Andrew Gough's Arcadia

Paradise Lost

The River Thames ebbs lazily past Syon House, flowing in a north-easterly direction to Kew Palace, the last surviving residence of George III and Queen Charlotte. Like Marble Hill house to the south, Kew Palace contains paintings of Arcadia in ruins, by Giovanni Paolo Pannini. It marks a fitting, northern border to George’s Paradise Lost. From here, the river meanders eastwards towards London; Arcadia fading slowly in its wake.

George and Charlotte’s Kew Palace

Few give much thought to Arcadia these days. Sure, they marvel at Syon House or Hampton Court Palace, but from a tourist’s perspective, and not as a sacred landscape. Fewer still are aware of the Meridian. And those who are may argue that the Arcadian Meridian, as I have described it, is less than precise. To that end, let me be the first to acknowledge that the alignment of landmarks along the Meridian is at times quite, imprecise. However to argue its precision is to miss the point.

The alignment of landmarks along the Arcadian Meridian was symbolic, and was meant to commemorate a time when artists, poets and kings mingled in the same social strata, debating life’s finer points. These debates included such Arcadian topics as poetry, painting and gardening; the latter routinely included discussions on the merits of straight lines versus serpentine designs; complexity versus simplicity.

Serendipitously, or by design, the Arcadian Meridian dissects the centre of the serpentine River Thames, creating an image not dissimilar to the American dollar bill symbol; ‘$’. The selection of the symbol as the monetary standard for American currency occurred in 1785, shortly after George erected his Meridian. American statesman and third President of the United States, Thomas Jefferson, proposed the symbol. Interestingly, Jefferson was the principal author of the 1776 Declaration of Independence, a set of laws based on an earlier charter called the Magna Carta, which was sealed by King John in 1215, a few miles down the River Thames from Richmond in Runnymede.

Returning for a moment to the US dollar bill symbol ($), Jefferson’s status as a well read intellectual with deep Masonic affiliations, would have ensured that he was aware of the symbol’s origins as the sign of the fierily serpent set on a pole by Moses, or alternatively, the crucified Christ. The symbol also closely resembles the medieval image of the planet Mercury, and was commonly used by alchemists. Again, the possibility that George’s Meridian was an intentional manifestation of this symbolism is merely conjecture, however intriguing it may be. Regardless of George’s esoteric intentions, the King had a deep appreciation for the heritage of the land, and I believe he was simply paying it homage with the construction of a Meridian, a line that metaphorically shouted, ‘Look, Arcadia is here!’

When I first noticed the alignment I was surprised that I could not uncover other accounts of its existence. After some research, I came across Kim Wilke and the Thames Landscape Strategy; a 1994 initiative, sponsoredby the Minister for Local Government to conserve the northerly stretch of the River Thames from Hampton to Kew.

I duly contacted Mr Wilkie, a respected landscape architect, activist and author, and enquired if his extensive surveying work had revealed the fact that George’s Meridian intersected the landscapes most prominent sites. Much to my surprise, Wilkie had recognised the alignment, and commented, ‘I have been fascinated by the linking of those sites through the Meridian, but found no real evidence about deliberate connection’.

Wilkie is right, intent cannot be proved, or at least has yet to be established. But the weight of evidence suggests that the region was regarded as Arcadia for the majority of the 17th and 18th centuries. Europe was fixated on all things Arcadian at this time, a reality that is perhaps best illustrated in the classical paintings of the day. In the 17th century Poussin painted images of Arcadia, and in the 18th century Pannini, and of course the River Thames local Turner, did the same.

Today, memories of Arcadia are preserved in different ways, including the name of Richmond’s local council magazine, Arcadia, and the countless pubs and restaurants along the River Thames which commemorate the larger than life personalities of the era, such as the popular, Popes Grotto

Popes Grotto

So what happened to the Arcadian Meridian? Well, nothing, really. It’s still there, however its existence, and purpose, have simply faded from memory. And this is unfortunate, for George was under no illusions that his personal Observatory and Meridian were neither Royal nor official. In fact, he authorised the creation of the first Ordinance Survey work in Hampton, at the southernmost base of the Arcadian Meridian, to facilitate the adoption of the Greenwich Meridian.

The Ordinance Survey work took place in what is today a modern cul-de-sac by the name of Roy Grove, named after William Roy, a Major-General, Royal Engineer and Geodesist in George’s army. Here we find a peculiar cannon barrel, buried upright in the ground.

The Hampton Cannon

A nearby plaque commemorates the strangely positioned cannon and states that this is the spot where the first Ordnance Survey work was performed, in 1784. George had commissioned the measurement of fixed points (originally identified by buried cartwheels) in hopes of triangulating the relative positions of the Greenwich and Paris Observatories.

The approach borrowed from the Italian astronomer and engineer Giovanni Domenico Cassini, who had introduced a similar technique of triangulation while creating a topographic map of France in the 1670’s. Although beyond the scope of this discussion, the Cassini maps are studied to this day, oddly enough for what they don’t show, and are central to an esoteric debate regarding a variant on the Arcadia theme called Perillos, an ancient village outside of Perpignan, France, believed to conceal profound esoteric secrets, including the tomb of Jesus Christ.

Ultimately, the success of Roy’s project served as a catalyst for the measurement and triangulation of the rest of Britain, and subsequently, most of the modern world.

Hampton Cannon Plaque

So George was not resistant to the adoption of Greenwich as the Prime Meridian. On the contrary, the international acceptance of an English Meridian standard would likely have been part of his Arcadian vision. George however, did become briefly embroiled in an official, Meridian related controversy surrounding John Harrison, the man who helped determine Longitude with the creation of the world's first, successful chronometer. George came to Harrison’s aid after the Board of Longitude refused to award Harrison’s H5 time keeping device its rightful status as winner of their Longitude competition, and allowed Harrison to test his device in Richmond. With George’s assistance, Harrison was finally awarded the prize.

George was not the first King to build an Observatory or establish a Meridian. Charles II founded the Royal Observatory a century earlier, in 1675, and commissioned Sir Christopher Wren to build it. George would have been inspired by this, as well as the work of the Royal Academy. And as we know, an element of George’s Arcadian vision ultimately did materialize when the International Meridian Conference met in Washington DC in 1884 to determine the true, Prime Meridian, once and for all.

The conference was represented by forty-one delegates from 25 nations whose charter was to vote on a standard for the world’s Prime Meridian. It came as no surprise that Greenwich took the prize of Longitude 0°. George would have been pleased, and would have felt just a little responsible. And quite justifiably so!

George III

I shared my Arcadian Meridian: London’s Paradise Lost hypothesis with Jonathan Betts, Senior Specialist of Horology at London’s Royal Observatory. Jonathan kindly reviewed my findings and confirmed that:

‘George was acting as the grandest of amateur astrologers when he created a Meridian in Richmond. It was his personal Meridian, reflective of his passion for astronomy. Although George’s Richmond Meridian did not represent an line as such, it did briefly take on a semi-official function when George became entwined in the whole Harrison affair’.

Thus, I take comfort in the opinion of two experts, Wilkie and Betts, when I submit that George’s placement of the Meridian along his kingdoms most cherished landmarks, if only for a relatively brief span of time, was an intentional act; one that commemorated a land believed to be a modern day Arcadia. Quite simply, it represented a sort of, Georgian Paradise Lost.

At the end of the day, I believe that the serpentine flow of the River Thames through the heart of London’s Arcadian Meridian encapsulated both the hopes and dreams of a nation and the passion of its King. The allure of this magical land can perhaps best be summarised by Sir Walter Scott in his novel The Heart of Midlothian (1818), when he writes of George’s Arcadia in the most eloquent of manner:

“A huge sea of verdure with crossing and interesting promontories of massive and tufted groves, … tenanted by numberless flocks and herds, which seem to wander unrestrained, and unbounded, through rich pastures. The Thames, here turreted with villas and there garlanded with forests, moved on slowly and placidly, like the mighty monarch of the scene, to whom all its other beauties were accessories, and bore on his bosom a hundred barks and skiffs, whose white sails and gaily fluttering pennons gave life to the whole.”

I can think of no better description of Arcadia, and I’m pretty sure George would agree.

Sunset over George III’s Arcadian Meridian – Richmond

The Arcadian Meridian: London’s Paradise Lost, is the first of several articles on London’s forgotten golden age. Look for further instalments on Arcadia shortly.

Additional Reading

The Thames Landscape Strategy
1994

Arcadian Thames
1994
Mavis Batey, Henrietta Buttery, David Lambert, Kim Wilkie

The Walker’s Guide: The Thames, Richmond to Putney Bridge
2005
David McDowall

Acknowledgements

I would like to briefly thank a few individuals who were invaluable in my research. Namley:

Mark Foster, my good friend, designer of the Arcadia web site, and conscience when formulating hypotheses.

Bill Harding, for his friendship and for pointing me in the right direction from the start.

Kim Wilke and the Thames Landscape Strategy for their invaluable work in reestablishing and preserving the history and beauty of the River Thames, and for Mr Wilkie’s kind quote.

Jonathan Betts, Senior Specialist of Horology at London’s Royal Observatory, for kindly reviewing my research and putting me on the right track, and for his kind quote. jdbetts@nmm.ac.uk

Angela Ivey, Marketing Officer for Richmond upon Thames Council - Visit Richmond, for her amazing enthusiasm, knowledge and willingness to get involved. You’re help came just in time!

Richmond Studies Library and Richmond Historical Society, for their tireless and invaluable assistance.