severs himself was created after a trove of tapes was found in 2021.

Højdepunkter

• Ten rooms staged as an 18th and 19th century household that has just been left
• Silent visits by day and by candlelight in the evening
• Imaginary story of a Huguenot silk-weaver family
• Scents, sounds and open fires in every room
• Dramatic Dennis Severs' Tour for up to seven people

Permanent udstilling

• Dennis Severs' House – Ten rooms are furnished and lit as if an imaginary family of Huguenot silk weavers and their successors had just left them, with fires, scents and sounds in every room.

Grundlagt

1724

Ejer

Spitalfields Historic Buildings Trust

Entrépriser & rabatter

The £16 price applies to the Relaxed Day Visit and the Silent Day Visit and is subject to a booking fee of £1.50 per ticket. Tickets are non-refundable and cannot be exchanged or transferred.

Tilgængelighed

• Kørestolsvenlig: findes ikke
• Elevator: findes ikke
• Handicaptoilet: findes ikke
• Handicapparkering: ingen oplysninger
• Servicehunde tilladt: ingen oplysninger
• Taktile tilbud: ingen oplysninger
• Rundvisninger på tegnsprog: ingen oplysninger
• Letlæste tilbud: ingen oplysninger
• Synstolkning: ingen oplysninger

The house is an 18th-century building with uneven floors, steep stairs and dim lighting, so wheelchair access cannot be offered. Visitors must be able to leave the building unaided or with their designated carer. Smoke levels from open fires can be high, which matters for visitors with respiratory problems.

Børn og familie

• Barnevognsvenlig: findes ikke
• Puslerum: findes ikke

Children under 16 may visit only with an adult, one adult per child, and need their own ticket. Pushchairs and children's scooters cannot be stored, and there are no toilets in the house.

Transport & parkering

Service & spisesteder

• Café: findes ikke
• Restaurant: findes ikke
• Museumsbutik
• Garderobe: findes ikke
• Opbevaringsskabe: findes ikke

There are no toilets in the house; the museum points visitors to the free cloakrooms at Liverpool Street station. There is no space to store luggage, pushchairs, large items or scooters. Only handbags and small backpacks may be carried in. A separate online shop is operated for the house.

Arrangementer & udlejning

• Lokaler til leje
• Private fester

The house can be hired for small receptions, dinners, lunches and parties, and for photography and filming. Prices start at £5,000 and are agreed individually.

Planlæg dit besøg